EverydayBirdhouses.com

So a couple of weeks ago I put my ebook of “FREE Easy Birdhouse Plans” to good use and used the Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and House Wren nestbox plan and built myself a good looking birdhouse!!! What’s even more fun is we videotaped it!! So within the next week or so I will have that available on this site for download and you can watch me use the easiest birdhouse plans ever to build my first birdhouse.

Now I am not really the type of person that likes to watch myself do anything- as a photographer I like being behind the camera but I am a visual learner and I know so many others are too- so I wanted to create something that would show you exactly what you need, how to use it, what it looks like when you are building it and what you can expect when you are done!!! What that means for you and your kids is you can do it too!!!!

So here is how much it costs to build your own birdhouse!

*The beautiful peice(it was almost too nice to turn into a birdhouse) of pine wood was a 1″ X  6″ X 6′ so I had extra in case I messed up my measurements(which thankfully I didn’t)  it cost $10.50

*I bought 150 brass screws for $7 of which I only used 18(plenty left over for more birdhouses =)) so actual cost for screws used: $0.90!!!

*I bought a pair of hinges to modify the plan from a side opening nestbox to a top opening they cost $3.25

I borrowed the drill and 3 bits, the saw, all my measuring tools, a workbench and the wood glue (Dads are a great resource so are neighbors!)

SOOOOO the total project cost $14.65!!!!!

Get ready to Build a birdhouse….Save a bird!

Finally you say!!!

I know you were wondering if it would ever happen- a website devoted to birdhouses and no birdhouse plans? Well that was yesterday and today I have 3 super duper easy birdhouse plans!!!! Just sign up on the right side of the screen and viola’ all instructions for building and enjoying the fruits of your labor are at your fingertips =)

I am pretty proud of my FREE “ebook” if you will. The birdhouse plans are unaltered and used with permission by the U.S. Geological Survey.

 A quick rundown of what you will find included with these nifty birdhouse plans:

*Pages 2-3 include Materials needed to build a nest box, Tips on drainage and ventilation, How-to check the nest box, Tips on placement and preventing predators

*Pages 4-6 include 34 cavity nesting birds and the dimensions of their nest box or nesting platform

*Pages 7-8 includes the birdhouse plan for Black-capped Chickadees,  House Wrens and White-breasted Nuthatches. I included a color picture of the birds as well as breeding range, specific nest box instructions(if any) and information on nesting behaviors(incubation, egg description, and fledging)

*Pages 9-10 includes the birdhouse plan for Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds as well as the birds’ specific information.

*Pages 11-12 includes the nesting shelf plan for the American Robin and Barn Swallow as well as the birds’ specific information.

*Pages 13-14 is an extra bonus- the plans for a Johnson Bat House. I  included some important information about those plans and specifics about the Big and Little Brown Bat. (After reading up on these guys I should change my slogan to Got Bugs…Build a Bat house- they eat 3,000 to 7,000 bug a night!!!!)

These plans are easy enough you could do them with your kids(5 and older). They can measure, glue, drill and paint!!

I hope you enjoy the plans and the information!!!

Remember… Build a Birdhouse…Save a Bird!!!

Staring up at my empty birdhouse I listened to the bluejay and cardinal calls and wondered who the super smart people were that figured how to sound out a bird call in English. I mean did people submit their phoenemic guess and then everyone vote for the best. Do you really think the  American Robin says “cherrio.” I think the person that came up with that call was hungry or possibly even staring at their child eating cherrios. Couldn’t it have been any number of things “cheers”, ”sherry”,or “charlie”? Are these people  only experts found in Departments of Ornithology  or just well-known field guide authors?

It seems that even here in my humble home that there are bird song decipherers waiting to be released. Looking back at my early birding days I know from experience you usually hear a bird before you see a bird.  I have successfully learned most of the suburbian bird calls- Bluejay, Cardinal, Sparrow, Grackle, Ravens, and Chickadees. And it seems that this is a great track to be on- learn the common before the exotic. Go me! I loved this article on how to increase your bird call vocabulary.

So it’s not just me that wants to know what that bird is saying. Our 3 year old is a sponge in the knowledge department. We just found this site you can play a bird sound game and then look up the answer.  Today she and I played with Bird Songs from Around the World book. It has 200 bird sounds with pictures and descriptions. She loved pushing the buttons to hear the bird call. As she gets older we can use the information for school reports or pictures.

Aren’t birds awesome! If you haven’t done it already Build a birdhouse…Save a bird =)

This past weekend I went to Eustace, Texas and stayed with my mom at a friend’s lakehouse. It was absolutely beautiful and completly peaceful. I wanted to do only one thing- REST. So for 2 days we watched movies, slept, and my mom and I spent a great amount of time looking through these awesome Nikon Binoculars Action EX Extreme 10×50.

Both of us could use them soooo well. I’m 5′6” and my mom is barely 5′ so that’s saying alot =) The eye distance was easy to set and the diopter was already in focus. They were super comfortable in my hands and could be held for relatively long period of time. The birds we saw were all bright images and the focus was easy to adjust.  I looked through them so often I think at the end of the day I looked a bit like a racoon =) We had fun birding without kids running around scaring them away =)

These are the birds we spied with our little eyes(and binoculars =)): Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Mallard Ducks, Cooper’s Hawk, Forster’s Tern, Killdeer, Turkey Vulture, lots of Bluejays and Ravens, Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Bluebirds, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Double Crested Cormorants and last but not least on our way home without the aid of binoculars lots and lots of Cattle Egrets. We used the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition  and it was awesome!!! The book was well organized with index tabs and a bird family and quick-find index at the front and back of the book. As I mentioned in a previous entry I love how most of the birds you would see flying are pictured in the book in flight with their bellies and underwings depicted!!! That made the Cooper’s Hawk easy to identify. This book is my new best friend in birding =)