Birds You Can Attract to BirdHouses

Discover the birds you can attract to birdhouses - because the best place to watch birds is right in your own backyard!

All it takes to attract birds to bird houses is water, food, and a place to build a nest.

Many birds nest in nearby trees, such as orioles, cardinals, goldfinches, but there are more than two dozen birds that will nest in bird houses.

A nesting-box, with the correct inside dimensions, and proper size of entrance for each species is given in the following list.

Bluebird

• floor, 5 by 5 inches
• depth, 10 inches
• entrance, 1 1/2 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 7 inches above the floor
• It may be mounted upon a pole; fastened to the side of a building; or to the trunk of a tree standing in the open
• at a height of from 8 to 15 feet above the ground

The most important factor is the hole diameter. It must be no more than 1 1/2 inch to deter starlings.

Purple Martins

• a minimum of 4 large rooms
• rooms 6 inches or more on all sides
• entrance 2 1/2 inch size hole, 1 1/2 inch above the floor

Gourds may also be made into houses.

Tree Swallow

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions,
• floor, 5 by 5 inches
• depth, 7 inches;
• entrance, l 1/2 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 4 inches above the floor
• It may be mounted upon a pole, and the pole may then be screwed or bolted to a post in the fence enclosing your prorperty.
When fastened to the trunk of a tree, be sure that one is chosen whose branches are high enough above the nesting-box to allow the birds freedom of access to their home, after the foliage has fully matured. The nesting-box should be placed at a height of from 8 to 15 feet above the ground.

Chickadee

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions,
• floor, 4 by 4 inches
• depth, 10 inches
• entrance, 1 1/4 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 7 inches above the floor
• It should be placed at a height of from 6 to 12 feet above the ground, and may be mounted on a pole or fastened to the trunk of a tree.
• All nesting-boxes for the Chickadee should be situated in open spots.
Possibly a nesting-box painted a dull white, simulating the color of a gray birch stub, would be more readily occupied by the Chickadee, than one stained a shade of brown or olive green. This is my suggestion, and worth trying, from the fact that the Chickadee when excavating its home in a dead tree prefers the gray birch, the decayed wood of which is easily removed by the tiny builder.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions,
• floor, 4 by 4 inches
• depth, 10 inches
• entrance, 1 1/4 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 7 inches above the floor.
• It should be placed at a height of from 10 to 20 feet from the ground, on the trunk of a tree.

House Wren

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions,
• floor, 4 by 4 inches; depth, 8 inches; entrance, 1 inch in diameter, with its lower edge 6 inches above the floor
• It may be fastened to the side of an outbuilding; to a tree in the yard; or, mounted on a pole
• In any of these situations, the height above the ground should be from 6 to 10 feet

Flicker

Nesting-box should have the following Inside dimensions,
• floor, 6 by 6 inches
• depth, 18 inches
• entrance 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 14 inches above the floor
• It should be fastened to a tree standing in the open, or a pole and at a height of from 8 to 20 feet above the ground.
• Trees bordering lanes, or near the edge of an open area should be selected.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions,
• floor, 6 by 6 inches
• depth, 16 inches
• entrance, 2 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 12 inches above the floor
• It may be fastened to the trunk of a tree standing in the open, at a height of from 15 to 20 feet above the ground

Screech Owl

Screech Owl: Nesting-box should have the following inside dimen- sions, — floor, 8 by 8 inches; depth, 18 inches; entrance, 3 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 12 inches above the floor. It should be placed at a height of from 10 to 25 feet above the ground, on the trunk of a tree among both pine and hardwood groves of fairly open growth, or fastened to one of the large branches of an apple tree in an ancient orchard.

Crested Flycatcher

: Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions, — floor, 6 by 6 inches; depth, 12 inches; entrance, 2 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 8 inches above the floor. It should be fastened on the trunk of an apple tree, or a hardwood tree standing in the open woods, about 15 feet from the ground.

Downy Woodpecker

Nesting-box should have the following inside dimensions
• floor, 4 by 4 inches
• depth, 12 inches
• entrance, 1 1/4 inches in diameter, with its lower edge 8 inches above the floor
• This should be fastened to the trunk, or a large perpendicular branch of tree, at a height of 15 feet
The Downy Woodpecker rarely raises a brood of young in a nesting-box, but frequently uses it as a winter sleeping apartment. However, by persisting in offering this species a suitable nesting box of the above dimensions, we may eventually be rewarded by its being accepted.

Woodpeckers will not occupy a nesting box that lacks floor covering, — the eggs would roll about on the bare floor, and prevent the parent bird from properly covering them during the period of incubation. It is also my opinion, that birds other than woodpeckers, that use various materials for the construction of a nest, are more readily induced to occupy a nesting-box having a layer of sawdust.



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