Many from early childhood know how to make a birdhouse. After all, our dads and grandfathers taught us this. They made these wonderful boxes and hung them on trees, wishing in this way to instill in the child a love for all living things and arouse interest in work and creativity. Then there were sets of tools, all kinds of constructors, puzzles. However, birdhouses cut into memory and remain there forever. It is impossible to extinguish these memories. Now there is a great opportunity to return to childhood and make a birdhouse with your own hands. This can be done without the help of parents, teachers, grandparents, and thereby attract flocks of birds to your garden. If you place these structures on trees, then the birds will gladly settle in new dwellings. Read more about it below.
Features of the structure
Building birdhouses for birds on your own from the first time is not an easy task. However, it is quite resolvable. This text will describe in detail how to make a birdhouse. By following the instructions below, you can easilyGet into the details of the process. You will also be able to pick up a tool and material and proceed to the active phase. With the right approach, you can build a birdhouse in a few hours. However, for this it is necessary to deal with the material that will be used to make the birdhouse. You can use wood, plastic, plywood, even paper. However, any material requires pre-treatment. And for this you need certain devices.
Required tools
In this regard, everything is pretty simple. Before you make a birdhouse, you should make sure that you have the various necessary tools. Let's list the main ones. In this case, you will have to use:
- Carpenter's hammer.
- Chisels of different widths.
- Hacksaw for wood.
- Wooden hammer.
- Ruler, pencil.
- Drill, drill.
Types of birdhouses
First you need to decide on the size of this structure. The type of birdhouse will depend on this. There are several types of such houses. Namely:
1. Standard birdhouse.
In this case, its dimensions will be as follows:
- length - 16 cm;
- width - 15 cm;
- height - 40 cm;
- notch diameter - 5 cm.
2. Sinichnik. This is a small birdhouse. It will become a wonderful home for birds that are no larger than a titmouse. This isthe structure is suitable for different types of birds. Perhaps it will be sparrows, redstarts, pied. Or the titmouse themselves.
In this case, the dimensions will be as follows:
- width - 12 cm;
- length - 10 cm;
- height - 30 cm;
- letok - 3.5 cm.
3. Wagtail. This view has a ledge in front of the entrance. Here will be the following sizes:
- height, width - 15 cm;
- length - 30 cm.
4. Triangular birdhouse. This is a house for common pikas. Its hole is through. It has the following dimensions:
- width - 15 cm;
- height - 25 cm;
- letok - 3x6 cm.
If you just want to make a birdhouse for the forest or have no idea what kind of birds you have in your garden, then make a standard type. You just need to remember that, for example, tits like small comfortable houses more. In large ones, they feel uncomfortable. But the starlings will not fit in the titmouse. This is important to consider.
How to make a birdhouse out of a box?
This construction is very simple, it can be easily done in a couple of hours. Its disadvantage is that it is, of course, not very reliable and will last only one year.
This house can be made from any small box. To do this, you must perform the following actions:
- Glue the lid to the box itself. It must be securely attached.
- In the lid, cut a notch withabout five centimeters in diameter. The hole should be located no higher than 20 cm from the bottom. For complete convenience, the letok should be round. You can also glue the edges of the hole with a wide adhesive tape several times. And it will last longer.
- The back wall of the box must be very strong. After all, it is the foundation. It would be nice to stick plywood on it. Wooden planks are also suitable in this case. Instead of glue, it is generally better to use small self-tapping screws or brackets for fastening.
- To protect the birdhouse from moisture, you need to paint it with paint. It is desirable that it be odorless.
- And the last thing. Wait until everything is dry. Then the product should be fixed to the base.
You can make a cardboard house in the same way. Only with him there will be more trouble. You will have to sweat to connect all the parts and stiffen the cardboard itself. You can try to make a birdhouse out of paper. However, it is unlikely to be reliable.
A birdhouse from a bottle
The production of such a product will not take much time. An hour at the most, maybe less. To do this, you will need a plastic bottle with a volume of five or three liters. It all depends on the size of the birdhouse you need. Such a house is very similar to a feeder. All of them were made in childhood. But there are still small differences.
In such a birdhouse, you will have to make a standard notch. And everything else needs to be done as described above. The only, but significant disadvantage is that the bottles are often transparent. But birds need comfort and privacy. So in this casethe birdhouse will either have to be painted or pasted over with paper. You can mount this product by the handle of the bottle just on a tree. The care of these facilities will definitely be discussed below.
Wooden birdhouse
This design will take much more time, knowledge and effort. But the result of your work will be a durable and durable birdhouse that will serve the birds for more than one year. In this case, the main desire. Although it is much more difficult to make a wooden birdhouse, the efforts made will not be in vain. In addition to the set of tools listed above, in this case, you will need certain materials:
- Aspen or birch rough dry boards.
- Odorless paint.
- Wooden planks for reinforcement.
- All kinds of consumables.
When everything is already assembled, you can start designing a house. This requires the following:
1. Create a birdhouse project on paper. This is significant. You need to properly measure the birdhouse. A drawing of the designed product in this case is necessary. You should also calculate the amount of materials.
2. Then all dimensions should be transferred from paper to material. We cut out the necessary parts with the help of the tool. Referring to the drawing, we connect all the details with the help of nails or self-tapping screws. We will get a strong and cozy box. In order for this house to be very reliable, after connection, not a single part should stagger.
3. Then we make a ledge for the birds in front of the "entrance" to the birdhouse. This device serves for the convenience of birds who want to get into their shelter. And it usually consists of a small planochki. Birds love to rest on such a ledge. You also need to fasten it with nails.
4. Next stage. It consists in making a mount for installing or hanging a birdhouse. Most often it is a special hole on the back wall of the house. It can also be other fasteners - a clamp or a clamp.
Features of work on the specified structure
Making a birdhouse with your own hands is not a particularly difficult task. You just need to follow certain rules and listen to the advice of experts:
- The ideal material would be wood, as it is a fairly durable material.
- You need to use special wood. Birch, aspen, alder, other deciduous trees.
- Fiberboard, chipboard and OSB are not recommended. Firstly, they are toxic, and secondly, they are not durable.
- The smell of paint does not attract birds. So its use is not mandatory. If you still decide to take this step, then use odorless paint.
- Inside you can not make a perch. But the protrusion from the outside is better to attach.
- The inside of the birdhouse should be rough so that the birds can move comfortably. If the board is smooth, you will have to put notches on it. It can be donechisel.
- It is better to make the summer entrance round so that the birds do not get injured.
- The roof of this product can be built removable to make it easier to care for the birdhouse.
- It is also desirable to make the roof sloping so that moisture does not accumulate. Even it will not last long.
Installing a birdhouse
This is an important process. Making a birdhouse, the photo of which is provided in this text, is half the battle. This does not require special experience. But then it must be placed correctly. After all, if this house is poorly attached, and still in the wrong place, then it can roll over or, worse, fall.
Heed some advice about this:
- You need to take the choice of location seriously. For example, it can be the end of a house, a strong pole, a tree, a pole and much more.
- It is better to install a birdhouse no lower than three meters from the ground. And always in a place where a small predator like a cat, a marten or a weasel cannot reach.
- The birdhouse should be strengthened under a slight slope. That is, it must be placed so that raindrops do not fall into the notch.
- You can fix the birdhouse with the same nails and self-tapping screws. But if you decide to hang the house on a tree, then it is better to use clamps, you should not injure the tree itself.
Tip
In principle, you can install bird houses during the entire warm season. Feathers are there anywaysettle down. However, the ideal time is early spring. After all, the bird family needs time to settle down and have offspring.
How to care for a birdhouse
There is nothing complicated about this. After you yourself have made and installed a birdhouse, you, of course, want it to serve the birds as long as possible. And for this you need to constantly look after the house. How to do it? The answer to this question is quite simple. It does not require any extra costs or additional time. Everything is done simply and quickly. You just need to clean the bird house from dirt and feathers at the end of the season. It is also necessary to process it from parasites and store it in a dry place until next spring.
Conclusion
Doing something with your own hands (feeder, birdhouse, various garden structures and much more) is a very exciting activity. It is not a pity to allocate several hours a week, or even a month, for this work. After all, you are going to do very useful things. After you make a beautiful decorative birdhouse yourself, the desire to create further will certainly wake up in you. Such crafts will not only create comfort for your garden animals, but also noticeably decorate the interior of your summer cottage. After reviewing the above, everyone will be able to figure out how to make a birdhouse. But how exactly it will look - it depends on the individual desire. The main thing in this case is diligence, scrupulousness and patience. Everything is in your hands!