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Hazel's Woven Bird House
Hazel's Woven Bird House
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Hazel's Woven Bird House
Woven From the Last Cut of Silver Creek Grass
Hazel Pruitt, seventy-one. Fifty-three years at the weaving, a mother who hung sleeping baskets under the porch every fall, and seventeen winters writing down which ones the little birds actually slept in. Her mother knew they needed a bed. Hazel worked out which bed they'd take.
214 left · last harvest · no restock“People picture a little bird froze stiff on a branch. That's not how it goes. They don't freeze. They run out.”
Jan 7, 2014 — Six below. Smokehouse nest, tied in the cedar. Five wrens out at 7:52. Every one of them.
What arrives at your door
Why this one gets slept in, and a “hummingbird house” hangs empty all winter
A birdhouse is made for eggs and babies in May. From November to March nobody is nesting. What wrens, chickadees and titmice need is somewhere to get through a fourteen-hour night, when a small bird can burn up to a tenth of its body weight before sunrise. “What a little bird needs in winter isn't a nursery. It's a bed.”
Straw laid in overlapping tiers like an old cottage roof, sitting on a solid wooden disc that overhangs the room below. Rain runs down the layers and drips off the edge, never onto the doorway. “Mama's didn't have the disc. They'd slump by February. That was my first fix.”
A 1.4-inch entrance: big enough for a wren, a chickadee, a titmouse or a nuthatch, too small for a starling. Every fraction of an inch left off the door is warmth that stays inside. “Folks think a bigger door is friendlier. It's just colder.”
No corners for cold air to settle in, and sized for a handful of little birds to press together and share their heat, which is how they get through the worst nights. “They don't want a ballroom. They want to be packed in like biscuits in a pan.”
Hand-woven meadow grass, tight enough to stop the wind and loose enough to let the damp of their breath escape, so the room doesn't frost over on the inside by morning. “Plastic sweats. Plywood sweats. Grass breathes.”
A jute loop for hanging, and twine in the box to tie the body fast against a branch, trunk or porch post. A small bird won't settle in something that rocks. Opal Pruitt's rule, and the one detail Hazel says made the biggest difference in seventeen winters of notebooks: “A bed that rocks is a bed nobody sleeps in.”
“Most people who feed birds never think about the night, and the night is where winter does its damage. A chickadee or a wren can lose close to ten percent of its body weight between dusk and dawn, and has to eat all of it back the next day. Studies of natural tree cavities show a sheltered hollow can cut a small bird's overnight energy use by roughly a quarter to well over a third. The trouble is that the old hollows are going: dead trees get cut, barns come down, and yards get tidier every year. A woven roosting nest can stand in for that, but only if three things are right. It needs a roof that sheds water, a door small enough to hold the warmth, and it has to be fixed so it doesn't swing. And please don't buy one labeled for hummingbirds. They have never used one and never will.”
Dr. Margaret Ellison, Avian Ecologist
Cumberland Backyard Bird Survey
Perfect for
Quality you can check yourself
- Hand-cut Silver Creek meadow grass — undyed and unpainted, with no plastic, wire mesh or synthetic fiber anywhere on it. Nothing in the room but the grass it was woven from.
- A real roof on a solid disc — look at the top. Most woven nests are an open ball, and the rain goes straight in.
- The 1.4-inch wren door — measure it. It's the size that lets the little winter birds in and keeps starlings and the cold out.
- Tie-down twine in the box — because a nest that swings on a string is the most common reason woven nests hang empty.
- Last harvest, woven by hand — every nest woven by Hazel herself in her shed in Berea. The meadow is being built on this November. When these are gone, there is no restock and no second cut.
Hazel's Whole-Winter Promise
Winter doesn't run on a schedule, so this promise doesn't either. Tie it up and give it the winter. If the nest isn't everything you hoped (the weave, the roof, how it holds up to the weather), send it back for a full refund. No deadline, no forms, one email is all it takes. Shipping within the US is free.
A note on handmade variation and hanging it right: Every nest is woven by hand from natural meadow grass, so color, thatch length and the shape of the weave vary from one to the next. That's the mark of real handwork, not a fault. Out in the weather the grass will slowly fade to a soft silver-gold, the way an old thatched roof does.
The birds choose their winter beds in the fall and go in at dusk, usually a few minutes after sundown, so most people never see it happen. Hang it early, by mid-October if you can. Tie it firmly into an evergreen, a hedge or under a porch overhang, 5 to 10 feet up, with the door facing east or southeast and away from the prevailing wind. Keep it a few yards from your feeders and away from anything a cat can climb. Look for a few droppings or a small feather just inside the door. Three free things matter more than anything else: leave the lower branches on your evergreens, keep one untidy corner with a brush pile, and don't put any bedding inside; the birds prefer it bare. In late spring, once the birds have moved out, take it down, shake it out, rinse it with plain water and let it dry in the sun before hanging it again in the fall.
Product details
| Material | Hand-woven Silver Creek meadow grass, layered straw thatch, wooden roof disc, twig finial, jute hanging loop |
| Finish | Natural, undyed grass and straw, no paint, stain or sealant; weathers to a soft silver-gold |
| Set contents | 1 Winter Bed nest · tie-down twine · hanging card · shipped upright in a box |
| Dimensions (outer) | approx. 22 × 17 cm (8.7 × 6.7 in), including roof |
| Room | Round woven chamber, no corners, sized for a small huddle of little birds |
| Entrance | Round wren door, approx. 3.5 cm (1.4 in) |
| Roof | Overlapping straw thatch on a solid wooden disc, overhanging the room to shed rain |
| Mounting | Jute loop plus tie-down twine, to be fixed tight to a branch, trunk or post so it can't swing |
| Suits | Carolina and Bewick's wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and other small winter birds · a winter roost first, an occasional spring nest |
| Color | Natural straw and meadow grass |
| Siting | In an evergreen, hedge or under a porch overhang, 5–10 ft up, door facing east or southeast, away from feeders and the prevailing wind |
| Care | Once a year in late spring: take down, shake out, rinse with plain water, dry in the sun. Never disturb it while it's in use. |
| Made | Hand-woven by Hazel Pruitt in Berea, Kentucky |
| Availability | Last harvest — 214 only, no restock · 4.9 ★ from 1,860 reviews |
The Final Series
The Final Series
Message from the studio:
After forty-six years painting the Blue Ridge mountains from her window, a small stroke this past winter took the steady hand Eleanor Voss needs for the fine detail. She finished her three 2027 series — the American landscapes, the French villages, and the twelve famous-painting cats — in the last weeks the line still held. Every month is printed from an original oil painting. When these are gone, there is no reprint and no 2028.
Free US Shipping
Free US Shipping
Free shipping across the United States
- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Each calendar is carefully packed and ships from the US
- Printed from original oil paintings on thick, writable paper
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email support@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET) — whether it’s about your order, a gift, or just to say hello.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it in your kitchen, and if it simply isn’t right for you, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Every month is an original oil painting by Eleanor Voss near Boone, North Carolina, printed on thick coated paper with a twin-wire spiral binding and large writable date blocks. Three editions: American Landscape, French Town Scenery, and the whimsical Famous Painting Cat. This is her final complete series — no reprint.