by
Scott Moore

This is a simple Blue Bird Box birdhouse made out of cedar. These things cost in excess of $50 in some bird specialty stores, and I have no idea why they are so expensive. Easily built for less than $10. Great project for you and your child. Feel free to email me with questions at: smoore at scottmoore.net.

These are all of the measurements you will need. The cedar I bought had a rough side that I want facing out, it gives the birds a little extra something to hold on to.

The angles that you will need for the top slope are 12 degrees. You can see that the bottom piece (when upright) is sized so that there is space for water and other matter to be drained out.

See? Great project for your son or daughter.

Here is a mock up so you can see how everything looks once together. You can obviously piece it together any way you want. I used pockethole screws.

Here is a mock up from the top. The extra front piece prevents predators from making the hole bigger so they can use it themselves.

I put a simple route on the front piece, top and back piece.

Pocketholes aren't really necessary unless you want to hide the screws.

I ran into pockethole issues when I forgot that you want to open the top (or the sides) when you are ready to clean the house out. This particular box has a hinge on top to open, but my next one I'll use one of the sides.

All finished, ready for a 1 1/4" hole in the front. (There are huge controversies and websites devoted to how big the hole should be.) My birds never have had any issues with 1 1/4".

All finished, complete with my son holding it proudly. Great present for Mother's Day.