Bird Bottles

I hope that you are not tired of bird-related posts because I have another one! I wanted to get back with everyone about a previous mention of bird bottles. As shown above, we discovered these charming little bird houses when we visited Colonial Williamsburg in April. We love birds and like to have a variety of homes for them around our property. So we decided to add this type to our inventory, and purchased both a glazed clay bottle and a decorative delft style bottle. These unique bird houses can also be purchased online through the Williamsburg Marketplace, in the garden section.

An antique bird bottle was uncovered in the 1960s by an archaeologist in the James Geddy House yard of Colonial Williamsburg. The bulbous-shaped bottle was made on a potter’s wheel, turned horizontally, and then hung on a nail through a cutout in the bottom. The bottles are ideally hung under the eaves of a building, with the opening facing either east or west. There is a tab on the open end where a twig can be inserted for a perch. Martins and other small birds favor these bottles, and they earn their keep by eating flying insects like mosquitoes in the area.

After we got home from our journey, we hung our clay bottle on the inside eave of our bedroom porch (pictured above). As you can see from the twigs sticking out of the bottle, a house wren claimed it for a nesting site within a few days! It knew a good home when it saw this one! A transparent glaze over the reddish clay makes the bird bottle waterproof and provides some insulation. After the nesting season is over, these homes are also easy to clean and store. We added a little wooden dowel for a perch. But we found the dowel kept working its way out, so we eventually removed it.

I have been patiently waiting to capture a picture of the momma wren, and I was finally successful last week! There is a window seat in my home office which looks right out to this porch. After gently tapping on the glass to get momma’s attention, I was rewarded by this lovely pose. There must be growing babies in the nest because we have seen momma and papa wrens taking turns this week with food deliveries!