Using wood that is light-colored and a minimum of 1-inch thick is a good way to protect your nest from excessive heat.
If a bluebird nest box is soaked in water or becomes too hot ( over 107 degrees Fahrenheit), the eggs can be damaged. It's important to protect bluebirds from the elements. PVC pipes are one of the more recent innovations and are affordable and easy to work with. One recommended stain is linseed oil.Ī number of other materials are used every year to construct bluebird houses. You should also use a light finish, as dark finishes will make the box hotter. If you want to stain your blue bird house, you should only apply finish to the outside of the box. There are a number of different opinions regarding the use of wood preservatives, but it is generally recommended to avoid pressure-treated lumber. Not only is it similar to natural bluebird cavities, such as holes in trees, but it is also inexpensive and chemical-free. While bluebird houses are constructed from a variety of materials, the consensus is that wood is the best material to use. Mountain and western bluebirds sometimes lay up to 8 eggs and require this additional space. The standard area for a bluebird box used to be 4 inches by 4 inches, but it is now recommended that bluebird nest boxes have a floor space of 5 ½ inches by 5 ½ inches. It's crucial that bluebirds have adequate space to nest in. Since wren territories are only 1/2 to 3/4 acre in size, if you hear a male wren singing, it's nest is likely nearby. If she doesn't think the male put enough twigs, she may add some. Time lining the nest later with soft material like grass and feathers. Most of his time is spent filling the nest with short twigs and some spider egg cases, while the female mostly spends If they reuse a nest location, the male house wren will clean out the old material and rebuild. Phoebe, Barn Swallow and Robin Bird House Plansįree Bird House Plans What is the house wren diet?Ī house wren's diet consists mostly of invertebrates such as caterpillars, flies, millipedes, grasshoppers, moths, spiders, crickets, beetles and snails. You can then print the plans using your browser or save the image to your computer to view or print at a later time. On the small thumbnail image to view larger plans in a new window. Peanut butter or meal worms in nearby feeders.īelow is another more detailed diagram for wren houses from the Minnesota Division of Natural Resources. To attract wrens to your backyard and to ultimately use your bird house, place suet, Skeleton that was mounted on the outside wall of a shed!
We have seen wrens build nests in hanging plant baskets and even in the mouth of an old flounder House that is more hidden, like around shrubs or trees, than exposed and in a wide open space. Wren boxes can also be firmly fixed to the side of a building or tree or can be hung freely from a wire. You can place the nest box from these wren house plans 5-10 feet above the ground, under the eaves of a building or a tree limb. Do not add a perch to the box because this will allow birds such as Wren House Plans Layoutīe sure to mount your wren birdhouse where predators such as cats, snakes or raccoons cannot easily reach the nest box and have access to the adults or nestlings. A more detailed view is provided from the MN DNR further below (see highlighted arrow next to small image). If house sparrows are not an issue in your area, then you may want to start with a bigger hole size, such as 1 1/4", otherwiseīelow is a wren bird house plan from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. I have found wide variation on hole sizes required for different wren species from 1 1/8" to 1 1/2" needed. Other species of wrens such as marsh wrens, sedge wrens, cactus wrens, andĬanyon wrens are not likely to use a nest box. Use the box, but also will allow unwanted house sparrows to enter as well. Which is also large enough for black-capped chickadees.Ī 1 1/4" hole will allow Carolina Wrens and White-breasted Nuthatches to Winter Wrens and Bewick's Wrens, you can make the hole diameter 1 1/8" The hole diameter will determine who or who cannot use your wren nest box. One of the most important design elements in building any bird house is the hole size. If you use the specifications outlined in these bird house plans, you will increase your chances of attracting wrens to use the nest box. Here are wren house plans you can easily follow to make your very own wren bird house.
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