How to Build an Easy 1-Board Bird House

Some birds love hanging bird houses, while others may avoid them. To make your bird house as appealing as possible to birds, surround it with trees, bushes, flowers and other features that are attractive to birds. Keep in mind that some birds, such as cardinals and finches, avoid bird houses altogether.

In warm climates, you should focus your bird house design around providing as much shade as possible. In cold climates, you should place your bird house in a sunny and warm space. Many birds like to nest in bird houses that get some shade in the hottest parts of the afternoon.

Ideally, you shouldn’t put anything inside a bird house. When you’re building a bird house, attach a post to the outside so birds can easily land before hopping inside the bird house. You don’t want to put any type of padding or feed inside the house because birds like to create their own nests and feed will turn the house into a busy bird feeder. Don’t worry about leaving the inside empty. Birds will create nests out of their preferred materials.

Bird houses don’t need ventilation holes because they have decent-sized entrance holes. Drilling ventilation holes into the ceiling to allow hot air to escape could backfire by allowing rainwater into the bird house.

It’s common for bird houses to face eastward in the United States because that’s typically the opposite direction from which strong winds tend to blow. A bird house that’s facing eastward also has more protection from the heat of the sun during the hottest parts of the day.

Building a bird house is a fun project that a beginner can complete in just a few hours. Follow these six steps and our free, simple bird house plan to build your own one-board wooden bird house.