What Makes a Good Wooden Bird House?

Whether building your own wooden birdhouse, or buying a prebuilt house, there are some things to be aware of. Here are some things to know about building or buying a birdhouse made from wood.

Let's take a look at the wood varieties often used in birdhouses:

One of the more expensive woods is mahogany. This is a favorite for use in wooden birdhouses, especially smaller ones. It is a denser wood, it weathers well, and is one of the most beautiful commonly used for bird house construction.

Cedar is a favorite because it gives a rustic look and can be used either unfinished or with protective weatherproofing. It's lightweight, has a pleasant smell, and is resistant to insects. If you leave it unfinished, cedar will weather to a grey finish but the wood still lasts a long time.

Cypress is another common material used for birdhouses. It's often used with other materials like copper and other decorative materials used for the roof top, to give the miniature house look that is common in birdhouses.

Pine is cheap and light weight, but it is probably the least durable of the wood choices. It can be a good choice for a painted birdhouse, as that will slow the aging process for the house.

You will want to consider other factors in the construction of your wooden bird houses.

If you decide not to leave a wooden birdhouse in its natural finish and paint it, be sure to use a paint without a lead base. Also even if you decide to keep the natural finish but want to weatherproof it, be sure to choose a non toxic coating that will stand the outdoor weather. Varnish doesn't weather well, but polyurethane is often a good choice.

After deciding the type of birds you want to attract to your birdhouse, you can make reasonable decisions about the feature sizes of the house. A key factor is the size of the entrance hole to the bird house. Smaller holes are used for birds like wrens.

To attract larger birds you will need not only a larger house, but with a larger house you will need a mounting scheme that will support that larger house. A pole mount is often used for larger bird houses, but a sturdy mount is the critical factor if you don't opt for the pole mount.

Wooden birdhouses are a natural enviroment for your backyard birds. Keep it natural and you will have a lasting home in your backyard.

You learn more about wooden bird houses at http://www.birdfeederz.com and you can also see a variety of other unique bird houses there as well.