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Alternative Nesting Material
Wool Insulates Birdhouses Throughout the Year

Once a birdhouse is purchased, a customer will naturally expect and hope that it will attract birds. An excellent way to stimulate this process is to provide the birds with nesting material near the birdhouse.

Nature's Blessings Sheep Co. in Clements, Calif., has found that many birds love to use wool to line their nesting boxes. The company uses leftover sheep wool to create a ball-like product of 100 percent wool that can be hung near a birdhouse.

The birds may use it to insulate their box and keep it dry and warm, says owner Shellie Carlson.

Household items are often used in nesting boxes, but Carlson cautions against these homemade creations. "A lot of people use dryer lint and cotton for nesting material but these are porous and are poor insulators," she says. "They don't hold up well in the weather."

"A lot of people ask me, "How does the wool hold up in the weather?' I answer, "You see how a sheep holds up in the weather!' The wool has natural oils and lanolin," Carlson explains.

Nature's Blessings recycles wool that would normally be disposed of or burned. Its product is found in 500 stores in the United States and Canada.
-S.S & A.S.

Birds-Eye View
4 Features to Look for in a Birdhouse

All birdhouses were not created equally and it is important to look at their features before you stock your shelves. The following are four features to consider when purchasing birdhouses:

Material. "Natural materials are a better choice than man-made materials because they breathe, which helps regulate the inside temperature of the house," says Mark Zieff, director of marketing for Opus Inc. in Bellingham, Mass.

Design. "Wren and bluebird houses each have their own ornithologically correct design requirements," Zieff says. "These requirements are important for successful nesting.

Ease of maintenance. "A clean house is important to the health of the birds and encourages birds to nest the following season," Zieff says. "Many houses come with swing-away doors or lift-up roofs to allow easy access for cleaning."

Ventilation and drainage. "Birdhouses need proper ventilation to keep the interior air fresh and prevent overheating. They also need drains for removal of rainwater," Zieff says.
-S.S & A.S.

(Published in Jan. 2005)

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Birders can entice more varieties to come home this spring
By Scott and Ann Springer

If you sell wildbird products in your store then you know how crucial it is to stock a variety of birdhouses to go along with the birdseed. Not selling the right birdhouses for your area and your customers is as deadly to your sales as is selling fish without aquariums.

Selling birdhouses is a matter of learning what birds your customers can successfully attract and what dwellings are best suited for the birds.

"The key is to find out what birds are coming to your feeder and then you have to try to figure out what their habits are and how you can entice them," says Suzanne Dietsch, owner of Besomworks, in Atkinson, Ill.

Choosing ‘The Dream Home'
The first thing every bird watcher should know is that birdhouses come in two types: decorative or core, says Mark Zieff, director of marketing for Opus Inc. in Bellingham, Mass.

"The vast majority of decorative products are not intended for outdoor use and are usually constructed of materials not suitable for outdoor use," Zieff says. "Many of these products are marketed as collectibles."

While customers may be attracted to these products because of their eye appeal, you should warn them they not be as practical as core birdhouses. "Core birdhouses, on the other hand, are designed to be highly functional and are constructed of materials suited for long-term outdoor use," Zieff says.

According to Zieff, the most popular styles of birdhouses are wren, bluebird, and purple martin houses. "Wren and bluebird houses have fairly broad consumer appeal and are easily merchandised within a standard bird feeding set," Zieff says. "With their size and the amount of functional yard space required, purple martin houses have a more limited appeal and makes them more challenging to merchandise."

Birdhouses aren't just handmade creations made out of popsicle sticks anymore either. "You can buy any kind you want from A to Z," Dietsch says. "You have the whole gamut."

As a retailer, you must ask some key questions to match a customer with the right birdhouse. "I ask about what their yard looks like, if they are trying to attract a specific type of bird, and about maintenance and upkeep on the house," says Kelly Misamore, owner of The Birdhouse, a retail shop located in Madison, Ind.

"I might also ask about hardware issues," Misamore says. "For example, do they have a way to mount the birdhouse?"

Up-selling Tips
Such questions also lead to valuable opportunities to up-sell other merchandise. "Hardware like poles, hooks, and hangers are good add-ons," Misamore says.

She also recommends suggesting nest-building materials, predator guards, and species-specific guides to customers who are purchasing birdhouses.

Repeat sales are the lifeblood of small retail shops, so it is essential customers have a positive experience with backyard birding. Helping people know what kind of bird they are able to attract is a great way to create this positive experience.

Attracting purple martins is a good bird for a beginning birder to attract. "It's kind of the ‘If you build it, they will come' thing," says Karyn Bohannan, vice-president for S&K Manufacturing in O'Fallon, Mo. "They come back every year and they expand their colony."

Another important step is helping the customer choose the appropriate house. "The customer needs to decide what they are looking for and if the house will meet their needs," Bohannan says.

Dietsch suggests purchasing houses that match the general feel of the local area. "If they live in an upscale environment they will want something fancier," she says.

Be sure your staff is keeping close tabs on the local migratory patterns so they can be certain they are sending customers home with the right products. "The clerk needs to know their buyers and their habits," Dietsch says.

Being an Educational Retailer
Misamore has seen firsthand how education has helped increase sales and build her reputation in the community. Her store has recently won a local business of the year award and is celebrating 12 years of business.

"We consider ourselves to be an ‘educational retailer,'" Misamore says. "We spend lots of time educating ourselves so we can better educate our customers."

It is simply good business, says Misamore. "The more educated people feel the more confident they are about buying products," she says.

Searching the Internet, joining local birding groups, and knowing migratory patterns in your area can help you increase sales also.

"The individual store needs to learn what birds are specific to their area and where the birds are migrating from and at what times," Bohannan says.

"For purple martins, in particular, it is best to sell housing when they migrate and nest," Bohannan says. "Stock items when that migration is happening, educate the customer, and sell the product."

While these products may sell like wildfire during these migratory peaks they are also sold year-round as gifts.

"While spring has become the most popular time for consumers to get out and ‘decorate' their yards, many bird-related products are purchased during the course of the year for special occasions or as holiday gifts," Zieff says.

Scott and Ann Springer are freelance writers based in Southern California and are frequent contributors to Pet Product News