Try to cut out such a birdhouse. The work is difficult. Such a craft will surely appeal to your loved ones by placing it in a conspicuous place, for example, on a shelf. To make this craft, you will need the following:
Sawing tools.
First of all, you need to prepare your table on which you will work. It should not have unnecessary things and every tool should be at hand. Not everyone has their own desktop and probably already thought about creating it. Making a table is not difficult - it is difficult to choose a place for it in the house. The ideal option is a warmed balcony, where you can do crafts at any time. I already wrote about table preparation in a separate article and tried to describe the whole process of its creation in as much detail as possible. If you do not know how to prepare your workplace then read the following article. After you have completed the process of creating a table, try to start choosing your future craft.
Choosing quality material
The main material is plywood. Her choice is always difficult. Each of us must have faced such a problem as delamination of plywood from the end part and asked such a question, why such delamination? Well, it's mostly due to low-quality plywood. If you took the jigsaw in your hands not for the first time, then you can pick up plywood from the remnants of the previous craft. If you are new to sawing and you do not have plywood, then buy it at a hardware store. Choosing material for sawing is always difficult. You should always choose plywood carefully, more often look at the defects of the tree (knots, cracks) and draw conclusions. The complexity of choosing plywood lies in the fact that no matter how you miscalculate its flaws and shelf life. For example, you bought plywood, cleaned it, translated the drawing, and suddenly it began to delaminate. Of course, this happened to almost everyone and it is oh so unpleasant. So it is better to pay attention when choosing and choose good plywood. I wrote a special Article, which describes step by step all the principles of choosing plywood.
Stripping plywood
We clean our plywood with sandpaper. As you already know, “Medium-grained” and “Fine-grained” skins are used to clean plywood in sawing. In construction stores, you probably saw skins (sandpaper in a different way), and they are what we need. In the work you will need "Coarse-grained", "Medium-grained" and "Fine-grained" skin. Each of them has its own property, but a completely different coating, in which it is classified. “Coarse-grained” skin is used for processing rough plywood, i.e. which has many defects, chips, as well as cracks.
"Medium-grained" skin is used for processing plywood after "Large" skins and has a slight coating. "Fine-grained" or otherwise "Nulevka". Such sandpaper serves as the final process of stripping plywood. It gives plywood smoothness, and therefore plywood will be pleasant to the touch. Sand the prepared plywood in stages, starting with medium-grained and ending with fine emery. Grind along the layers, not across. A well sanded surface should be even, perfectly smooth, glossy in the light and silky to the touch. How best to prepare plywood for sawing and which sandpaper is better to choose Read here. After stripping, check the plywood for burrs and small bumps. If there are no visible defects, then you can proceed to the process of translating the drawing.
Drawing Translation
For me, the translation of a drawing has always been the main process in my work. I will tell you a couple of rules, as well as tips for high-quality translation of the drawing. Many transfer the drawing to plywood not only with a pencil and copy, but also with the help of the Black Tape, glue the drawing with plywood, then wash off the drawing with water and the drawing markings remain on the plywood. In general, there are many ways, but I will talk about the most common method. To transfer the drawing to the prepared plywood, you must use a copy, a ruler, a sharp pencil and a non-writing pen. Fix the drawing in plywood with buttons or just hold it with your left hand. Check if the drawing fits the dimensions. Arrange the drawing of the clock so that the plywood sheet is used as economically as possible. Translate the drawing with a non-writing pen and ruler. You should not rush, because your future craft depends on the drawing.
Drilling holes in pieces
As you have already noticed, there are parts of the grooves in the details that need to be cut from the inside. To cut out such parts, it is necessary to drill holes in them using a hand drill or, as in the old fashioned way, make holes with an awl. By the way, the diameter of the hole must be at least 1 mm, otherwise you can damage the elements of the drawing, which, alas, are sometimes difficult to restore. In order not to damage your desktop when drilling holes, place a plank under the workpiece so as not to damage the desktop. Drilling holes alone is always difficult, so ask a friend to help you with your business.
Sawing details
There are many rules for sawing, but you need to be based on the most common ones. First of all, you need to cut out the internal parts, only then along the outer pattern. There is no need to rush when cutting. The main thing is to always keep the jigsaw straight at an angle of 90 degrees when cutting. Cut out the parts along the lines you marked exactly. The movements of the jigsaw should always be smooth up and down. Also, don't forget to watch your posture. Try to avoid bevels and bumps. If you get off the line while sawing, don't worry. Such bevels, irregularities can be removed with flat files or “Coarse-grained” sandpaper.
Rest
When sawing, we often get tired. Often fingers get tired as well as eyes, which are always in suspense. At work, of course, everyone gets tired. In order to reduce the load, you need to do a couple of exercises. Exercises you can see here. Do the exercises several times during the work.
Stripping Details
It is always necessary to clean the details of future crafts carefully. At the very beginning of work, you already cleaned the plywood with sandpaper. Now you have to do a small part of plywood stripping. With a “medium-grained” sandpaper, clean the edges of the parts and the back of the plywood. "Fine-grained" skin is considered the final stage of cleaning parts. Fine sandpaper is better to clean the front of the parts. When processing plywood, take your time. You can also use a rounded file, with which it is convenient to clean the inside of the holes. Try to get the details without burrs and bumps.
Assembly of parts
Assembling the details of our crafts here is not so difficult. In order to carry out the correct assembly of parts, you need to read the following article, which details all the details of the assembly. After the parts are assembled into one common craft without any problems, then proceed to gluing them.
We glue the parts
It is necessary to glue the parts of the shelf with PVA or titan glue. You don't need to pour a lot of glue. It is better to tie the assembled craft on glue with a strong thread, tighten it and put it to dry. The craft sticks together for about 10-15 minutes.
burning crafts
To decorate our craft with a pattern (for example, along the edges of the craft), you will need an electric burner. Beautifully burn out the pattern can be very difficult. To burn out patterns, you must first draw a pattern with a pencil. You can read how to work with an electric burner and add patterns to a shelf here.
DIY varnishing
If desired, you can transform our craft by coating it with varnish “On Wood”, preferably colorless. Read how best to Varnish crafts. Try to choose a quality varnish. Lacquering is done with a special brush "For glue". Take your time. Try not to leave visible streaks and scratches on the craft.
Greetings to all who have looked at my review. Spring has already become a full-fledged mistress and I more and more often spend all my free time in my garden. So today, from early morning, I diligently made a decoration on a tree. Decoration in the form of a wooden birdhouse with elements of burning.
bird house I bought for 650 rubles in a pet store. This is enough low price behind good quality manufacturing and wood. Similar ones made of plywood also cost, but I personally have a question about durability and beauty.
My birdhouse model is the simplest, these hang on every tree. But initially the base is decorated with firing, which already greatly decorates the natural design of the house.
Wooden birdhouse , assembled with staples and glued with glue. The roof has additional bitumen protection.
Made in Russia and to the conscience. I think it will last more than a decade.
So if you like it, look for this miracle in local pet stores.
I liked it so much that I decided to change it a bit. I found suitable pictures on the Internet, copied them with a pen on the wooden base of the birdhouse and began to burn them out.
The whole process burning out It took me about an hour, but now I admire the beauty made by my own hands.
Please do not judge strictly, I can not draw. Yes, and I burned out for a long time and only in childhood.
It turned out such a birdhouse in harmony with nature. And my first figurine, presented by my husband 17 years ago, immediately settled on it.
"I told how and from what it is right to make bird houses, and now we will consider at least important questions — how and when to hang birdhouses correctly. Even if you put in a lot of effort and make a warm, reliable house, but hang it incorrectly, then the birds will never settle in it.
But to lure birds to the garden is a must! Birds are the main helpers in the fight against pests. They destroy just an incredible number of insects!
It is known that redstarts, wagtails, starlings, nuthatches and tits are leaders in the destruction of garden pests.
For example, great tit lays eggs twice a season, 7-12 pieces each. Chicks are very voracious, because they grow quickly: in 2-3 days their weight doubles. Parents have to fly up to their nest with food about 400 times a day, destroying about 10 thousand insects during the feeding period, most of which are pests, including codling moth caterpillars. One pair of tits can clear about 40 apple trees from pests over the summer. Tits destroy adult insects, their larvae and eggs.
Starlings they run on freshly dug ground and eat various larvae, including wireworms and beetles, and they catch them so quickly that the larvae rarely manage to hide. These birds lay eggs 2 times per season and feed voracious offspring, collecting pests from the soil surface.
Wagtail is also one of the most useful birds. She catches on the fly great amount mosquitoes and flies and collects insect pests and their larvae from the surface of the beds.
Even sparrow very useful for the garden, especially in spring, when it feeds on insects, and the first generation of chicks coincides in time with the period of development of the larvae of the apple flower beetle, which are their favorite food.
1.How many birdhouses do you need
To attract birds to the garden, you need to hang "houses" for them. It is believed that 2 titmouses, 1 birdhouse and 1 wagtail are enough for a garden with an area of 6 acres.
There is no need to hang more birdhouses - birds do not like to settle closely and will compete for food and territory. They may not have enough insects to feed healthy and strong offspring.
As a general rule, bird nests should not be placed next to each other. This is due to the fact that many species of birds protect not only their nest, but also a certain area around it. For example, the radius of the “territorial defense” zone of the pied flycatcher is about 20 m, but the great tit will not tolerate competitors closer than 50 or even 60 m.
If you want to attract starlings to your site, then for these birds you need to have one birdhouse per 20-25 acres.
2. When you can hang birdhouses
Artificial houses can be made and hung from the end of March until late autumn.
If you want to watch how the starlings feed their chicks, then the birdhouses should be hung out before they arrive - at the end of March or early April.
At the same time, ornithologists argue that best time for the installation of birdhouses - not spring at all, but autumn. The fact is that birds are very cautious creatures that choose reliable, calm and secluded places for their homes. Therefore, a new house made of fresh boards, often brightly colored, causes mistrust and suspicion. But the houses hung in the fall are almost always occupied.
All year round there are birds that need shelter, where they can spend the night, hide from bad weather, hide from enemies, store food supplies for a rainy day.
In the winter cold, birdhouses become a saving shelter for birds that are not afraid to stay in our area for the winter. And with the warming of the climate, there are more and more such birds. Our help can save their lives. Remember that on average, out of 10 tits, only one survives until spring !!!
By the way, birdhouses can help winter not only birds, but also squirrels.
3. Which place to choose for a birdhouse
First of all, the birdhouse should be located in a secluded and quiet place, away from home or roads, but preferably so that you can observe the behavior of birds, for how they feed their offspring. Last year, scientists proved that regular bird watching stabilizes the human psyche and reduces the risk of developing neurosis and depression.
It is best to place birdhouses on strong and healthy deciduous trees in gardens, parks, forest belts and forest edges.
Most importantly, a home for birds should be located at a height of at least 3-4 m from the ground in a garden or park, but in a noisy city at a height of 8-10 m.
It is very important to correctly orient the house to the cardinal points so that the midday sun does not overheat the house, and the entrance is not turned towards the prevailing winds.
If western and north-western winds prevail in Moscow and its environs, then it is best if the entrance is directed to the east or southeast. In the European part of Russia, the entrance should not be directed to the north or northeast, since it is from these directions that a damp cold wind often blows, often with rain.
The birdhouse should be mounted vertically, and even better, so that the front of the birdhouse has a slight slope forward (but not back!) So that the rains do not flood the nest and chicks through the notch.
It is desirable that the birdhouse be in the shady crown of a tree, but there should not be branches near its front wall so that the cats do not reach the chicks, and the parents have a free flight.
Be sure to protect the houses from clever cats, which destroy a huge number of chicks and adult birds.
A small notch will not allow the cat to get inside, and the significant depth of the house does not make it possible to reach the nest with the chicks with a paw. One of the most reliable means of protection is a plywood circle with a diameter of 40 cm or more. It is attached in the middle of the pole, and it is an almost insurmountable barrier for baleen predators. You can also wrap the tree below the birdhouse with a slippery metal cuff at least 30 cm wide.
In no case should a birdhouse be nailed to a living tree!
Birdhouses are securely tied to a tree trunk, and it is better to use not a wire that will cut into the trunk as it grows, but a plastic cord or rope. Moreover, it is convenient to nail a vertical stick to the birdhouse, which is tied to the trunk from above and below. The house should not hang out.
Sometimes, instead of a stick, steel loops are mounted to the side walls of the birdhouse, through which a fastening cord is passed. Sometimes, instead of eyelets, self-tapping screws are screwed on the sides, but they must securely fasten the house and the sharp ends should not go inside. so that helpless chicks do not get hurt.
If wire is used for fastening, then wooden blocks or folded burlap should be placed under it, so that as the trunk grows, the wire crashes into them.
Sometimes a birdhouse is fixed on a thick branch next to the trunk.
In the absence of tall trees, birdhouses are fixed on poles that are nailed to the fence. But this is the most unfortunate option, since the house is open to winds, rains and direct rays of the sun. In order to protect birds from cat attacks, it is advisable to beat the pole with a piece of tin.
Birdhouses are also sometimes mounted on the wall of a house or barn, but not where noisy power tools are working.
The birdhouse must be securely strengthened, but at the same time it is necessary to provide for the possibility of removing it at the end of autumn for routine inspections and cleaning.
After hanging the houses, visit them regularly to evaluate the results of your work. In order to avoid the death of clutches, it is not worth checking the inside of the nesting sites at the beginning of the season, but it is better to observe from the side from the shelter using binoculars. The information received will help next season to better choose places to secure birdhouses.
In late autumn or winter, birdhouses need to be cleaned, since birds can fill them up to the entrance hole in just a couple of years.
If cracks or holes have formed in the birdhouse, a person does not need to close them, the birds will do this much better.
We wish you a pleasant communication with feathered friends! They do so much good to our forests and gardens that we simply have to feed them and build them safe and warm shelters.
Note. This article uses photographs from open sources on the Internet, all rights belong to their authors, if you think that the publication of any photo violates your rights, please contact me using the form in the section, the photo will be deleted immediately.
Attracting birds to the site is both useful and enjoyable. It is useful because they destroy pests, it is pleasant to listen to their singing and observe the behavior of birds. Therefore, many come up with the idea - to build a birdhouse with their own hands. People over 40 years old, while they can remember their school years: at the lessons of labor, the boys made houses for birds. But not only site owners make birdhouses. Often residents apartment buildings hang them on trees near the house, on balconies and loggias.
What to do
The answer is unequivocal - from wood, and hardwood: conifers are too resinous. Resin can stain the plumage, leading to the death of the bird. Do not use plywood, or. Rarely does anyone settle in such birdhouses: glue and binders scare away birds. For the same reason, we assemble and fasten blanks only on nails or screws, we do not use glue.
Most often, birdhouses are made from boards. The thickness of the boards is at least 20 mm. This thickness is sufficient to maintain a stable temperature inside, which is important when hatching chicks. Moreover, the boards are needed unplaned, in any case, the inner surface should be rough. The front part under the notch is also specially scratched: along these notches, chicks and birds rise to the notch.
To prevent cracking of the boards during assembly, we pre-drill holes for the screws. The diameter is slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw.
Sizes of birdhouses for different types of birds
To attract different types of birds, the size of the house should change. The proportions of the “body” itself and the letok change mainly. The task is to create more familiar nesting conditions for this species.
| bird species | Bottom dimensions | Birdhouse height | Notch dimensions | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlings | 10*10 cm | 30-40 cm | about 5 cm | letok is preferable to a round shape |
| Sinichnik - tits, flycatchers, redstarts, sparrows, pygmy owls | 10-12 cm | 25-30 cm | 30-35mm | notch round |
| Small titmouse or flycatcher (flycatcher, redstart) | 10*8 cm | 25-30 cm | 30 mm | |
| Poluduplyanka | 10*8 cm | 20 cm | height 33-50 mm across the entire width of the wall | letok - a longitudinal slot in the entire width of the front wall |
As you can see from the table, basically only the height changes. The width remains more or less stable. It's not worth making birdhouses anymore. They will stimulate to lay more eggs, and the birds will not be able to fully feed a large number of chicks, as a result, the offspring will be weak and, most likely, will die.
If you want to attract wagtails, make a birdhouse laid on its side: it will be 10-12 cm high and 35-40 cm wide, with the same small entrance located approximately in the middle. Wagtails have weak legs, and they cannot climb the high wall to the entrance. Therefore, such a choice of nesting. in the wagtail, it is also desirable to make a trapik about 10 cm wide in front of the entrance - so that they can enter on foot.
Some explanation is required for the half-hollow. Some birds are used to nesting not in hollows, but in depressions between branches. In a completely closed artificial nesting place, they rarely settle. If you want to attract, for example, a gray flycatcher, make a small box for it, in which the notch goes the entire width of the front wall.
Just keep in mind that some types of squirrels also like to settle in such houses.
There is another nesting place that birds often like more - the nest box. This is a birdhouse, hollowed out from a piece of log. Often a dried tree is sawn into logs of a suitable size, turning it into apartments for birds. The height and diameter are selected based on the dimensions that were indicated for an ordinary birdhouse. The bottom and roof in the hollow are made from a piece of board.
Duplyanka - a birdhouse made of logs
Safety
It's a shame and a pity when the nests of birds are ruined. Cats are mainly engaged in this, and even woodpeckers. Therefore, when you make a birdhouse with your own hands, increase the overhang of the roof. In almost all drawings, it is drawn 5 cm long. In order to protect the birdhouse from the cat, it is necessary to make sure that he cannot reach the notch. To do this, the roof should protrude by at least 7 cm, and it is better to add a couple more - for large specimens. This ledge will also protect against slanting rain: the chances that the chicks will get wet becomes even less.
Another option is to put nails on the lid. The cat is unlikely to get hurt, but it won’t work to sit comfortably - they won’t give nails.
There are several ways to protect chicks from woodpeckers:
- beat the notch with tin:
- drive a few nails around the notch;
- nail an overlay made of wood on the notch area, the fibers of which run horizontally.
All this will prevent the woodpecker from expanding the notch and getting to the eggs or chicks. The last trick - the overlay - will also complicate the task for the cat: it is more difficult to reach the chick through a long entrance.
Measures against enemies: 1 - from woodpeckers, 2.3 - from cats
They are still saved from cats and possible invaders with the help of protective belts. They are made either from tin strips or from “brooms”. You will understand everything by looking at the picture. Please note that the distances must be maintained within an accuracy of 3-4 cm. Then the animals will not be able to jump over the protective belts. There should not be knots, feeders and other possible supports between them and the birdhouse.
Where to hang
Where to hang a birdhouse is also a science. If they gathered to hoist on a tree, then at a height of at least 2.5-3 meters. There should not be paths or busy metas near the selected tree - a well, a bench, etc.
When choosing a place on a tree, keep in mind that there should not be large branches in front of the entrance: the approach should be free. At the same time, you need to deploy it so that the “window” looks south. All this increases the chances that tenants will settle in your birdhouse.
Another point: you need to tie or nail so that the “house” is tilted slightly forward. So it will be easier for the chicks to get out, and less rain will clog.
How to make a birdhouse with your own hands: photo report
We will do the easiest option - with a flat roof. As already mentioned, we take non-planed hardwood boards with a thickness of 20 mm or more. To avoid splinters, it is better to work with gloves. We cut the blanks according to the drawing. Try to keep the saw cuts even and at a right angle: there should be no gaps. Immediately after hatching, the chicks are without plumage, and the slightest draft can kill them. Therefore, all edges must be even.
We take long thin nails - diameter 1.5-2 mm, length 4-5 cm and a hammer. We start assembly. We nail the sidewalls to the front part at a right angle. For each - three or four nails.
Turning the workpiece upside down, take the bottom, insert it, align it. We nail to the sides. From above we cover with a back wall, we also nail. Do not forget about the connection of the back wall with the sidewalls.
Turning the notch up, we nail the bottom also from this side. It remains to assemble the roof. We take the remaining square - a double of the bottom, nail it so that the visor sticking out in front is at least 5 cm (preferably 7-10 cm, as they said before). If the nails stick out, bend them.
The roof just needs to fit snugly. If something interferes, we earn money with a chisel. That's all, the birdhouse is ready with your own hands.
Often a perch is installed under the entrance. Is she needed or not? If there are enough branches around, it is better not to do it. If there are no branches, you need to either make a perch or a small shelf, although you can do without them. Why? Because cats also rely on them and it is easier for them to reach the chicks with support.
How to make a titmouse, see the video
We make a nest box - a birdhouse from a log
If the feathered people have a choice - to settle in a nest box or a birdhouse made of boards - they will choose a nest box. It is more like the usual "housing" - a hollow, it has no slots on the sides and, therefore, it is warmer. They are less noticeable on the tree, which means more chances to grow offspring. This is a plus from the bird's point of view. Now about the pluses from the point of view of "producers": a fallen tree is used, and it is free. If you find a suitable one, it will be enough for a large number of birdhouses. About the minuses - making hollows is longer and more difficult: you have to manually pick out the core, leaving the walls intact.
Now about how to find a suitable tree. Aspen is best suited: it usually rots from the inside, and remains hard along the outer edge. Therefore, we go in search of an aspen forest, and there, among the fallen trees, we look for a suitable one: we cut several trunks. It is important to find with a whole edge and a rotten middle - the work will go faster.
It is desirable to find such an aspen - with a rotten core, but strong edges
Often such trees have rotten bark, which makes them look unsightly. We clean off the bark, pull the log to the dacha or to the house. There we cut into logs of a suitable size. Dimensions are determined by the diameter. For a birdhouse, the inner diameter of the nest box should be 22-30 cm, respectively, the outer one should be 27-36 cm.
The height of the block of wood also depends on the type of house - a titmouse 20-40 cm high (but they are more likely to settle in low ones), a birdhouse - from 30 to 45 cm. precipitation dripped from the roof. For the manufacture of roofs and bottoms, you will need trimming boards, you can use unedged and slabs.
We take a cut off block of wood and begin to pick the core with a chisel. The task is to dig a through hole. After that, even hard wood is easier to chip. To make the process go faster, you can drill holes with a drill, then break out the jumpers with a chisel.
The task is to dig a through hole
As a rule, the rotten core ends quickly, then you have to chip off pieces of wood with a chisel and a hammer or mallet. But with a hole in the center, it is much easier - longitudinal pieces are chipped off, work goes on at a normal speed.
The walls should remain about 1.5-3 cm. We try to work out the middle more or less smoothly, without large chips. When the walls are selected, we make a notch. If there is a knot, you can hollow it out. Or take a bark and a drill, drill into suitable place. If there is no crown, we take an ordinary drill, drill holes in a circle, then, using the same chisel, we cut through the remaining jumpers.
A piece of board 2-2.5 cm thick goes to the bottom. It is nailed or screwed onto self-tapping screws. The protruding parts are cut as close to the walls as possible.
It remains to nail the roof. The same board or slab will do. Before screwing in the self-tapping screw, drill holes, otherwise the board may split.
Actually, you have already made a birdhouse with your own hands, it remains to protect it from woodpecker attacks. If there are knots on the walls, it is advisable to coat them with plasticine (regular, for children). They can also close up the gaps that remain between the bottom and the roof and the walls: it is rarely possible to fit everything clearly. If you do not want to cover with plasticine, you can caulk with a hemp rope. It is applied to the slot, and driven into it, with a flat screwdriver (actually, there are special blades for caulking, but they are large - this is the time, and for “one-time use” they should be bought ...). If it "goes" badly, you can knock on the handle with a hammer.
Caulking "seams" with hemp rope
How to decorate a birdhouse
While the birdhouse is new, it looks relatively good, but after a couple of months it will darken. For birds, this is good - it will become less noticeable and they will only benefit from this. But not all homeowners like to look at such an unsightly “decoration”. To improve appearance, the birdhouse can be painted, but you need to choose “natural” colors - brown, gray, shades of green. Do you want your birds to survive? This means that their nest must be masked, and not painted in all the colors of the rainbow, attracting all possible predators.
And this one is just ideal - no gaps in the floor))
Sinichnik is inhabited
Beautiful decoration and disguise
We hope that now you can not only make a birdhouse with your own hands, but also competently (from the point of view of birds) decorate it.
Dimensional drawings
Some drawings of birdhouses are in the text, we post a few more in this section. Correcting the dimensions for the planned "residents" is probably not a problem. Also note that the layout is given for a board with a thickness of 2 cm. If the thickness is increased or decreased, adjustments are necessary.
Birdhouse with a triangular roof: drawing, dimensions
Sloped roof birdhouse (front wall higher)
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