A Tree Swallow peeks out of a home-made nest box, a standard for birders to provide for cavity nesting birds (photo by Paul Konrad). The new book, Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses, provides all you need to get started with any birdhouse or nest box project you have in mind. You will surely appreciate the detailed, step-by-step, photo-illustrated pages that make this book an exceptional guide to building any nest box.

It’s getting close to the point in late winter and early spring where our attention turns toward preparing for cavity nesting birds that will be looking for just the right woodpecker cavity, nest box, or birdhouse. Some of our most familiar backyard birds nest in cavities, including chickadees, wrens, bluebirds, purple martins, owls, and more. In fact, 88 species of cavity nesting birds across North America rely to some extent on dedicated birders who provide birdhouses to bolster the number of natural cavities that can be used.

Woodpecker-created cavities probably make up the greatest volume of nesting cavities available, but birders may be a close second to woodpeckers by providing quality birdhouses that are safer than natural cavity nesting sites, including woodpecker cavities. Truly, birdhouses provided by informed birders can be essential to some populations of birds, their conservation and survival.

For birders, there are 2 options when it’s time to add a new birdhouse to your yard or a nearby property: Do you want to build a bird house? Or do you want to buy one? Those 2 simple questions bring us to this article – Building your own birdhouse or nest boxes; and next week’s Backyard Birding article, which will describe what to look for when you are shopping for a birdhouse.

At this point in the season, it might be just the right time to build a couple birdhouses – perhaps 1 for wrens and 1 for bluebirds; or maybe 1 for chickadees and 1 for screech owls. And that’s an important question to answer: What cavity nesting birds would you like to attract to your yard? The next question to answer would be: Do you have the space and habitat to attract that species?

These are good questions to answer before you get started, but then it’s time get a “how to build that birdhouse” plan. And actually, that’s the easiest part of the whole process, because there is a remarkable new book available that has excellent plans and photo illustrations for how to build birdhouses for a variety of species. Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses provides anyone with a wealth of simple, easy to follow, photo-illustrated directions authored by Mel Toellner and Matt Maguire.

You will quickly find out that every species of cavity nesting birds has different birdhouse requirements, and that a birdhouse is not a one size fits all endeavor. Birder and educator Mel Toellner and professional woodworker Matt Maguire take a holistic approach to building and installing birdhouses. Their book has 3 major sections, including the primary section that features illustrated woodworking plans with clear instructions, patterns, and suggested types of wood to use and the saw cuts to make.

This helpful book begins with information about cavity nesting bird species, which includes colorful photos, detailed range maps, and nesting facts that will help you to learn more about species before you get started. The second section has woodworking checklists, photo-illustrated lists of the necessary tools and materials, and safety tips. And for good measure, the book includes birdhouse mounting instructions that will keep predators from reaching the adults while they incubate, as well as growing nestlings after hatching.

The new book, Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses is truly the ultimate book for build-it-yourself birders who are ready to build and install a birdhouse to attract and benefit interesting cavity nesting birds. You may be able to find a copy at a local bookstore, or you can surely find one at Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses – Fox Chapel Publishing Co.

Another source of birdhouse building information is NestWatch, and while we will refer to this helpful info source more next week, you can also refer to it now at Features of a Good Birdhouse - NestWatch

Share your backyard birding experiences and photographs with The Birding Wire at editorstbw2@gmail.com