Thread Scraps for birds

[Sheri Butler]

Just thought i'd share this. Not a happy story at all.

 

Last week, our neighbors had a Robin out in their back yard, that was all tangled up in thread! It looked as if it had been struggling to get itself free from the tangles, from it's feet, and around it's head!! Dont know how long it was on the ground fighting for it's life.  My husband put a light cloth over it's head, snipped the threads away from it's feet  carefully. Unwound the thread around it's neck, and perched it on  the fence. It was so week, it couldnt hold itself up. He then proceeded to put it on the ground. It sat there, breathing VERY HEAVILY as if scared to DEATH.  We left it alone for over 4 hours, when it eventually died.

I know alot of quilter's and piecers out there put out scraps of thread for the birds to make their nests out of.. After seeing this bird suffer like it did, I will NEVER allow any of my thread to go anywhere but the garbage can!

[Liam]

Thanks for sharing Sheri!  I've been putting out thread scraps for the birds for years, but my scraps are always less than 2 inches. I will have to find a different outlet for my scraps or just pitch them in the trash.

[Heritage Keepsakes]

Thank you Sheri for sharing this. I am a bird lover, and although I don't put my threads outside for them, will take this onboard. Maybe as an alternative, little snippets of wadding could be left out? I guess that way they still get the warmth factor for their nests, without the danger hazard of string.

[Primitive1]

Oh that's sad, I never have put out threads either but maybe small scraps of batting would be better...

[sewingpup]

Hi,

 

Birds and other creatures get caught in all sorts of our stuff....I am probably a bit OC about this...but I cut all my waste threads into small pieces...like if I have a bit on a bobbin I want to remove...I bundle it up and proceed to snip it several times before placing it in the trash....I also always clip every hole in those plastic things that keep bottles or cans together ....I shudder when I hear about that plastic floating debris field that is in our oceans and they have been finding sealife with plastic bags in their stomachs mistakening the bag for jelly fish...I don't put out thread for birds nor do I put out little scraps of fabric...I know birds will use these for the nests...but I wonder about the actual effect on the nest as cotton and other fabrics will hold water far better than the usual stitchs  (oops meant sticks..must have stitching on the brain) and grass that nests are made out of...I do however put out way more black oil sunflower seed then my budget says is prudent...but I love watching those little birds...Lin

[Tella]

Run the rotary cutter blades over and over the threads and bits of fabric and the birds won't be able to get caught up in them??

[delld]

Here is another concern. My daughter's cat ate her thread and had to have surgery. The vet had to open the gut in 5 places to get the thread out. A cost of about $1200. Coco has recovered but the thread is now watched carefully and put away!

[ffq-lar]

Great advice to cut threads short when putting it out for the nest-builders.

As long as we've lived here we have swallows nesting in the eaves of all buildings on the property. They return the same week every year and we love them because of all the mosquitoes they eat.

Our neighbors breed and board horses and all the nests are hanging with horse-tail hair. We had to rescue one baby that became tangled in the long hair. So even natural threads can be dangerous.

[Smithsewnian Quilting]

i've also read that bright colors of threads and fabrics they use to build nests attracts their predators because they are easier to see

[Sheri Butler]

You are Correct Connie!

 

That is why female species are not as colorful as their male counter-parts! They disguise themselves, by blending into the enviroment's background, to hide their eggs/young. Hence...no colorful threads for nests!!

[Kat Leo]

I went to the Wild Bird Store and found a cage to hold wool for the birds nest making.  They love it, when they emptied the wool, I started putting in dryer lint, they also like that.  No thread for my birds...