At the moment, there are few hollow trees in big cities, and it is difficult for birds to find a home. Let's help them and make a birdhouse with our own hands. In this way we will save the birds from the cold. In this article we will look at: how to make a birdhouse with your own hands?
- Use linen gloves to avoid driving the splinter.
- Wear safety glasses to prevent sawdust from getting into your eyes.
- The working tool (knife, saw) must be sharp. Remember that a blunt tool can easily injure you; it is poorly fixed in the wood and tends to slip off.
- Check the functionality of power tools.
- Use a ladder when hanging the finished birdhouse.
- If you want to paint the birdhouse, use unscented, water-based paint that is not bright in color. Try to make the bird house invisible to predators.
The best material for making a birdhouse is natural hardwood, for example: oak, aspen, linden, birch. Also suitable for a birdhouse are fiberboard (fibreboard), chipboard (chipboard), and plywood. You can use thick cardboard, but such a birdhouse will only last a couple of months. You should not use coniferous wood, as it produces sticky resin and negatively affects the health of the birds.
You will need: untreated hardwood boards, nails 4 cm long, impregnation or odorless, non-toxic water-based paint (optional), hacksaw or jigsaw, tape measure, hammer, pencil, drill with a 5 cm cutter, brush.
Birdhouse drawings
We present to your attention options for drawings of future birdhouses. When assembling the birdhouse, do not neglect the safety rules described above.
Drawing No. 1 Birdhouse with a slope to the back wall
Drawing No. 2 Birdhouse with a pitched roof
Drawing No. 3 Birdhouse with a gable roof
- Connect the front wall to the side walls, hammer nails along the edges and center of the board. (You should get a U-shaped design).
- Assemble the back wall and bottom of the structure using the same method.
- Nail a wooden bead to the bottom to round the internal corners.
- Do not forget to fix all the elements of the future birdhouse with nails.
- Make a removable birdhouse roof for later cleaning of the birdhouse. It should consist of two parts: the main part and the bushing.
- The roof of the birdhouse should protrude beyond the dimensions of the birdhouse itself from the facade, so that precipitation does not get inside the birdhouse.
- Place a board or perch in front of the entrance to the house.
- Choose a place to install the birdhouse; it can be a tree, a pole, or the roof of a house.
- The mounting height of the birdhouse must be at least 3 meters.
- When securing the birdhouse, tilt it forward to prevent moisture from getting inside.
- It is better to attach the birdhouse to a living tree using wire or rope.
- You can attach the birdhouse to other surfaces using nails and a hammer.
- The birdhouse should be in the shade so that it is not exposed to direct sunlight and the birdhouse does not heat up.
- The tap hole should be directed in the opposite direction from the wind.
- Do not install birdhouses nearby - starlings do not like neighbors.
Ideas for birdhouses made from scrap materials
It’s hard not to appreciate a birdhouse made from wine corks! To create such beauty you will need: a ready-made birdhouse, wine corks, a glue gun, a sharp knife. Glue the wine corks horizontally to the walls of the birdhouse, then vertically - in the center where the entrance hole is located. Cut wine corks into thin circles and glue them to the roof of the birdhouse like tiles.
Paint the birdhouse with waterproof paints, and it will look stylish, bright and exclusive!
A birdhouse made of wicker is the most interesting house for birds!
Don't rush to throw away your old shoes! After all, even from it you can make a house for birds.
Remove the pulp from the pumpkin, dry it and make a birdhouse!
You can decorate the birdhouse in any way you like, the main thing is to show your imagination!
Making a birdhouse from cardboard is not difficult. And for birds, such a house will last a whole season. Protect the birdhouse from moisture by coating the cardboard with varnish.
Don't rush to throw away plastic bottles and make a birdhouse. It won’t take you much time to create such a birdhouse! Imagine and create nice house for birds of any shape. Create with passion and love, then everything will work out!
Taking a family of birds under your wing is a noble and pleasant task. And the first step towards this is the construction of a bird house. You can easily make a birdhouse familiar from childhood with your own hands, but for each type of bird there are design and placement features that must be taken into account before inviting new neighbors to the site.
Classic wooden birdhouse
A birdhouse of the simplest design consists of a square bottom with a side of 13-15 cm, side blanks 30-35 cm high with a slope in the upper part are cut end-to-end to the size of the bottom, the end and back parts should be 2-4 cm wider for fastening.
The difference in length between the back and front walls of the birdhouse should be calculated so that the slopes fit tightly to the lid. Another piece is cut to size and attached to the inside of the removable roof, providing a seal and the ability to open the birdhouse for cleaning.
Another option is a house with a pitched roof. Two identical blanks are overlapped on the trapezoidal façade and rear wall. Such a roof should not be nailed tightly to ensure access to annual cleaning and disinfection.
A round entrance hole is made with a distance of 5-6 cm from the top edge and a diameter of 4-5 cm. There should be sufficient space (10-15 cm) for the nest in the lower part of the structure, protected from the wind.
The birdhouse parts are fastened together using nails or self-tapping screws and wood glue.
The roof slopes protect from excess moisture; they should protrude slightly from the sides to protect the walls as well. The joints should fit neatly, without gaps, adjacent to each other. You need to avoid unnecessary decorative elements on the walls and facade, which can become a place for moisture accumulation.
Pine boards or deciduous trees thickness from 2 to 4 cm. Fibreboard and chipboard are not recommended, since the smells of chemicals contained in their composition can scare away birds.
For the same reason, the internal surfaces of the birdhouse are not treated with varnishes or paints. The outside can be sanded and made into a waterproof coating.
Wooden birdhouses are a good object for realizing creative abilities. They can be painted and decorated, but it is better not to use glass or other light-reflecting materials. Photos of ready-made birdhouses of different styles will help you choose the most suitable option.
Duplyanka
In order to cut a birdhouse from a wooden block, it is more convenient to use a chainsaw. Brief instructions for creating such a birdhouse are as follows.
To begin work, you need to firmly install the deck in a vertical position. The proposed cut is divided into three equal parts: the upper one for the roof slopes, the middle one for the hollow and perch, and the other third for the nest.
First, the upper slopes for the roof are cut at an angle of 45 degrees. Then, as smoothly as possible, the core is removed along its entire height and an entrance hole is cut. And only after this the birdhouse is cut off from the deck along the bottom line.
Bird houses made from scrap materials
Boots, bags, lamp shades, similar-sized containers with necks, dried pumpkin - can become building material for a bird house.
Before you make a birdhouse with your own hands, you need to remember to maintain the correct proportions to accommodate the nest.
You also need to take into account that the entrance hole should allow the inhabitants to pass through, but not be too large, for the sake of their safety. A homemade house should provide protection from moisture and wind.
Birdhouse installation
The ideal place for a birdhouse is a tree trunk free from branches. A triple-length wooden beam or pole is attached to the back wall, which is fixed by wrapping it with wire.
Then you need to give the birdhouse a slight forward tilt using a small piece of wood placed between the trunk and the house. This will protect the chicks from falling and make it difficult for enemies (cats and crows) to get to them. The entrance, and as it is also called, the entrance, should face south or southeast to avoid cold winds.
Another option is to attach it to the facade of buildings. But you should not hang or place the house on the branches; it must be stable and securely fastened. For comfortable living, you also need shade to protect from direct sunlight. 
The bird house must be mounted at a height of 2.5 to 5 meters, out of the reach of cats and other hunters. It is worth taking care that there are no steps or branches that will help them get to the nest.
Often, a traditional perch in low-mounted birdhouses becomes a support for unwanted guests to enter. 
Photo of a birdhouse with your own hands
In this article we will make birdhouses with our own hands - correct, beautiful (simple and unusual) bird houses. I decided to break down this topic of birdhouses into clear points, this will make it easier to navigate through the article. And before I give specific drawings and diagrams for assembling birdhouses, and tell you how to make a birdhouse, we will talk about important things– the location and method of attaching your birdhouse. After all, the model of the house also depends on what fastening methods you have available, and on whether you will mount your bird house on a tree or on special high structures. And one more thing... before moving on to choosing the design of your future birdhouse, we will deal with the most common mistakes in making birdhouses (in order to avoid them in our homemade house). So here you will find answers to the following questions:
- How to attach birdhouses on wood (types of fasteners for bird houses)
- Where can you attach birdhouses ( if there are no trees nearby).
- Main mistakes when creating a bird house.
- How to help the birds choose your birdhouse.
- Drawing and assembly diagram classic birdhouse.
- Multi-seater, multi-apartment
- Bird houses non-standard forms.
- Birdhouses from non-traditional materials(from boots, canisters, teapots, pots, etc.)
More ideas and tips on how to make bird houses in the article
After studying this article, you can make a birdhouse yourself for a competition in kindergarten or school. Or buy a ready-made set of blanks for a birdhouse– assemble it and decorate it according to your own design.
How to attach a birdhouse
on the tree.
Birdhouses are usually tied to a tree with a rope. To do this, a thick long beam is nailed to the back wall of the house. It is leaned against a tree and a rope is wrapped around it many times - wrapping the beam and the tree trunk at the same time.
But in the West, birdhouses are often nailed to a tree (it’s harder to tie, easier to nail, although it’s cruel to an adult tree). To do this, the back wall of the birdhouse is made a little higher in height - so that there is a protrusion of the board on top where nails can be driven in.
In the same way, you can make this upper projection of the back wall even longer. Long enough to drill a hole in it and hang it on a rope or iron hook as in the photo below.
You can also drive a hook into the roof of the house and use it to hang a birdhouse on a chain or rope on a thick and strong tree branch at your dacha.
SUPPORT FOR THE NIGHTBOOK.
In addition to wood, any tall structure made from scrap materials can serve as a support for a birdhouse. This could be a large branch cut from an apple tree. It can be dug into the ground. But you should understand that on such a support the birdhouses will be too low above the ground, and it will be easy for cats to reach the house (this will alarm the bird). This support model is good in cases where there are no cats in the area and you have a quiet nook in the yard where even your “human foot” almost never sets foot.
Therefore, to maintain a sense of bird safety, it is necessary to make high structures of supports for wooden birdhouses. For example, such as in the photo of bird houses below.
Also, an original portal in the form of a pergola can serve as a support-pedestal for a bird house. But also for places with infrequent traffic. If people wander back and forth through this portal, the birds will not want to settle. It is better to place such a pergola in a quiet corner of your garden and not visit it often. Birds will appreciate the solitude and wilderness and will choose this place for safe breeding.
But in the photo below we see that holders for simple wooden birdhouses can be very different from beams with decorative carpentry, to ordinary old garden forks stuck into compacted earth.
Also, the support post for your new birdhouse, made by yourself, can be interestingly decorated with fresh flowers. If you plant a climbing plant near a pole, or hang pots of flowers as in the photo with birdhouses below.
MAIN ERRORS
in bird houses.
Very often you can see WRONG birdhouses made with errors. Such beautiful painted bird houses are certainly cute and beautiful, but the birds don’t want to live in them. And the houses just hang empty on the tree - purely for decorative purposes.
Let me tell you what mistakes craftsmen make in making birdhouses. So that the bird house made by your hands is not only beautiful, but also initially correct. Then the birds will like your homemade birdhouse at first sight.
MISTAKE #1
entry hole too low.
The window-door in the birdhouse must be located at a height of at least 30-40 cm. This height is needed so that the bird has the opportunity to create a nest at the bottom of the house.
By the way, the photo above is an example of another fastener - a metal U-shaped bracket is nailed to the roof of the bird house (like an eye for latch bolts).
Look, on the transparent birdhouses in the photo below we can see that the bird is dragging more branches into the house. And if the window is low, the branches will block the exit from the house and it will be impossible for the bird to get out of it. And the bird itself does not want to sit in a nest where its head will be level with the window, it will be so anxious. It is much safer if the window is high - and the wind does not blow on the wet, unfledged chicks, and the mother bird feels safe.
By the way, the photo above shows the original model of the birdhouse, the back wall of which is made of glass with suction cups. Such a house is mounted on a window in a large house and you can watch the birds settling in the nest. You just need to comply with the condition - a window. In the place of the window glass where you plan to mount such a birdhouse on suction cups, you must first seal it with tinting film - so that the birds do not suspect third-party observation.
MISTAKE #2
hole too big.
Starlings will not settle in a house with a door large enough for the cat's head. Cats love to climb trees in search of nests of defenseless chicks. And such a house with a large hole is easy prey for them.
The small hole of the birdhouse was not invented in vain. The cat's head and paw should not fit into the hole, but starlings and other birds should calmly climb inside. Therefore, when you make a birdhouse with your own hands, make a small hole in it.
Only if you live near a forest line and are making houses for owls flying in the vicinity, then a large hole will of course be appropriate.
MISTAKE #3
BRIGHT COLORING of a bird house.
If you do not live in a blooming jungle, and if the house you are planning is not designed for parrots with bright plumage, there is no need to paint it in bright colors. Birds trust only natural colors and natural materials. This birdhouse is good to use as a designer piece for your living room or as a piece for a competition for a school or kindergarten. But birds will not live in it.
Mossy, aged houses are much nicer for feathered mothers than sleek, glamorous, smoothly planed apartments.
And if you want your bird house to be original and beautiful, then know: you can make a decorative glamorous design in natural shades. Here in the photo below is just an example of such a house, which at the same time looks chic from an aesthetically human side and does not scare away birds at all with its bright colors.
But the houses dearest to the feathered heart are dwellings with maximum disguised as an ordinary hollow on a tree. After all, starlings initially settled in hollows. From time immemorial it has been this way - it is embedded in their bird genes: to look for a hollow. So make them an artificial hollow from unhewn bark slab boards(sold as firewood).
Or your house made of planed boards, take and additionally decorate as a living hollow- cover (or cover) it with twigs, branches and pieces of bark.
Birds love houses made of unplaned wood, with elements of bark and rough branches.
MISTAKE #4
There is no bird stand.
It is inconvenient for birds to climb the smooth boards of a wooden house. It's hard for them, their little claws slip off.
This is especially important for the INNER SIDE of the walls of the birdhouse. It is better to line the inner front wall with small slats-ladders (so that the bird inside can climb along them to the exit window).
Or nail a piece of bark, or an old grater, or, in short, any ribbed and rough surface to the inner wall of the birdhouse. Or place a short inclined board inside the birdhouse (from the bottom to the window) so that the bird can climb up this slide to the exit of the house.
Also, if the outside of your birdhouse is made of smooth planed boards, make sure that the bird has a footrest.
These could be simple twigs or branches that you cut while pruning apple trees in the garden.
These can be river pebbles glued with hot glue from a glue gun. Or, instead of pebbles, you can stick on logs of branches (cut them into round saw cuts and paste them over the house).
Any old, rusty thing from the barn is suitable as a stand for the birds' legs - a door hinge, a valve from water pipe, faucet, reel from an old fishing rod, rake, aluminum fork, key. Anything can become a perch-stand in a homemade birdhouse.
Such things will only add originality and creativity to your simple bird house.
WHAT ELSE
we can
HELP THE BIRDS.
In addition to hard branches, to build a nest, birds need soft material - tufts of dry grass, moss, feathers, rag debris, pieces of paper, which they collect everywhere themselves, spending long hours on low-level search flights.
Why not make the bird's work easier and place a construction warehouse next to the bird's home. Housewarming in your birdhouse will come much earlier if everything you need to create comfort is located next to the house.
You can collect bunches of grass yourself, tear the cotton wool into pieces and place it in such a way that it is easy for the bird to pull out pieces of material from this construction warehouse. There is no need to tie the grass into tight bunches with thread - the bird will not be able to pull the grass out of the tight bunch. You need to make storage out of a mesh container.
You can hang a box with rags, cotton wool and moss nearby. To prevent the wind from blowing the material away, the box can be covered with a mesh (metal) or plastic mesh, which we place on the bottom of the kitchen sink.
Or weave and twist balls from flexible branches and insert cotton wool, centipon and pieces of chopped newspaper or toilet paper inside such woven balls.
Even holders for bird fleeces and rags specially made for this purpose are sold. They are installed or hung next to birdhouses.
Material for the construction of birdhouses.
MATERIAL for the house must have the correct thickness and texture characteristics.
THICKNESS. Boards 2 cm thick. This thickness of a wooden board will better retain the heat of the house. After all, nests are built in the spring, when the nights are still quite cold and even frosty.
TEXTURE. As I already said, the boards should be rough (slab boards with unplaned bark are suitable). And if you only have smooth planed boards, you can stuff pieces of bark on them with nails and stick them on liquid nails (thick adhesive from spray cans).
Or create artificial roughness - scratch the inner wall of the birdhouse with a knife - make notches for the bird to cling to. Or nail pieces of bark onto the inner wall, several slats one after another like a ladder, or nail a grater or a piece of insulation (it is made of foam and it will also be convenient for the bird’s claws to climb on it).
IT IS FORBIDDEN make houses from glue boards (plywood, chipboard, fiberboard - these materials contain adhesive resins, they emit toxins that the birds may not like. I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but they say that resin pine boards are also not suitable for a birdhouse, which is because of the warm In the sun, the resinous board heats up and releases stinking resin, and I haven’t tested it, so I can’t say that it’s harmful.
Now I will give diagrams and drawings of simple houses. But I’ll immediately make a reservation that your designs can be completely different in shape and size. You are free not to adhere exactly to the outline from the project below. As you already understood from the photographs above, there are a variety of houses.
But the logic of the sizes must be preserved... And this logic is as follows.
What are the dimensions of a proper birdhouse?
Window hole size(called a tap hole) – no more than 5 cm in diameter. So that the crow cannot stick its head into the birdhouse and eat the chicks. And the cat's head didn't get in there either.
The height of the tap hole-window– at least 20 cm from the bottom of the house. So that the wind from the window does not blow on the nest of the chicks, and that the chicks are not near the entrance - because of the danger of meeting a crow's beak or the clawed paw of a cat.
Birdhouse height - at least 35 cm. You can do it a little higher, but remember that if you make the ceiling too high, then such a high-ceilinged house will be harder for the birds to heat (warm air will go up and the birds below in the nest will freeze).
House width- (that is, the square area of its floor) should also not be very large. A spacious house is not considered cozy and a wide nest requires a longer time to build. The bird will be tortured to fill such a spacious house with twigs. Therefore, we try to stick to the bottom size of 15 x 15 cm (or 20 x 20). That is, if you are making a wide house, then put dry grass there in advance (the bird will only be happy).
As you can see, these dimensions are dictated by the logic of survival in wildlife . And the right birdhouse is the one in which all these features are observed.
Well, now let's move on to the drawings and diagrams.
Here I collected ways to make a birdhouse in the form of diagrams and drawings. You can choose your house model and estimate what parts you can assemble it. And remember, it doesn’t matter if your sizes differ slightly - we make them from available material and therefore the sizes will depend on our availability.
Here is another drawing of a birdhouse, although here the dimensions are given in inches. It will be easier for you to convert inches to centimeters if You ask your wife for a measuring tape for patterns - the one she uses to measure the circumference of her losing weight during a diet. On such a measuring tape, centimeters are written on one side and inches on the other. This way you can always see a quick conversion of any inch size to centimeter.
These drawings do not take into account one more CONDITION. In the Soviet birdhouses of our childhood there was always a clear rule: the front front wall (the one with the hole) should be tilted forward. This was done so that the starling could climb up such an inclined hill to the exit from the house.
To maintain this slope, you need to make 2 side walls from the rear edge straight vertical– and from the front edge obliquely(we see a similar principle of oblique side walls in the photo below). Only in this example does the birdhouse have a triangular side section. And in Soviet birdhouses there was such a slope, but at the same time there was also a normal bottom, so that there was enough space for the nest.
Below we see a drawing of real Soviet birdhouses from our childhood. True, the dimensions here are given in inches.
But if your house does not have a bevel on the sides, then to make it easier for the bird to escape, you can put an inclined board on the front wall on the inside of the house (it will perform the same function as a ladder).
Now let's look at birdhouses of another unusual shape - a rhombus. Here he is in the photo. The idea is certainly beautiful, the house turned out elegant and decorative. But from a practical point of view, it would be better for the birds if the window was located closer to the left or right edge - then the inclined plane of the wall would serve as a support for the bird to comfortably climb out.
And also in this house that drawback what a window too low- there is no place for a nest - it turns out that when the bird puts grass and twigs there, the height of the chicks will coincide with the height of the window - and they will look straight out and any crow will pull it out with its beak and devour it without a twinge of conscience.
An intelligent feathered mother would never choose such a dangerous house for housing - and it will just hang in your garden, and you will wonder why the birds do not move into the birdhouse.
Here is a drawing of a similar house, but here the entrance hole itself is located much higher - it’s better that way. Or better yet, raise it right under the roof of the birdhouse. The bird will approve of this option.
MULTIPLE APARTMENT
bird houses.
And here are the options for simple multi-place birdhouses. You will see a variety of options. Only here not all apartments will be inhabited; the side houses in the photo below have a too low entrance. If only it were the same design - but with higher side turrets (or higher entrance holes).
And in this photo too, the central house will be inhabited - but there is no side wall (the entrance hole is too low). Therefore, you can make this design, but know that the side parts of the house will only serve a decorative function. And the bird family will occupy only the middle apartment.
And here (in the photo below) is a multi-person version, where all three houses are made according to the rules for the height of the entrance and the height of the house. Such birdhouses will be completely populated.
Here nice option– the houses face different directions of the world. By the way, it is recommended to mount the house so that the window faces the south or east. The main thing is not to the north, the birds also need the sun.
It just seems that such a house is difficult to make. In fact, once you start drawing a drawing of a house, you will realize how simple it is. No more complicated than the designs you made from construction sets in your childhood.
You can design simple cell houses. In a row, like mailboxes in the entrance. Here's a good option in the left photo. But in the right photo it’s not very good – the entrance is low. Not suitable for starlings, maybe for some other birds, I don’t know...
And here is another project for a multi-seat birdhouse. Here, each cell (except for the middle one) is a separate house with an exit in its own direction. If this drawing is changed and the height of the house is made larger and the opening of the entrance is raised to a height of 20 cm, then the starlings will appreciate such a communal apartment.
And here are more options for beautiful and lived-in birdhouses for several bird families at once.
Or you can make it very easy and simple model– a birdhouse in the form of a shelf shelf, with opening holes, as in the photo below. Only one drawback needs to be eliminated - here in the model below the houses are not large enough in height - it is necessary. It is necessary to make the height of the shelves at least 35 cm, and raise the entrance 20 cm from the bottom of each shelf-flat. Then the house will be inhabited.
DECORATION OF NIGHTBOOKS.
Decorative stylized birdhouses look very beautiful and can serve as decoration for any spring garden.
Bottle caps can serve as a decorative material (and at the same time as an insulating material). Any available material can become a decorative and finishing material when building a house for starlings.
Pieces of laminate or linoleum left after repairs can serve as material for a layered “tiled” roof of a house.
Just never stop thinking about the birds. And if, for example, you chose a sheet of tin to create the roof of a house, think about how such a roof will rattle when it rains. The bird will go crazy with fear as the drum drops echo loudly in the house. Then you need to add a sheet of sound-insulating material (foam or foam rubber) to such a roof.
You can also create a whole green garden on the roof of the house. If you cut holes in parts of the house, put black soil there and plant plants. Pieces of moss or lawn take root well.
As well as special plants related to ground cover. That is, those that grow like a carpet covering the soil, in the same way they will grow on your house not upward, but outward like a carpet. This will add thermal insulation to the house. And most importantly, it will allow the birdhouse to merge with nature - and the birds will feel safe in such a cozy shelter disguised as a natural dugout.
WHERE TO BUY A NIGHTBOOK.
Birdhouses are often sold in hardware stores, construction stores also have them, and everything for the garden is in the department.
They can also be purchased from individual craftsmen. There is such a well-known site called “Fair of Craftsmen” - we go to the site and in the old “site search” we enter the word “birdhouse” and all the pictures of birdhouses with prices and addresses of the craftsmen immediately pop up. You place an order and receive it by delivery or mail.
Here I have highlighted original creative works for myself Masters Dmitry(You can see his profile below).
And the same master also has works like these on sale. Do you want to buy such an exclusive birdhouse for your dacha. You are welcome to Masters Fair to the author Dmitry (tik-kem).
But the works Sergei from the same Masters Fair. Also cozy pictures of antiquity, brought to life in the form of birdhouses.
There are also a lot of options on this site. ready-made sets For self-assembly houses. It’s nice to buy such sets, assemble them – AND THEN CONCEIVE YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL DECOR (cover them with twigs, cover them with moss, turn them into a toy house, or a fishing shed, or a cartoon character.
Company Workshop No. 13 on the website of the Fair of Masters offers a lot of kits for assembling birdhouses, as well as paints and painting schemes for such houses.
If the house kits of this company are expensive for you, then there are other craftsmen who sell the bases for birdhouses at a much more reasonable price. For example Master Cat– holds good price. You get an excellent, solid house and use your decorating imagination to the fullest.
DIY birdhouses
from NON-STANDARD MATERIALS.
Any available material can be adapted into a house for starlings. Previously, before human intervention in bird affairs, starlings found any holes in the natural environment to build a nest there. Therefore, they still do not pay attention to the external shape and material - as long as it is safe. Boots are just boots, you don’t have to choose. Moreover, it is very warm there.
There’s this picture floating around the Internet – maybe it’s photoshopped, or maybe in a deep forest such a nest turned out to be safe enough for the bird. If the tree is tall and inconvenient for cats to climb, then the bird will find this a good place to breed.
You can try to design any item in your dacha as a house for starlings and titmice. What if he likes it? The ceramic pot holds heat well and does not drum in the rain.
But an iron kettle cools down quickly on a cold night, and when it rains it rattles like a drum, so it is not suitable.
Houses can be made from old cans. But just cover them with thick wooden boards to avoid the roar of rain.
Old wicker baskets with a hole in the side can be turned into an original house for birds - just make the entrance higher and so that the walls are not blown through, do not be too lazy to insert a tab sewn from heat-insulating material inside.
HOUSES for WINTERING birds.
Many of you will go to Google to look for more interesting drawings for birdhouses, in which case I want to warn you right away. DON'T BE CONFUSED NESTING HOUSES (designed for nesting and hatching chicks WITH HOUSES FOR WINTERING BIRDS (the purpose of which is to provide temporary overnight accommodation for birds during the cold winter season).
Winter houses are distinguished by the fact that…
- The inlet hole is located in them down(so that warm air rises and remains in the upper part of the house).
- In such houses they cram perches, on which the birds can sleep on a harsh winter night, protected from the wind and cold.
And in winter, in addition to houses for cold weather, birds need feeders. I already have the same voluminous and detailed article on making a wide variety of bird feeders with your own hands
Now, you know everything (or almost everything) about birdhouses and houses for hatching chicks. A bird house is essentially a simple craft. Anyone can do it.
And if you didn’t find your birdhouse design here, then I have another article on the same topic. Perhaps your future birdhouse is located right there -
Good luck with your work. And let the birds celebrate their feathered housewarming this spring. After all, it’s so nice to feel like the one WHO BUILT THE HOUSE.
In our country, with our salaries, not everyone can afford to build houses. But even if you cannot yet build a house for your family, you have already done a real job if you have built it at least for a family of birds. More will be added to this little. After all, the magic of a house made by your own hands is already working to ensure that your family also celebrates a housewarming.
Magic begins when we begin to do a good deed, with our own hands.
Olga Klishevska, especially for the site
When the house for the owners of the site is built, it’s time to think about the other inhabitants of the surrounding area. Our helpers, birds, also need housing. What it will be depends on the type of birds that need to be attracted to the garden.
"Building standards" for a birdhouse
When choosing housing, birds are guided not by the beauty and elegance of the structure, but by its safety and functionality. Birds are guaranteed to settle in the garden if a number of conditions are met:
- the birdhouse is made of hardwood;
- the thickness of the walls of the house is at least 2 cm;
- During assembly, no glue or materials based on it were used: plywood, fiberboard, OSB.
Fresh wood from coniferous trees is unsuitable because it releases resin that glues the feathers together. In addition, birds do not accept strong odors, so instead of glue, nails or screws are used to hold parts together.
You can make a birdhouse from an old pine board without resin pockets
The parameters of the house determine which species of birds will choose it. Most birds recognize their future home by the size of the entrance hole. Taphole diameter:
- for starlings - 4.5–5 cm;
- for redstarts - 3.5 cm;
- for tits - 2.8–3.5 cm.
If you cut the entrance too wide, the nest will be easily accessible to predators. There is also a high chance that squirrels or large birds will settle there.
Squirrels are funny neighbors if the owners of the property don’t mind treating them to their berries and nuts
Try not to exceed standard sizes birdhouse:
- height - 30–35 cm;
- bottom inside - 12–17 cm.
Otherwise, the birds will hatch too many chicks, some of which will die due to underfeeding. Let the parents better raise 2-3 healthy cubs.
Birdhouses are home to not only starlings, but also sparrows, flycatchers, swifts, all types of tits and redstarts.
Every bird has a favorite house design
It is not necessary to make a perch on the birdhouse. Magpies can sit on it and destroy the nest. The thresholds on the house also do not attract birds. Due to the structure of their paws, it is uncomfortable for them to stand on a plane.
Birds do not need thresholds on birdhouses
Gallery: drawings and diagrams of birdhouses
Restless sparrows are the most common inhabitants of gardens A birdhouse with a flat roof can be made in a few hours A birdhouse with a raised roof is not the safest option for birds A house with a bottom of 12x12 cm is suitable for tits 
A birdhouse with a hole diameter of 3 to 4 cm is suitable for the smallest birds. After cutting out the birdhouse parts, sand the cut areas. The simplest birdhouse for redstarts is with a square hole. Wagtails and flycatchers often nest in houses with a hole the full width of the wall.
Birdhouse decoration
The less attention the home attracts, the better for the birds. It is advisable not to paint it or add bright details. A house made of untreated wood - best option. As a last resort, use odorless paint to match the color of tree bark - gray, brown or dark burgundy.
Birdhouses made of thin plywood that are too brightly colored are used only for decorative purposes - to decorate the garden, birds are unlikely to settle in them
Another thing is decor with natural materials. Pieces of bark, twigs, and moss will decorate and camouflage the nesting area.
Bark and branches hide the home from the watchful eye of predators
Gallery: birdhouse decor
A birdhouse decorated with pebbles may scare away birds due to glare 
Small tree cuts decorate the house and do not irritate the birds 
A birdhouse in the shape of Baba Yaga's house will decorate any tree. Wine corks will additionally insulate the walls of the house. The gift birdhouse is covered with carvings. Birds are unlikely to live in a birdhouse made of branches due to the numerous cracks. By gluing the planks onto a birdhouse painted white, we get a half-timbered house 
By gluing the birdhouse with saw cuts, the cracks are sealed with moss. You can stylize the birdhouse as a country house. When making a birdhouse with children, draw cartoon characters on the walls. The birdhouse is often stylized as a fairy-tale house. An interesting solution is to use a perch instead water tap Sometimes bird houses are made in the form of animal heads 
The decor in the form of a tree trunk on the facade really decorates the birdhouse. Garden designers have figured out how to combine a flowerpot and a birdhouse. If you don’t know how to draw, draw a birdhouse with lines using a ruler and paint it
Birdhouse made of wooden planks with a flat roof
Spring is coming soon again and my husband and I decided to make the right birdhouse for our winged friends. Our last house was chosen by squirrels and turned into a nut warehouse; it turned out to be too big for the birds.
Now the choice fell on the simplest design of a birdhouse with a pitched roof.
Tools:
- hammer;
- screwdriver;
- drill and drill bits;
- jigsaw or saw.
Materials:
- meter board 10 cm wide - 1 pc.;
- meter board 15 cm wide - 1 pc.;
- nails and screws.
Step by step instructions:
1. Mark the boards according to the drawing.
The drawing is needed so that all the details of the birdhouse fit together
2. We cut out all the parts except the bottom and the roof tenon. Using a chisel, we make notches on the inside of the facade so that the chicks can climb to the exit.
When cutting the board, press it firmly against the surface so that it vibrates less.
3. We get 2 sides of the birdhouse measuring 10x30 cm, the front and back are 15x30 cm, the roof is 15x25 cm. We deliberately increase the roof overhang to protect against predators.
There is no need to sand the surfaces of the boards
4. On the front wall, with a pencil and a ruler, we mark an entrance with a diameter of 3 to 5 cm, depending on the type of birds expected in the garden.
Measure the middle of the bottom and sides of the facade, draw lines and mark the entrance at their intersection
5. Drill a hole inside the tap hole circle.
First, a hole for the jigsaw knife is drilled in the facade
6. We insert a jigsaw knife into it and cut out the tap hole.
Move the jigsaw slowly to prevent the knife from flying off
7. We hammer nails into the outer walls at the fastening points so that the points stick out a little.
If you hammer the nails in early, they are less likely to bend.
8. We assemble the body from the 4 walls of the birdhouse in the following order: facade, side walls, back.
The nails are hammered into the walls slowly so as not to bend
9. Take a board 10 cm wide, apply it to the place where the bottom of the birdhouse will be and mark the cut line. We do the same with the roof spike.
Do not cut out the bottom in advance, first assemble the body and measure the actual dimensions
10. Saw off the listed parts. We insert the bottom into the body and fix it with nails.
11. We nail the tenon to the roof from the back side.
The roof spike protects the birdhouse from precipitation getting inside
12. Place the roof so that a canopy is formed over the entrance. We drill holes for the screws and screw the roof on.
After a year, the roof can be unscrewed to clean the birdhouse
13. The birdhouse is ready.
A birdhouse made from untreated boards will merge with the tree bark and will not attract the attention of predators
Master class on making a birdhouse - video
Duplyanka
Birds include birdhouses made of logs into the category of luxury housing. To make a nest box, the middle of a log 30–50 cm long and 30–35 cm in diameter is hollowed out with a chisel. After drilling the tap hole, boards or saw cuts are nailed to the bottom and top of the body.
Starlings and tits happily settle in nest boxes
Making a nest - video
Birdhouse made of plywood with a gable roof
If you have scraps of moisture-resistant wood-laminated board, you can make a birdhouse from it. However, due to toxic fumes from plywood, most likely, the house will only be a decoration in the garden.
Tools:
- screwdriver;
- drill;
- the drill is slightly smaller than the diameter of the screws;
- core drill with a diameter of 50 mm;
- saw or jigsaw.
Materials:
- plywood;
- self-tapping screws
Step by step instructions:
1. Draw a drawing.
A birdhouse with a gable roof is still better made from boards
2. Mark the plywood and cut it.
3. Drill a taphole hole on the façade using a crown. Drill a hole for the perch 4 cm below it. Make holes for self-tapping screws on all parts.
The house is assembled in the following sequence: facade, side walls, bottom, back wall, roof, perch, plank
4. Assemble the case without the back wall.
5. Place the structure with the tap hole down, install the bottom and back wall, and fasten it together.
6. Assemble the roof.
Holes for self-tapping screws are drilled in advance so as not to split the plywood when screwing them in
7. Insert a perch on the facade.
8. If desired, glue the decor and paint.
Birdhouses are painted with odorless products
How to make a birdhouse with a gable roof - video
Gallery: interesting birdhouse ideas
Any birdhouse will be transformed if you cover the roof with tiles. A birdhouse in the form of a barn with a sloping roof will decorate the lawn if you install it on a pole. Making multi-apartment housing for birds is a great temptation, but they will not be able to live together. Old license plates often cover roofs abroad. A birdhouse looks stylish with an irregularly shaped roof Eco-friendly tiles for a birdhouse can be made from wood The shape of the birdhouse does not have to be strictly rectangular Birds love round houses, as they follow the shape of the nest To make an unusual birdhouse, change the shape of the roof Modern birdhouses have strict geometric shapes It cannot be guaranteed that in two families will live in a double birdhouse Birdhouses with a gable roof leak, so it’s better to cover the ridge with tin A plot with a modern house will be decorated with a birdhouse with a sharp roof You can try to scare away cats by placing a plywood specimen on the birdhouse Unusual solution- a roof made of two cuts. A rectangular entrance is also suitable for birds. Sometimes decorative birdhouses are designed in the form of “dancing” houses 
A modern birdhouse can be very convenient for birds. A wicker birdhouse is very beautiful, but cold due to the cracks
Where and how to hang a birdhouse
The bird house is placed on a tree with a slight forward tilt to make it convenient for the chicks to get out of the nest. The entrance is oriented to the south side so that cold winds do not blow inside. The hanging height is not lower than 4 m above the ground. To prevent cats from getting to the chicks, increase the roof overhang by 5 cm from that indicated in the drawings.
Birds need to be protected from their natural enemies - cats
To protect against feathered predators:
- cover the entrance with tin;
- do not mount a perch on the birdhouse;
- make an entrance under the roof itself.
A long overhang and the absence of a perch are necessary protection measures against predators
To properly secure the birdhouse to the support, strips are screwed to the back wall. For them, the house is tied to the trunk with wire or synthetic cord.
To prevent the harness from growing into the bark, place a wooden or rubber pad under it.
You should not nail a birdhouse to a living tree. This causes great harm to it, especially during sap flow.
Pieces of pipe are driven into the ground, into which a pole with a birdhouse is placed
If you decide to place a birdhouse on the roof of your house, do it with an eye on the cats. Attach the bird's "cottage" to a two-meter pin covered with tin. But best place- under the eaves of the roof, perhaps under the ridge. Screw in a screw there and screw a metal eyelet to the house. There should be no objects around that the cat can get caught on.
For fastening strength, the metal eye for the birdhouse should have a pear-shaped cutout
There should be an open space in front of the birdhouse for birds to fly. Only tits love houses hidden deep in the tree crown. Usually they hang 1 birdhouse per 10 m2 of garden. If you place them more often, they will be empty.
Do not hang more than one birdhouse on a tree, the birds will conflict
Decorative birdhouse made from a plastic bottle
Birds very rarely nest in houses made of artificial materials. The so-called birdhouses from plastic bottles used only for decorating the garden and feeding birds.
Materials:
- five-liter plastic bottle - 3 pcs.;
- strip of burlap;
- perch;
- glue;
- paints;
- leg-split;
- branches.
Tools:
- knife and scissors;
- marker;
- brush.
Step by step instructions:
1. Cut a tap hole at the top of the bottle.
The entrance can be easily cut with sharp scissors
2. Cover the area under the tap hole on the inside of the bottle with burlap.
The burlap is needed to make it easier for the birds to get out of the bottle.
3. Under the taphole, 4 cm, make a cross-shaped cut for the perch.
4. Cut out the template for the tiles in the form of a trapezoid. Attach it to a two-liter bottle, outline it with a marker and cut it.
To cut out tiles, it is better to use bottles with a smooth surface; they are easier to glue.
5. Glue the tiles at the top of the house in rows from bottom to top. You will need 3 rows.
In order not to wait a long time for each row of tiles to dry, you can use a heat gun
6. Paint the house: the roof is brown, the walls are white.
7. Cover the bottom of the birdhouse and the space around the entrance with twigs. Insert the perch.
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