Another fine way to attract birds to your yard is by providing birdhoused for them.   Birdhouses will not attract all types of birds.  Birds that are ground-nesting birds like towhees and thrustes and birds that plaster their nests to tree limbs like tanagers won't be attracted to a birdhouse.  But any cavity nesting  bird like woodpeckers, bluebirds, and wrens will be attracted to a birdhouse.  Even barn swallows, robins, and phoebes will use a birdhouse if it is not an enclosed box but is an open sided nesting shelf.

Putting up a birdhouse can be a fun thing for humans as we watch the development of the baby birds and the nesting and feeding habits of the parents.  However, birdhouses are especially important for birds because there is a severe housing shortage for birds.  Many cavity nesting birds are having a hard time finding places to build their nests because wooden fenceposts have been replace by metal fenceposts, the building boom has depleted the large strands of trees, and because farmers and homeowners are cutting down dead or dying trees that could be used for their homes.

The best time of year to put up a birdhouse is in the dead of winter, say about late January or early February.  Cavity-nesting birds tend to be early nesters, and they will begin hunting for places to nest as early as January or Februray.  And many of these cavity-nesting birds, such as most woodpeckers, titmice, chickadees, and bluebirds are sitting on their first batch of eggs by March or April.   If you don't get your birdhouse up in time, and miss the first nesting period, don't fret, many of these birds will either raise second broods or replace failed first broods, so they will continue nesting through June.  So your birdhouse could still get tenants even if you don't get up your birdhouse until May.

The next step is to choose your birdhouse.  Plain, unpainted wood houses are very appealling since it looks like the 'real thing', however, fancy birdhouses are fine too.  You can even make a birdhouse out of a very large dried gourd.  Two or three basic sizes of birdhouse will suit most 'backyard' birds.

The diameter of the entrance hole and not the size of the box is what will determine what kind of birds will nest in your birdhouse.  A small entrance hole will keep out certain birds that you may not want to encourage, while a large hole will work for a wide variety of birds.  Whether you go plain or fancy, just make sure the birdhouse is well constructed.

Mount your birdhouse on a tree or pole with nail pounded into the backboard.  Some people like to place the birdhouse facing east so it catches the warm rays of the morning sun and also to keep out cold north winds and rain.   Just make sure the house is put up securely and can't be tipped by strong winds or climbing cats.

You can also keep up the birdhouses all year.  Many birds that stay all year, or even little furry friends will use the birdhouse during the winter to who are seeking shelter from the harsh winter winds.

Also, it is not necessary to clean out the boxes at the end of the season.  You can if you want, but it isn't necessary since birds faired just fine without humans cleaning up after them.  However, if you get a pest like a racoon or other predator, the adult birds will not use the nest again, so then do take it down and thoroughly clean it down and swab it out with a 10% bleach solution.

You can even make your own birdhouse.  You can make birdhouses out of logs, hallowed out and then mounted, or you can make the traditional house type birdhouse.  You can even make a birdhouse out of large dried gourds.  To do this, simply buy a large gourd and hand it to dry over the winter.  By spring it will be dry and ready to make into a birdhouse.  If mold appears on the gourd during the drying process, simply sponge it off with a mixture of 1/2 cup bleach and 2 quarts of water.  When dry, shake loose the seeds.  Cut a hole (the size of hole depends on what type of bird you are trying to attract) in the gourd, and then shake out the seeds.  If you want to decorate the gourd, coat it first with a layer of exterior latex paint.  Then you can paint on your design with acrylic paint.  Then drill a hole near  the stem end and insert strip of plastic twine to hang it by.
 

Choosing a Birdhouse Size

Size of Birdhouse	Floor Dimensions	Depth	Distance between roof and entrance hole	Mounting Height	Entrance Hole Size
Small	4" x 4"	6" to 8"	2"	6' to 15'	For chickadees - 1 and 1/8"  For downy woodpeckers, titmice, nuthatches, house wrens, Bewick's wrens - 1 and 1/4"  For Carolina Wrens - 1 and 1/2"
Medium	5" x 5"	6" to 8"	2"	5' to 10'	For bluebirds, tree swallows, violet-green swallows, prothonotary warblers - 1 and 1/2"
Large	6" x 6"	10" to 12"	2"	10' to 20'	For hairy woodpeckers 1 and 1/2 "  For great crested flycatchers, red-bellied woodpeckers, golden-fronted woodpeckers - 2"  For flickers, saw-whet owls - 2 and 1/2"
Extra-Large	8" x 8"	12" to 15"	3"	10' to 30'	For American Kestrals and screech owls - 3"
Jumbo	10" x 18"	18"	4"	10' to 20'	For wood ducks - 4"  For barn owls - 6"

Specific Birds You May Want to Attract

Back to the Main Page	Attracting Hummingbirds
Attracting Bluebirds	Attracting Orioles
Attracting Finches	Attracting Buntings
Attracting Woodpeckers	Attracting Tanagers

 

Since May 30, 1999