In Praise of the Basic Birdhouse

Enlarge Image Image Gallery This homemade birdhouse can attract a variety of birds to your back yard, including house wrens. MICHAEL OTTEMAN

The birdhouse my son and I built two years ago last fall is as plain and drab as brown burlap, the corners not quite square, the sloped roof a tad up-cupped from multiple seasons of Carolina weather. It’s not much more than a shanty compared to its heart- and flower-painted gift-shop counterparts. You’ll never see it featured in Fine Woodworking or Better Homes & Gardens.

But you will see it, or rather countless others like it, tacked to trees and fence posts all across this nation. It is the Basic Birdhouse, and though I can’t claim statistics to prove it, I’d bet my pocketknife it’s the most popular woodworking project in modern-day America. Little wonder. There’s a lot of beauty in that little nest box, when you think about it.

For starters, there’s the design’s simplicity. All you need to build this basic birdhouse are about an hour’s time, common hand tools, a few screws or nails, and lumber no fancier or more expensive than a standard 6-foot length of 1-by-6 shelf board, plus a scrap piece of 1-by-8 big enough for the roof. Use pine, cedar, spruce or whatever kind of wood you might have on hand — except of course wood treated with toxic preservatives.

Plus, there’s the little house’s versatility. Nail it to a tree or post 5 to 10 feet above the ground in or at the edge of open woods or shrubbery, and you’ll invite house wrens, titmice, nuthatches, chickadees and downy woodpeckers. And with simple changes, you can modify the design to make a bluebird house (more on the next page).

But the true beauty of this birdhouse is its collective power as protective breeding habitat for cavity-nesting birds. Natural homes are becoming fewer and farther between. Thank the chain saws, the housing developments, the road construction and the homeowners too quick to get rid of standing dead trees. At least some of that damage, though, is being offset. Thank the backyard nail-bangers who take the time to cobble together basic bird homes.

How to Build the Birdhouse

This time of year is perfect for building new nurseries for next year’s feathered nesters. The illustration in the Image Gallery shows the various parts and dimensions for the Basic Birdhouse. The following are some basic building tips:

1. If you’re starting with a 6-foot 1-by-6 board, cut off a 30-inch length and rip that piece to 4 inches wide. Then cut the sides, bottom, cleat and predator guard from the 4-incher. Use the remainder of the 1-by-6 for the back and front.