# Birds are happy



## Smitty37 (Jun 28, 2012)

Today I made 2 plain Jane type bird houses and am in the midst of repairing one - they are sort of rough and I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about fit and finish but then I have discovered over the years that when you make bird houses for birds (which is what I do) your customers are not to picky.  The rent is right (free) the location is right (near water and feeders that are always full) and my dogs are too slow and can't catch them so they attract tenants a couple of times a year each.  I might post pictures tomorrow.


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## lion6255 (Jun 28, 2012)

I would love pictures...I rescue Parrots and have alot of leftover which all go to the outside guys and we have abit of following at the house. to house with Eastern Bluebird this year and a nest of red headed house finches out back.


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## jjjaworski (Jun 28, 2012)

I'd love to see the pictures as well.
I have been feeding the quail and bunnies along with lots of other critters for some time now.

I enjoy seeing the quail with their broads of young ones this time of year. They grow so fast. One pair has 16 chicks...


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## 76winger (Jun 28, 2012)

Same here on seeing some photos. I've an interest from making several Peterson style Bluebird houses in the past.


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## RustySplinters (Jun 28, 2012)

No pictures, they dont exist!


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## Tom T (Jun 28, 2012)

We want to see the pictures.  I wanted to make bird house's but have been stuck on pens.


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## Jjartwood (Jun 28, 2012)

Nice Smitty,
Just nice,if more of us built bird houses just because we like to,  we all might benefit from
slowing down to watch the birds,maybe we would like ourselves a little bit more because
of it.I built one with my grandson a few years back,it looks like hell but like you said,the birds don't care.I'm going to build another but I can't seem to find the right turning speed yet.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

Jjartwood said:


> Nice Smitty,
> Just nice,if more of us built bird houses just because we like to, we all might benefit from
> slowing down to watch the birds,maybe we would like ourselves a little bit more because
> of it.I built one with my grandson a few years back,it looks like hell but like you said,the birds don't care.I'm going to build another but I can't seem to find the right turning speed yet.


 You use a variable speed lathe and set the speed to '0' rpm.....that's a good start.


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## wouldentu2? (Jun 29, 2012)

Where do you buy your kit or is it kitless?


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

*Pictures*

You asked for some pictures so here are a few;

*NEW ADDITIONS* 
  

*PART OF OUR INDOOR/RETIRED COLLECTION:*   

*CURRENTLY IN USE (BY BIRDS): *    

*I ALSO COLLECT PENS - I MADE THE CUPBOARD.*


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

wouldentu2? said:


> Where do you buy your kit or is it kitless?


 I buy the screws from McFeely's - the glue from ACE HardWare - the nails came from a going out of business Tru-Value in Harrington DE the - Some boards come from various projects I've done - Others come from the beach or old barns etc.  I gather the stuff somewhere in my shop and I suppose you could look at that pile of stuff and say "well there's the birdhouse kit"

I generally use at least 3 saws and 2 cordless drills and mostly a hammer but sometimes my brad nailer.  I also use some paint or stain that is lying around, but we're not picky about that because we do let them weather when they are outside.  

Besides those pictured we have 3 other active that are not shown and a couple of outside "landscaping" bird houses and a landscaping feeder that we no longer use for feeding that are not pictured.  

Some of them took a lot more effort and are a lot prettier than others.


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## jjjaworski (Jun 29, 2012)

Very nice.

It sure looks like you are enjoying making them. I bet the birds love them as well.


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## Jjartwood (Jun 29, 2012)

Great past time,I put a hinge on the back panel for clean out so I don't
have to take anything apart to clean out the house


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## Displaced Canadian (Jun 29, 2012)

The log cabin is cool.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

Jjartwood said:


> Great past time,I put a hinge on the back panel for clean out so I don't
> have to take anything apart to clean out the house


 I do that on some of them but most I just take the bottom or roof off. I usually just use nails as the hing and a nail that I insert/pull in a drilled hole in the side as the latch - simple and cheap way to do it.  The once I use for storing CD's have regular hinges. and some have a roof that just pulls out.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

Displaced Canadian said:


> The log cabin is cool.


 It is actually Lincoln Logs - I didn't turn them.  It was still pretty time consuming to make because the interlocking logs still had to be glued together and assembled much like a real long cabin is with rods (nails)hidden in the walls to hold things together.


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## GoatRider (Jun 29, 2012)

I put a wren house on the big cottonwood tree in my yard last year. A male house wren claimed it this year, and he makes the most beautiful call. I don't think he's gotten a mate yet though, I don't see anybody actually visiting the house.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

GoatRider said:


> I put a wren house on the big cottonwood tree in my yard last year. A male house wren claimed it this year, and he makes the most beautiful call. I don't think he's gotten a mate yet though, I don't see anybody actually visiting the house.


 They are funny about that - we had a couple of houses that have been used for the last 5 or so years, that didn't get used this year including one that they used to fight over.  

We also have one being used this year that had gone 2 years (since we put it up) without use.

We have one that's set apart to attract blue birds - in 4 years it has had only one pair of bluebirds in it - that was last year.  

We we are seeing this year is more mocking birds than we've ever seen and fewer of the smaller birds.  Our houses are aimed at finches and sparrows but we have also attracted tree swallows - we see lots of finches around the feeders but not many are calling it home here.


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## Haynie (Jun 29, 2012)

We've had a lot of publicly displayed bird porn around here lately and I did not get my houses out of the problem trees in time.  Trees have to come down but I can't bring myself to evict the tenants.  We get babies in the spring and again late summer.  Don't know why.  I planned to take the houses down after the first little ones left the nest.  Got busy and now with the houses rockin with displays of colorful plumage It will have to wait until the fall.  I hope one does not blow down in the monsoons.   

Heck I saved a dragon fly from a spider web this morning.  I'm a big softy.  Those are good looking houses.  I told my wife we were bird house slum lords the other day.  That should give you an idea of how bad ours are.


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## flyitfast (Jun 29, 2012)

Thanks for the pictures. Those look exactly like the birds enjoy..........
except for one thing. Setting conviently on the fences, I bet the neighborhood cats really like the ease of getting to the houses. :biggrin: Just an observation. Are the local cats pretty plump?? 
Having houses for the birds is great for populating the bird population and very relaxing to sit and enjoy.
I've made several for the granddaughter to put in Girl Scout auctions and some of them are really fancy - and bring some fancy dollars.
Thanks for supporting nature.
gordon


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## boxerman (Jun 29, 2012)

Here you go Smitty these are bird houses.:biggrin:
Extreme Birdhouse


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## Tom T (Jun 29, 2012)

Thank you for the pictures.  A happy bird will not mess on the truck or car.  
May be not.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

flyitfast said:


> Thanks for the pictures. Those look exactly like the birds enjoy..........
> except for one thing. Setting conviently on the fences, I bet the neighborhood cats really like the ease of getting to the houses. :biggrin: Just an observation. Are the local cats pretty plump??
> Having houses for the birds is great for populating the bird population and very relaxing to sit and enjoy.
> I've made several for the granddaughter to put in Girl Scout auctions and some of them are really fancy - and bring some fancy dollars.
> ...


We get few cat visitors - we have dogs.  We worry more about our young dog catching a bird that just left the nest than we do the cats.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

Tom T said:


> Thank you for the pictures. A happy bird will not mess on the truck or car.
> May be not.


  Won't mess on mine - it's in the garage.  They don't hit the deck too bad either because it is higher than the bird houses and feeders so they don't 'overfly' it a lot.


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## Smitty37 (Jun 29, 2012)

boxerman said:


> Here you go Smitty these are bird houses.:biggrin:
> Extreme Birdhouse


Them ain't bird houses they are room decorations with holes in them. Built not for birds to live in but for people to admire the bird houses - we choose to admire the birds. I have built some using the same techniques used on some of them - but on a somewhat more modest scale. 

The technique on the log buildings is simple the hardest part is making the logs and getting a "aged" look - much the same as building a real log home..


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