Bonus Project: Bird House 🐦

I love birds, who doesn't? We have quite a bit of bird action in the back yard this year, and I figured it would be nice to use some scrap wood from another project (Kitchen Shelving) to give them a place to call home!

I did a bit of research on bird houses and these were my main takeaways from the following site: The Backyard Naturalist

1. Small hole
   The entrance hole should be 1" - 1 1/4" to limit the ability of predators to get in. Also, this helps you select which species you will attract (due to size).
2. Easy to clean between seasons
   Birds, like people, appreciate a spring cleaning, and most will not re-use an existing nest that has material, so easy opening is key.
   Fun fact: Eagles use the same nest year after year, which is why you will find MASSIVE eagle nests out in the wild.
3. Ventilation
   There needs to be a few holes for ventilation (It seems that you only need one, but I went for 3 for good measure)
4. Drainage
   You need to drill holes in the bottom of the bird house for drainage, nobody likes a wet floor, especially songbirds.
5. No Perch!
   I was surprised to find out that bird houses are not supposed to have perches. (for native songbirds, at the very least) The reason for this, is that it is more often used by predators to get into the bird house than the bird itself. If you watch birds rip around and land on stuff, you can quickly understand that they don't need a perch to adeptly land in a hole.
   This being said, I think aesthetically, a perch makes a bird house look quite a bit better.

It was nice to use some scrap wood to give back to the bids that give us entertainment, scratching the ground, pulling up worms, and playing us tunes in our back yard.

I also hope that they will help us out with pests that we get in the garden. I'd call that adequate as a mortgage payment