Cobwebs can be a contentious topic during spooky season. Whether you are an eager and early embracer of all things eerie or you prefer to wait until closer to the designated day of Halloween to enjoy your haunts, cobwebs can be part of many types of spooky seasonal decorations. But which cobwebs should never be part of your holiday décor?

The Best Cobwebs

First of all, natural cobwebs, spiderwebs, and insect silk are very beneficial for many types of birds. Insects caught in such webs can be plucked by hungry birds, including wrens, warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, and many more, providing a nutritious, high-protein snack. The silk itself can be a fabulous nesting material, offering a binder with good tensile strength as well as elasticity for growing nestlings. True insect silk and cobwebs will naturally decay, ensuring safety should any cobwebs be overused or become entangled around delicate appendages.

The Worst Cobwebs

Unfortunately, unnatural cobwebs are much more widespread in autumn – the cheap, stretchy fibers that may be spread over bushes, fences, trees, and other yard features to add an element of creepiness to the season. These cobwebs can be dangerous, even deadly, for birds.

Because these are not natural fibers (even if they claim “Real Cotton!” on the packaging), they are much stronger and unable to quickly decay. They can trap birds, wrapping around wings, legs, and necks to cause injuries or even fatalities. Birds that become entangled may never recover from the experience, even with dedicated rehabilitation from a proper wildlife rescue.

Furthermore, even if birds do not become directly entangled, these artificial cobwebs can trap birds and restrict their behavior. If such cobwebs are strung across bushes or hedges during the day while birds are roosting, the birds may be unable to leave their roosts later on. This can disrupt migration and may even lead to such Halloween horrors as starvation if birds are unable to escape to feed.

The Neutral Cobwebs

This does not mean, however, that spooky silks cannot be part of outdoor Halloween decorations. Larger webs made of cords or strings – rather than stretchy fibers – can be great options, adding seasonal ambience to anyone’s yard or fence. Similarly, larger plastic or metal webs that can be mounted in corners are also great choices that won’t harm birds.

The key is that these neutral webs must have spaces large enough for birds to move through the webs with ease. While there may be some small spaces near the corner or center of the web, adjacent spaces in the geometric design would easily provide escape routes.

Bird-Friendly Solutions

This does not mean there is no place whatsoever for stretchy webs in Halloween decorations. Ideally, such webs should be used indoors only, where they are no threat to any birds.

If artificial webs are to be used outdoors, larger-spaced webs are the best option. If stretchy webs are preferred, confine their use to spaces where birds won’t be at risk, such as twisting them over a mailbox, faux gravestone, on a front door, or on a lamp post – so long as it is not a favorite or frequent perch. Restrict using stretchy webs to a smaller time frame, such as just a few days before Halloween, and remove them immediately after the holiday so fewer birds may be impacted.

Are webs part of your Halloween decorations? Be sure you are opting for the best kind and using them in a way that won’t pose a risk to birds!