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Annual birdcage maintenance work is carried out in Latvia’s state forests

In order to reduce the multiplication of various forest pests, JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) annually produces and places several thousand birdcages. Simultaneously with the end of the nesting season in November, it is the start of the cleaning and repair processes of the bird cages.

Birds feed on insects, their larvas, eggs, and caterpillars; therefore, by placing bird cages in the forest, it is possible to significantly reduce the multiplication risk of forest pests, such as conifers and leaf beetles.

Forest birdcages have to be cleaned of all old nest material once every two years after the end of the nesting season. During the nesting season, the cage stores various remains of the old nest that are full of insect parasites harmful to birds - fleas, bloodsuckers, cockroaches - and also eggshells. The whole birdcage content has to be thrown out in order to abolish the parasites and free up the space for nesting in the upcoming year. The cleaned-out cage is attached back to the tree or moved to another place if the previous spot has become unsuitable.

LVM puts up the new birdcages in suitable forest properties in early spring - shortly before the return of migratory birds. These birdcages are mostly meant for various tit species, black flycatcher, redstart, and wryneck. On the other hand, forest-nesting species of woodpeckers - great tit, the Eurasian blue tit, and nuthatch - live in Latvia’s forests all year long and use the birdcages also for spending the night. Moreover, the small woodpeckers never use the same nest repeatedly - they always build a new nest above the previous nest. The new nest is consequently a more reachable prey for nest destructors, predatory animals and birds. Thus, it is important to clean the birdcage regularly.

Birdcages’ blemishes are corrected simultaneously with the cleaning process, for example, the broken wires are changed, and new roofs are laid. After cleaning the birdcage, the specialists draw a circle on the side of the cage with a tree-marking color to recognize that this cage is complete.

Thanks to regular cleaning, the practical lifespan of the birdcage can be increased even several times.