Birdhouses

[Tmann]

I built the wooden birdhouses several years ago. The gourd houses are from gourds that I grew about 3 years ago, let them dry out and then just drilled a hole in them and pulled out as much of the insides as I could. The birds didn't mind to have some of the gourd insides left in there. The pics were taken today.

 

[Jed]

Some nice pics there Tmann. You certainly have a beautiful garden.

I had a go at making birdhouses from old fence palings some years back. They sold pretty well at markets. Dimensions were important for the various birds that you were trying to encourage. Though I think most of mine were bought purely as a decoration in the garden.
I just remembered,I also built bat boxes to encourage micro bats to visit gardens. There's plenty of designs to follow.

 

[Tmann]

I have a bat house that my wife's grandfather made for me, but I never put it. I had read that the house needs to be on the south facing side of the house, and unfortunately for me that would mean that the bat house would have to be on the front of the house. No real place to put it.

 

[Jed]

I have a bat house that my wife's grandfather made for me, but I never put it. I had read that the house needs to be on the south facing side of the house, and unfortunately for me that would mean that the bat house would have to be on the front of the house. No real place to put it.

In the event others are interested in bat boxes here's a link to determine a suitable place to put it up once you've bought or made one.
http://voices.yahoo.com/where-place-bat-house-3185403.html

 

[claudine]

These birdhouses are great! I have a birdhouse too - it's just so nice to think that birds live there in our garden .
I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable with bat house in my garden, I'm so scared of bats . But I saw a few bat houses in a park near my home.

 

[Flourishes]

The birdhouses look nice. Yours is a beautiful garden to be sure, but having birds about makes it that much more special. Birds are like flying pieces of art.
It is really nice that you have provided them with several houses so that they too can enjoy your beautiful garden, and live there if they choose. I like it!

 

[Tmann]

I wanted to make a purple martin house for my yard but I am not sure I have any place to really put it. I have read that they like to have open space and my yard is quickly filling in with trees. Maybe I should make one anyway and give it a try. Has anyone built a purple martin house?

 

[DrCase]

I have a 3 story store bought one
I have it on pole mounted to my back fence , my back door neighbors have no trees so they have a good flight path in

 

[Tmann]

I have a 3 story store bought one
I have it on pole mounted to my back fence , my back door neighbors have no trees so they have a good flight path in

I have read where you have to keep an eye on it for sparrows and other birds that will take it over, as well as check on it periodically for mites on the babies. Do you do this or just let it be??

 

[DrCase]

I have mine on a pulley and a string to bring it up & down
i have cleaned it out a bunch
if you miss a year the martins will clean it out there self
And they run off most the sparrows
They scouts will be here in a few months to check things out

 

[claudine]

I found two pictures of beautiful birdhouses, I especially love the first one:

What do you think?

 

[Flourishes]

I wanted to make a purple martin house for my yard but I am not sure I have any place to really put it. I have read that they like to have open space and my yard is quickly filling in with trees. Maybe I should make one anyway and give it a try. Has anyone built a purple martin house?

This is the first time in my life I have ever heard of a purple martin house, but whatever it is, I say build it and give it a try like you are thinking of doing. If the purple martins need more open space than your yard has to offer, I'm sure that the purple martin house will make for good decoration.

 

[Becky]

They look great Tmann, I've been thinking about making a birdhouse myself. We've got a nut feeder on a yew tree in our back garden which seems to be quite popular with the small birds (and a squirrel who makes a daring leap for it and is sometimes lucky!), so I was thinking that it would be nice to get a bird bath and maybe a bird house too. Do you know when is the best time of year to put them up?

P.S. is that the head of the statue lying by it's feet? Who decapitated it?!

 

[Tmann]

They look great Tmann, I've been thinking about making a birdhouse myself. We've got a nut feeder on a yew tree in our back garden which seems to be quite popular with the small birds (and a squirrel who makes a daring leap for it and is sometimes lucky!), so I was thinking that it would be nice to get a bird bath and maybe a bird house too. Do you know when is the best time of year to put them up?

P.S. is that the head of the statue lying by it's feet? Who decapitated it?!

I leave mine out all year, but I do clean them out in the late winter, about now. I have a squirrel feeder as well that I just put deer corn in for them and they seem to like it. And YES you weren't supposed to see the statues head. About two years ago something had knocked the statue over and it must have hit a rock in my creek and fallen off. I had fixed for a while but once again something knocked the statue over and knocked it off. I couldn't find the head for a few weeks until I was cleaning out my creek, it had fallen and gotten knocked under a rock so I could not see it. Come spring I will again attempt to repair Saint Francis head!!!

 

[thelovelyone]

The bird houses are very pretty. Hopefully someday i will be able to make one or at least buy one. Do the birds really go inside the houses? I live in Florida and I seldomly see any bird houses around. Most of the birds just sit in the trees and they come down to eat when necessary.I plan to have a house within the next three years and I will definitely have a bird house in my yard. I love looking at birds and having them around. Right now, I just go to the park and watch them--can't wait until I'm able to step outside my home and watch them from there.