As you learn how to build a birdhouse, you can work alone or with kids. Birdhouse design is a fun weekend project for the whole family. While you make your birdhouse plans, you may be inspired by cute ideas for birdhouses built to resemble a gingerbread cottage or a log cabin. The birds in your yard are looking for a safe place to nest, so a simple birdhouse design will meet their needs too. Feel free to add paint or other accents.
This step-by-step guide teaches you how to build a DIY birdhouse using basic woodworking skills. Jump to Specific Section
Measure & Mark Wide Point
Measure and mark 5 inches from the bottom on both panel edges.
What Attracts a Bird to a House
Birdhouses only appeal to certain types of birds. Birdhouses are used by the same birds that build their nests in tree hollows and holes. Common species that can be found in a homemade birdhouse include titmice, bluebirds, wrens, and chickadees.
The final product of building a birdhouse using these instructions will be a medium birdhouse that is roughly 7 inches wide and 14 inches tall. By modifying the dimensions, you can customize the birdhouse design to appeal to particular bird species. Where you hang your finished DIY birdhouse is also important.
Wrens find birdhouses very appealing, but they like small houses. It would be ideal if it had an 8-inch-high base that measures 4-by-4 inches. It ought to be hung on a tree or post five to ten feet up.
A tiny house surrounded by tiny trees will draw chickadees and titmice. Both kinds of birds prefer dense natural habitats.
Bluebirds prefer living in mid-sized homes near open spaces. In these fields, they locate young bugs to feed their offspring. Tree swallows search for a place to nest or a house close to a field and bodies of water.
Wood ducks do better in larger houses that are 24-inches high with a 10-by-10-inch base that are located close to lakes, rivers, and streams. The same-sized house would be appealing to a screech owl if it were perched on an older tree’s trunk.
It is known that robins construct their nests on ledges or downspouts. If the area around a three-sided birdhouse has lawns with worms they can find, or older trees, they will use it.
You won’t see cardinals using the homemade birdhouse you construct. These birds would prefer to nest on a tree branch as opposed to inside a tree hole. A birdhouse with an open front, commonly referred to as a nesting platform or shelf, can be used by cardinals. It is open at the front, but it has sides and a roof.
Trim the Front and Back Panels
A 7 1/4-inch by 11 1/2-inch piece of wood is the starting point for each of the five-sided front and back panels.