If you'd like to attract birds to your garden, build a birdhouse to provide them places to raise their young, and hang a birdfeeder filled with seed. Building a Birdhouse Kit Inexpensive birdhouse kits are available at craft stores. If you'd like to build more than one, use the kit as a pattern. Birdhouses make great gifts too. Whether you're planning to build from a kit or create your own birdhouse from scratch, consider incorporating the following features: A clean-out hole: the bottom may be removed to make end-of-season cleanup easier. An unpainted interior: birds like a rough surface that's easy to cling to. Air holes or vents to permit air circulation. A sloped roof to drain water away from the house. A ridge vent or shallow channel on the underside of the roof to prevent water from dripping into the opening (figure A).
Galvanized nails to prevent rust. If you like, you can personalize your birdhouses with paint, with hand-carving or by using wood-burning tools. Creating a Birdhouse From a Log To create a rustic birdhouse, find a cedar or birch log, and hollow it out. The process is a lot more work than building a kit, but the result is a great-looking birdhouse. Materials:
Log 4" to 8" in diameter
Drill and spade drill bit
Wood chisel
Galvanized nails
Plywood or shingle for the roof
Optional: dowel or twig for the perch
Fishing line
Optional: eye hook
- You can hollow the log by drilling out the center with a spade bit about two-thirds the length of the log (figure B) or by cutting the log in half, hollowing it out two-thirds of the way, then gluing it back together.
- Use a wood chisel to finish removing wood from the center of the log.
- Drill an entry hole for the birds.
- Add a roof made of plywood or a shingle, attaching it with galvanized nails.
- If desired, drill a small hole to accommodate a twig or dowel perch.
- Pound a nail into the back of the house, being careful not to go through the wall, or attach an eye hook. Use heavy fishing line to hang the birdhouse.
Birdfeeders Many types of birdfeeders are available in home-improvement centers, nurseries and pet stores. To attract a variety of birds, hang several feeders, and offer several kinds of food: wild birdseed mix, black oil sunflower seeds, cracked corn and thistle seeds. Occasionally add a small amount of clean beach sand or fine poultry or canary grit to the seed to help aid birds' digestion. Grit is retained in a bird's gizzard and helps the bird grind seeds. Provide fresh water daily. To keep the water in your birdbath from icing over in winter, you can purchase a low-voltage birdbath heater.
RESOURCES :
The Great Birdhouse Book: Fun, Fabulous Designs You Can Build
Model: 0806993340
Author: Mike Dillon
(June, 1999)
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
Website: www.sterlingpub.com
The Backyard Birdhouse Book
Model: 1580171044
Author: Rene Laubach and Christyna M. Laubach
1999
Storey Books / Storey Communications Inc.
Website: www.storey.com
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