Bird Houses in Undisturbed Natural Habitat?

As my property is literally surrounded by undisturbed dense woods and some prairies and maze fields (disappearing as houses are built near the lake on and off the Escarpment), State Park, City "habitat", preserve and trails, over 200 acres of Audubon land, and undisturbed habitat for a few miles around, with undisturbed woods surrounding my house and around houses all the way down the 1 mile dead-end road leading to my house. We mow only a narrow strip of "grass", less than an acre, behind and in front of the house. Do I need to put up any bird houses??? If only to attract more varied species up to the feeding area???

Wouldn't my feeders and water be enough to attract? Surely with the dense junipers, old and new, and varied hardwoods, and dense undergrowth they would prefer that to anything man made? Or not????

We virtually never find bird nests in the trees or "shrubs" (undergrowth is too dense to casually penetrate) near the house but do occasionally find Carolina Wren nests in and under things right up at the house.

Eastern Blue Birds do habitat this area but I see them only one or two days a year. Do I need to put up some Blue Bird houses.

I had thought about getting a couple of clear backed houses that you stick up on windows to view from inside. I have the perfect window for that, that is almost entirely covered with vines and visited frequently by Cardinals and Wrens bug hunting. Its a big 6' X 6' window, shaded by vines and tree. Could I put more than one, clear backed house there for the wrens?

I have absolutely no objection to putting up any kind of bird houses. I just never thought they were needed.

Bat houses......... surely the bats have enough natural places to live? Or not???? We keep lights on around the pool (purified with ionization) at night that attracts bugs and bats but the numbers of bats have been down for about 10 years now. I am starting to see more though.

Please advise.

Thanks, gg=alice

Depends on how long the woodland has been undisturbed. It can take a couple of hundred years or more for woodland to develop the old and dead trees needed for good nest cavities. If the woodland is younger than that, putting up nestboxes is worthwhile.

Resin

The woodland is very old and undisturbed except for natural fires. We lost two big Red Oak trees that finally succumbed to, according to tree experts, building of the house in 1974 too near to the trees, along with the addition of pool too close to one, 1984 (before we moved in), and sprinkler system, 1984, near the other. I counted > 150 rings on each one.

An old timer told me back in the 80's that the "hill" has natural fires about every 100 years but that we were long over due for one, knock on wood. We don't do any tree/stump removal, trimming, etc., except right up near the house and mowed yard. Below the deck, and continuing on for about 40 ft along the courtyard wall, and the whole way, in the opposite direction, to the "real woods", along a small mowed patch, the wild comes up right to edge of deck and mowed area. I can't even "cut through" to two of my neighbors because it is too dense. I normally even leave fallen trees alone, unless presents a hazard to the dogs. It is the "same" for miles around. Some of the level areas were used for small, every isolated farms, in the 1800's but there is very little level land up here on the "hill". In the 80's I had a few goats, down the hill from the deck, in a pretty small lot, less than an acre, but protected the trees with hardware cloth. They basically kept the undergrowth down, in that small area, but much of it has returned. When we moved in here there were vines growing in through small cracks around the windows. I still have to keep them trimmed back from around most windows. The vines are mostly native Virginia Creeper, that flourishes out here, and totally covers the west wall, both stories, outside and part of the south wall. (With our blazing sun one takes advantage of anything that keeps the house cool.) I got rid of all the non-native jasmine and honeysuckle years ago.

gg=alice