Build a Better Birdhouse from One Fence Board

A good birdhouse is not a tiny cottage with a perch, curtains, and a welcome mat. Birds want a dark, dry cavity with a small entrance and a roof that does not leak. This weekend, build one from a single six-foot cedar fence board, usually about $8 to $12.

You will need a tape measure, pencil, handsaw or circular saw, drill, 1 1/8-inch hole saw, 1 1/2-inch drill bit, hammer, and a handful of exterior screws or galvanized nails. Add sandpaper and a scrap of roof material if you have it. Do not paint the inside. Birds are not impressed by your color scheme.

Cut the board into these pieces: a front and back, each 9 inches long; two sides, each 9 inches long; a floor, 4 inches square; and a roof, 7 inches long. The board’s width should be close to 6 inches. If your lumber is slightly different, keep the floor roughly 4 inches square and make the roof wide enough to overhang the sides by at least an inch.

On the front piece, mark the entrance 6 inches above the bottom edge. Drill a 1 1/8-inch hole for chickadees and small wrens. If you hope to attract larger birds, use the entrance size appropriate to them; a larger hole is not “more welcoming.” It is an open invitation to starlings, squirrels, and every neighborhood thug with feathers.

Drill three or four 1/4-inch drainage holes in the floor. Then drill two 1/2-inch ventilation holes near the top of each side. Assemble the sides around the floor, keeping the bottom edges flush. Attach the back, then the front. Use screws near the ends, but predrill first so the cedar does not split. Attach the roof last, with generous overhang on the front.

The one mistake nearly every beginner makes is adding a perch below the entrance. Do not. Cavity-nesting birds can cling to the rough wood; predators use a perch as a convenient handle. Sand only the entrance rim lightly, leave the rest unfinished, and mount the box 5 to 10 feet high with the entrance facing away from prevailing rain.

Clean out old nesting material after the season, check that the roof still sheds water, and resist the urge to peek inside while birds are nesting. A quiet birdhouse is a successful one.