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Don't Delay Making Birdhouses Easy and Advanced Projects Optimized DOCX Download

This book provides detailed instructions for constructing birdhouses suitable for various bird species, including bluebirds, wrens, and martins, with projects ranging from simple to advanced. It includes essential construction guidelines, materials recommendations, and tips for placement and maintenance to ensure the safety and comfort of the birds. Additionally, the book features a supplement with beginner-friendly projects and emphasizes the ecological benefits of providing homes for wild birds.

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454 views23 pages

Don't Delay Making Birdhouses Easy and Advanced Projects Optimized DOCX Download

This book provides detailed instructions for constructing birdhouses suitable for various bird species, including bluebirds, wrens, and martins, with projects ranging from simple to advanced. It includes essential construction guidelines, materials recommendations, and tips for placement and maintenance to ensure the safety and comfort of the birds. Additionally, the book features a supplement with beginner-friendly projects and emphasizes the ecological benefits of providing homes for wild birds.

Uploaded by

benhbuchn.guyenphyn.h
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Making Birdhouses Easy and Advanced Projects

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Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2005, is a somewhat altered


republication of Permanent Bird Houses, originally published by The Bruce
Publishing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1924. For the Dover edition,
the orginal introduction, acknwoledgment, sections on stucco houses,
sparrow traps, and birdhouse contests, as well as the index, have been
dropped. A supplement of 20 plates from Boy Bird House Architecture, by
Leon H. Baxter, published by The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, in 1920, has been added under the title “Easy Projects for
Beginners.”
International Standard Book Number
9780486154206

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation


44183004 www.doverpublications.com
This book is affectionately dedicated to the memory of my Mother.
“The little bird sits at his door in the sun
Atilt, like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o’errun
With the deluge of summer it receives:
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings:
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest
In the nice ear of nature which song is the best.”

From The Vision of Sir Launfal, Lowell.


PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Besides adding color and beauty to our gardens, wild birds consume vast
quantities of weed seeds, harmful insects, and other pests. For these reasons
many people like to feed and provide homes for the birds. This book shows
you how to construct a variety of homes specially designed to appeal to
such species as bluebirds, wrens, purple martins, woodpeckers, robins,
nuthatches, tree swallows, chickadees, and others.
Here you’ll find measurements and construction diagrams for building
both simple and elaborate homes—from a one-room wren house to a forty-
two-room martin house. You’ll learn what kind of woods and other
materials to use, along with such essentials as ventilation, cleaning, where
and how to hang or place the birdhouse, and how to discourage cats and
other predators. The author also provides plans for bird feeders, observation
houses, and shows how to make birdhouses out of such nontraditional
materials as tin cans, coconuts, and gourds.
Some of these projects are challenging enough to satisfy the experienced
woodworker, while a special supplement (pp. 57–80) includes eighteen
houses ideal for the beginning birdhouse builder. Whatever your skill level,
you’re sure to find a suitable project here, one that will provide hours of
entertainment and rewarding activity. Best of all, while you’re enjoying this
fun and satisfying hobby, you’ll be helping birds survive and flourish in
suburban backyards, farmyards, city lots, parks, orchards, and other
environments.
Table of Contents

Title Page
Bibliographical Note
Copyright Page
Dedication
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
PERMANENT BIRD HOUSES
EASY PROJECTS FOR BEGINNERS
PERMANENT BIRD HOUSES

BIRDHOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Before building a birdhouse, the maker should have in mind the kind of
house he is going to make; whether it is for martins, bluebirds, or wrens. An
architect, when planning a house, must know whom he is working for, the
size of the family and the particular taste of the occupants. The same applies
to birdhouses.

ESSENTIALS OF A BIRDHOUSE
1. House built for certain kind of bird.
2. Correct amount of floor space.
3. Proper depth of house.
4. Right sized entrance, proper distance from floor.
5. Arrangements for cleaning.
6. Means provided for ventilation.
7. Good exterior finish.
8. Smooth interior, free from nails.
9. Good construction, tight joints.
10. Quarter-inch hole bored in floor of house for escape of moisture.

If it is desired to make a house practical, it must be built for a certain type


of bird. A house that would suit a family of martins would not suit a family
of wrens. Each bird builds a different kind of nest which varies in size and
shape.

CONSTRUCTION
The house should be built of good material to make it durable. Cypress,
poplar and white pine are excellent materials. They are cheap in price, easy
to work, and weather well. The joints should be tight to prevent drafts. Nails
and screws should be set in and puttied over. Birdhouses should be built
with the idea of giving the birds forty years of service.

FINISHING BIRDHOUSES
The birdhouses described in this book may be finished as follows: A
martin house may be painted white as that has proved to be a satisfactory
color. The paint protects the wood and the birds take to this color. A number
of martin houses finished with white paint by the author were all occupied.
An old established firm that specializes in the manufacture of birdhouses
finishes martin houses with white paint. Martins will also build in rustic
houses.
Bluebirds will build in a house that is finished in brown, gray, or green.
They prefer these colors to any other. They also like rustic houses.
The wren will build in a house of most any color. The colors, brown, gray
and green are recommended because they blend with the landscape and do
not make the house so conspicuous. The wren will build in anything from a
coat pocket to an empty shoe.
Rustic houses, made by nailing bark on the outside, generally prove
unsatisfactory. A house made in this fashion draws and holds dampness, and
the bark becomes worm-eaten and drops off, lasting but a season or two. Do
not confuse this type of house with natural wood boxes. Natural wood
boxes are made from a hollow branch or some part of a tree and are covered
with natural bark. This type of house generally weathers well and makes an
excellent home for birds preferring rustic houses. Any type of bird box can
be made rustic by staining the outside dark and applying two or three coats
of spar varnish.

DON’TS FOR BIRDHOUSE BUILDERS


1. Don’t place a martin house in or near a tree or other obstruction. It
may be placed from fifteen to fifty feet in the air, situated so as to allow the
martins to circle.
2. Don’t make the porches on a martin house too narrow.
3. Don’t make the opening in a wren house less than ⅞” in diameter. It
should be the size of a quarter of a dollar. English sparrows cannot force
themselves through such an opening.
4. Don’t build a house unless some way is provided for cleaning and
ventilating it.
5. Don’t paint the inside of a birdhouse.
6. Don’t fail to cover the entrance to a martin house with cardboard or
screen after the martins leave in the late summer. Open again at the date of
arrival in the spring. This keeps the sparrows from using the building for
winter sleeping quarters and eventually building their nests before the
martins have time to establish themselves.
7. Don’t make the perches square. A round perch is superior.
8. Don’t place a house made of tin or with a tin roof directly in the sun.
Better build with wood.
9. Don’t have ventilating holes lower than the entrance.
10. Don’t make the entrance on a level with the floor, as the young birds
are in danger of falling from the nest.
11. Don’t place the houses too close together.
12. Don’t have more than one entrance to each room.
13. Don’t place a railing around the porch of a martin house.
14. Don’t leave the inside of the house rough. It should be smooth and
free from nail points.
15. Don’t fail to bore a quarter inch hole in the floor of each house to
allow the escape of moisture.
16. Don’t make the perch on a wren house too long. It should be short to
prevent larger birds from standing on the perch and attacking the young in
the nest.
PLATE I
JUSTAMERE WREN HOUSE

PLATE II
THE LANTERN WREN HOUSE
PLATE III
CORNER. WREN HOUSE

PLATE IV
CATHEDRAL WREN HOUSE

PLATE V
THE HEXAGON WREN HOUSE
PLATE VI
THE DUPLEX 2 ROOM WREN HOUSE

PLATE VII
THE “CLOCK” TWO ROOM WREN HOUSE
PLATE VIII
BUNGALOW WREN HOUSE

PLATE IX
SUMMER HOME FOR. JENNY WREN

PLATE X
OBSERVATION WREN HOUSE

WREN HOUSE
A wren house should have the following dimensions: Floor 4″ × 4″;
depth 6″ to 8″; entrance should be from 1” to 6” above the floor, and the
diameter ⅞″. This is large enough for a wren and too small for a sparrow,
which makes the wren house sparrow-proof. Most wren houses are
provided with a perch, although the bird can manage without one. The
perch helps the bird, especially when building, as it furnishes a landing
place when putting in the nesting material. The house should be placed 6 to
10 feet above the ground. (Plates I to X.)

BLUEBIRD HOUSE
A bluebird house should have the following dimensions: Floor 5″ × 5″;
depth 8″; entrance should be from 2″ to 6″ above the floor, and the diameter
1½″. A bluebird house is more practical if it has a perch, but it is not
absolutely necessary. If the wood is painted it makes a smooth surface but is
harder for the bird to obtain a footing. A bluebird will build in a swinging
house which the English sparrow does not like, thus protecting the bluebird
from these pests. The house should be placed 5 to 10 feet above the ground.
(Plates XI to XVII.)

MARTIN HOUSE
The rooms in a martin house should have the following dimensions:
Floor 6″ × 6″; depth of room 6″; entrance 2½″ in diameter. The martin is a
medium-sized bird and requires a large entrance. Experience has proven
that 2” is the proper distance for the entrance to be placed above the floor.
An entrance placed on a level with the floor endangers the young birds
which might fall out of the nest. Likewise the higher entrance prevents rain
from blowing in upon the nest.
A porch from 4” to 6” wide on a martin house is a necessity. The martin
enjoys a wide porch on which it can rest in the sun. Never place a railing
around this porch. The house should be 15 to 20 feet from the ground.1
(Plates XVIII to XXVb.)

PLATE XI
THE ROUND HOUSE BLUEBIRD HOUSE
PLATE XII
JAPANESE LANTERN BLUEBIRD HOUSE

PLATE XIII
“OCTAGON” TWO ROOM BLUEBIRD HOUSE

PLATE XIV
THE COTTAGE FOUR ROOM BLUE BIRD HOUSE
PLATE XV
ENGLISH COTTAGE 2 ROOM BLUEBIRD HOUSE

PLATE XVI
JAPANESE BLUEBIRD THIS HOUSE WON SECOND PRIZE IN A
BIRDHOUSE CONTEST
PLATE XVII
OBSERVATION BLUE BIRD HOUSE

PLATE XVIII
THE CABIN 4 ROOM MARTIN HOUSE

PLATE XIX
THE “COTE” 12 ROOM MARTIN HOUSE
PLATE XX
THE PLAZA 18 ROOM MARTIN HOUSE

PLATE XXI
THE COLONIAL 11- ROOM MARTIN HOUSE

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