Storks are one of the birds that show touching care for their chicks and treat them with trepidation. It is quite difficult to tame a freedom-loving bird, but it is quite possible if you build a nest on your roof suitable for their existence. Surprisingly, a stork’s nest can become an original addition to the landscape design of a summer cottage. In this article we will tell you how to make a decorative stork’s nest with your own hands and how to decorate it from the point of view of landscape design.
Product options
Shapes and sizes can be very different: from a pocket gift nest to a full-size nest with the purpose of attracting storks to a summer cottage for nesting. Numerous photos of branch nests posted on the world wide web will help you make such crafts yourself.
Before starting work, you should decide on the purpose of the nest. Further instructions will help you understand how to make a nest for a stork with your own hands without outside help.
Required materials:
- tree shoots;
- bird feathers;
- hay, straw;
- thin rope or thread;
- glue, scissors;
- plastic plate or foam.
A finished decorative nest, intended for placement in the garden, can be painted, quail eggs, devoid of contents, can be placed inside, and then installed on a tree.
What does a stork eat?
Storks' favorite food is frogs, but the variety of stork diets is impressive. They can eat insects, mollusks, snails, fish, worms, chafers, and can also feed on larger foods - mice, snakes, lizards, small rats, rabbits, gophers. While searching for food, the stork may move slowly, but as soon as suitable food is discovered, the stork quickly runs up to it and grabs it with its strong and long beak.
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Beginning of work
The basis can be a round plastic blank made from a disposable plate or polystyrene foam. Small branches are attached to it using glue, which are attached to the base with a thin thread.
Then bundles of hay or straw are placed and glued on top of the branches, which are held together with threads for strength. Using scissors, the nest is trimmed, the inner surface is smeared with glue and a layer of hay is placed on it.
For authenticity, you can place bird eggs or their imitation in the nest. In particular, quail eggs look good, the contents of which can be blown out or eaten.
For a fabulous effect, walnuts painted with gold or silver paint, as well as table tennis balls, are suitable.
Round-shaped stones are also suitable for these purposes. You can buy small chicks in the gift shop and place them in the nest along with the eggshells.
Metal threads and feathers of fantastic birds taken from hairpins are also used.
Availability of food supply
Birds need a home and food to live. In order for storks (and these are birds of prey) to easily obtain food for themselves, within a radius of two kilometers from their nest there must be a swampy pond where frogs, snakes, and insects live that these birds feed on.
The water element is replaced or supplemented by a livestock farm or pasture located nearby.
Popularity of storks in Ukraine
Another legend says that these birds brought bunches of grapes to the Zaporozhye Cossacks in Tatar captivity and thereby saved them from hunger. There are similar legends in Moldova, where this bird is a symbol of viticulture.
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Sculptures of storks have recently become increasingly common in cities, villages, courtyards and dachas. The sculpture of a stork on the site not only serves as decoration, but is also a way of self-expression for the owners of the territory.
The variety of compositions with storks allows you to choose the one you need, showing your taste and aesthetic imagination.
Neighborhood with storks
If there are already families of storks in the area, the likelihood that a young couple of these birds will settle next to you is high.
However, crowding of the bird population is also not desirable, since in this case conflicts may arise due to the division of territory. The distance from nest to nest must be at least 300 meters.
Making a nest for a stork
Creating an imitation nest from branches with your own hands is quite simple. Such a composition, when using real branches, will look much more attractive than a sculpture purchased in a retail chain.
Through this process, which requires patience and focus, true creative satisfaction can be obtained.
The following description will help you understand how to make your own nest from branches. Young branches that do not break and are more flexible than old or dried ones are more suitable for making a nest.
It should be noted that there is a ready-made metal base on sale, to which you can easily attach a vine, and its design includes parts that secure the lower part of the sculpture. To give special stability to the figure, its metal legs are welded to the base.
The sculpture can be placed in the following places:
Roofs. The nest is attached to the rafters using nails or screws.
Trees and stumps. Trees can be cut down not at the root, but higher from the ground. On such a high stump, the figure of a stork will make an indelible impression.
After installing the nest, you should attach the stork figure to it using fishing line that will not be noticeable. In strong winds, the sculpture should be secured with additional supports.
On a free-standing support
If you don’t want to load the roof, you can arrange a comfortable life for the birds on a pole or pile. They use old poles or specially install new ones. An old dry tree whose top branches need to be cut down will also work.
Make sure that the support is reliable and located in a place convenient for approaching. It’s great if the pole with the nest is located opposite the windows of the house. Then you can watch the worries of the birds at any time right from home, without disturbing them.
Features of the placement of the stork figure
On the ground, it is advisable to place the sculpture in a well-lit place, not far from the bushes.
If there is a pond on the site, then the sculpture of a stork will give it additional attractiveness.
A stork in a nest personifies family values and therefore such a sculpture should be installed in the place where the family spends most of its time.
The figure should be positioned so that the stork's head is directed towards the house, not away from it.
Preparation
If there is a natural settlement of storks not far from your dacha, you can try to attract them to the site by building a strong, beautiful nest in the garden. The finished structure will look very beautiful, and the birds that have settled in the dacha will protect the garden from mice, frogs and insects from spring to autumn.
Preparations for building a nest for storks include:
- Determining the optimal location of the finished nest;
- Creating the necessary conditions for poultry;
- Selection of suitable materials for building a nest for storks;
- Studying the rules for building nests for storks.
Nest
For many peoples, the stork symbolizes good luck, peace and prosperity. Therefore, rural residents have always sought to attract storks to their yard to hatch chicks.
If there are no conditions for nesting storks in your area, you can make his figure yourself.
To attract storks, a nest should be built no further than 1-2 km from its feeding areas (swamps, water meadows) and no closer than 0.2-0.3 km from existing nests, to avoid conflicts between birds.
The place for the nest should be chosen so that nothing interferes with the stork’s approach. The nest is built at a height of 4-10 m as far as possible from power lines. In this case, the socket support must withstand a load of 30-40 kg.
The frame for the nests can be bicycle wheels, welded steel reinforcement, platforms made of poles, boards.
On the platform, it is necessary to make an imitation of an old nest from dried branches in a layer of 0.2-0.3 m, and place straw and dried manure in the center.
Bunches of brushwood can be secured next to the nest, and the edges can be sprayed with lime to make it look more like droppings.
In the Non-Black Earth Region, storks nest mainly on trees and poles.
In trees, nests are placed on sawn-off tops or on a large side branch near the trunk. Branches that interfere with the approach should be cut down.
At the top of a tree that has a fork, you can cut off the branches at the base and make a platform at the fork.
When and where to build nesting sites
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Rural residents have not yet lost the skills of arranging home-grown stork nests. But before you begin this important task, several conditions must be met:
- the distance to the food “base” (meadows, pastures, swamps) should vary within 1-2 km;
- neighboring nests should be 200 m apart from each other, or even better, 300 m (to avoid bird conflicts);
- It is necessary to build a home for birds away from power lines.
The last condition is dictated by many years of observations: storks, like a magnet, are drawn to electric poles. Birds consider them an ideal point of observation and respite, and... they die en masse, carelessly touching the wires with their wings or beaks.
Storks return from warm countries in March-April. It’s great if the nests are waiting for their inhabitants by this time. It’s even better to make a nest in advance - in the fall.
By the way, it often happens that a pair of Siberian Cranes settles into their new “homes” in May-June. This occurs when the storks' eggs are destroyed and they are forced to reproduce again.
Nest designs
- Pillars made of any material can serve as support for the nests.
- The wooden base for the roof nest is made from boards nailed to the crosspieces and then attached to the roof ridge.
- On top of this base, a platform, grate or wheel is attached with nails.
Only professionals can arrange a site for black stork nests.
The nuances of building a nest on the roof
If this is your childhood dream, then it is important to take into account some nuances:
- In order to install a stork's nest on the roof, you need to make a pair of crosses on which the base and branches will be located.
- This whole structure will stand on some semblance of a pillar - 2-3 supports, the so-called “goats”.
- It is necessary to make additional reinforcements for the nest: tie it with ropes or wire to the roof. This is especially true for windy areas.
- It is convenient to attach the nest to the pipe, but in order for the smoke to flow freely, it is important to move it to the side a meter.
- Position the iron sheet so as to protect the nest from sparks flying from the pipe.
Stork made of plastic bottles
Templates for the body and wings of the stork are cut out of plywood. To work, you will need plastic bottles of dark and light colors, screws and electrical tape.
- The templates are fastened with screws.
- Strips of white plastic, simulating feathers, are cut from milk bottles.
- The feathers are glued to the stork's body.
- Black stripes are used for the tail.
- The beak is wrapped with red electrical tape.
- The material for the legs can be wire, and the eyes can be purchased at a specialized store.
What else you need to know about storks
Neighborhood with storks, in addition to moral satisfaction and aesthetic pleasure, also brings a number of inconveniences that you need to think about before inviting birds for permanent residence.
If you are ready to put up with noise, branches, feathers, droppings on the roof and other debris scattered around the site, then feel free to get to work. Well, if not, look for other options.
Polyurethane foam stork
- The body parts are attached with tape to a plastic base.
- A beak is made from a nail.
- The legs of the figure can be made of steel reinforcement, electrodes or wire.
- The base is covered with polyurethane foam.
- Excess foam is then cut off.
- The figure is covered with acrylic paints.
- A nose made of wood is attached to the nail.
- The tail and wings are covered with feathers.
A stork sculpture is made in a similar way from a plastic canister, bottles and foam.
How to make a stork for your dacha with your own hands: master class
A DIY garden stork is one of the favorite crafts of summer residents and gardeners, and there are many variations of its execution on the Internet, but the manufacturing principle is approximately the same in all cases, regardless of the materials used and the richness of the decor. Read how to make beautiful wooden signs for your home here.
First of all, the head, neck, torso, wing frame and legs are made, which are connected with fastening tools.
The remaining time is devoted to the rather painstaking procedure of cutting, fringing and decorating the feathers - they will make up the plumage of the bird’s body, neck and tail. There are homemade options without using plastic bottles, but they are less common. Let's take a closer look at different options for making a stork in this article.
About stork chicks
After the storks have built a nest and the chicks have hatched from the hatched eggs, the real fuss begins. Parents will feed them from morning to evening. They are always busy looking for water and food for their chicks. From birth, storks feed on insects.
The food that the chicks grab on the fly is thrown into their mouths from the beaks of their parents. And the water smoothly flows into the beak of the chicks. All this happens within the first two months. The chicks feed very well and gain weight quite quickly.
Storks have a not very pleasant feature - they get rid of sick and weakened chicks.
Young birds that have become stronger and matured begin to look for food on their own, without their parents. They feed on snakes, insects, lizards, frogs, various rodents, etc.
Materials and tools for garden figure
The stork figurine consists of a head, beak, neck, body, legs, wings and white plumage with layers of black feathers. All parts are fastened together with a furniture stapler and seated with universal glue.
The stork's body can be cut out from a wooden block of the required size, polystyrene foam or a 5-liter plastic canister.
To make a stork you will need:
- 1.5 and 1 liter plastic milk bottles;
- plastic bottles of 1.5 and 0.5 liters for kvass or beer;
- canister 5 l;
- scissors;
- knife;
- glue;
- self-tapping screws;
- a piece of foam;
- corrugated tube;
- steel rods;
- frame mesh;
- thin wire;
- sandpaper;
- furniture stapler;
- red acrylic paint.
The stork's plumage is also made from transparent bottles, but then the plastic under the feathers should first be painted with white and black acrylic paints.
Conclusion
- The most labor-intensive work on a garden stork is creating its plumage - each feather must be worked on by hand, giving the edges a jagged or fringed shape so that they look like natural bird feathers.
- Feathers from transparent bottles should be painted white and black so that they imitate the natural plumage of a stork.
- Before painting the feathers, they need to be wiped off from dust and rubbed with an alcohol solution so that the paint goes on evenly.
- The easiest way to make a stork is to make it entirely out of foam and sharpen it with a knife and rasp to the desired shape; the simplest wing without a frame is made from a piece of plywood, which is screwed to the homemade body with self-tapping screws.
- The body with a neck can be made from a plastic 5-liter canister with a cut off handle and neck, into which a corrugated tube is then inserted.
- You can make garden sculptures and stone crafts from leftover building materials lying around after renovations, and it will cost almost nothing. Additionally, you will only need to buy acrylic paints in order to draw the eyes and color the feathers.
Support and foundation of the structure
The main requirement for the support (tree, pole and roof) is that it must be strong so as not to wobble or break under large birds. It is necessary to take into account both the parental weight and the weight of the offspring: one stork, standing on the wing, “pulls” 4 kg, and the average stork usually has two to five chicks.
Don’t forget also that Siberian Cranes love to modernize and strengthen their home, making it heavier from year to year. The weight of such a “nest” can vary from several centners to a ton.
