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 li
ke 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!!!
This is a synopsis of a story I read about in the October 2007 issue of Guideposts, Where Bluebirds Sing Again, written by Frank Newell from Warrenton, North Carolina.
For many years he and his wife enjoyed watching the bluebirds return to their farm to nest in mid-February, usually in the wood posts of their fence. Over the years as Frank returned home for vacation from the military he noticed les
s and less bluebird songs. Where bluebirds used to be out collecting bugs for their new chicks, now there was clear cutting of the forests and more famers using metal fence posts instead of wood.
Starting to feel empty with retirement around the corner and no more of the bluebirds ”velvet soft warbling” he headed to his workshop. For the next week he put together bluebird house after house. Before he returned to work almost every birdhouse had a bluebird couple nesting. It was from that point on that Frank spent every vacation moment building bluebird houses. Other people also began to get involved.
One day they put together several different models to let the bluebirds examine. The differences were subtle- a smaller entrance hole or a different baffle tacked around it-the bluebirds could tell the difference and they picked the same house every time. He still builds slightly different models every once in a while to see if the birds tastes change.
His birdhouses started going up all over Warrenton and requests came in from all over North Carolina. In 1998, two years after he officially retired he set up a birdhouse factory outside Warrenton. Today he has shipped over 75,000 houses to almost every state in the country and he now works as a wildlife rehabilitator.
Awesome!! Build a birdhouse, save a bird!!!
Nest-box cameras- This is something that totally fascinates me!! I want to own one now!!!
The cameras fit inside a birdhouse and give you a fantastic view of its inhabitants. They use infrared optics and usually brodcast in black and white so that the birds can live in darkness.
These cameras then can be hooked up to your TV, VCR, or computer and you can record the nesting activity to watch later or you can watch it live. Cornell University has several nest box cams and they are so much fun to watch.
You can also set up a camera in front of your bird feeder or bird bath and get some great pictures. This is a great activity if you are a birder or if you have kids and you want them to learn about bird behavior.
Here is a link to a bluebird nest box camera from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
I just read a great article/bird interest story from the Mississippi Audubon Society. It was about the 2006 Operation Backyard Recovery. When we think of Katrina we think of massive housing and business damage, but we often forget that birds lost their roosting and feeding sites.
A well-known birder, Judy Toups recognized this problem and called for birders within the Missisippi, Arkansas and Lousiana 
areas to build and put up birdhouses wherever possible. The benefits of OBR were to provide a family oriented activity, to connect the local Audubon Societys, and to promote the Great Backyard Bird Count.
The Houses for Birds Program included birdhouses that were low-cost and easy to assemble and specifically focused on woodpeckers, titmice and chickadees. This project has engaged children and families and schools and fostered a true sense of service and appreciation for nature. To date, hundreds of birdhouses, built with recycled fence boards collected across coastal Mississippi have been placed across the coast.
Doesn’t that feel good!!! Build a birdhouse, save a bird. (I knew my slogan had roots somewhere =))
Did you know there is a ‘most wanted’ list for birdhouses. Can you imagine such a thing? Cornell University has a great ornithology department. Their website “The Birdhouse Network” mentions the usual birdhouse occupants: Eastern Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds and Mountain Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, House Wrens and House Sparrows but they are eager to learn more about the other “cavity-nesting” birds that don’t show up on their usual “Top 10″ lists. So they have given the public an assignment. One I am sure avid bird watchers will take quite seriously. Please if you want to help Cornell in their research department they are eager for you to set up bird houses a.k.a. nesting cavities for the following birds: Mountain Chickadee, Purple Martin, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Screech Owl, Great Crested Flycatcher, Bewick’s Wren and many more. Check out http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/outreach/most_wanted and see the birds and what kind of cozy home you can build for them!!
Build a birdhouse…Save a bird!
