Imagine that you and the adults made a birdhouse. Ecological project Skvorushka - Starling. Municipal preschool educational institution

Interesting observation: There are much fewer birds outside the city than in the city. Why is that? It turns out that there are many secluded places for birds in the city. But the most frequent refuge is through a narrow gap near the lamp, the bird squeezes inside. Here, having descended along the trunk of the pipe, she weaves her nest on a skein of wires. Can you imagine the conditions in which a bird lives, a little plant pest fighter? But a person is able to thank the winged assistants, but how? Build which will be more than a lantern tube.

Building materials

To determine how to build a starling nesting box, you need to select the appropriate material. Best suited for construction are wooden boards of exclusively hardwood - birch, alder, aspen. Coniferous wood is not recommended. It releases a gum that makes the surfaces of the bird's dwelling sticky. Plywood is not suitable for birdhouse. It retains heat poorly, making the new building very cold. And practically does not pass sounds, which are very important for birds, especially when there is a danger. Compressed wood (fiberboard, chipboard) releases toxins, so it is generally not suitable for a birdhouse.

Birdhouse drawing

A correctly calculated and drawn scheme will greatly simplify the construction process. Therefore, before building a birdhouse, the drawing must be made taking into account all required sizes... The optimal height of the house for a starling is 35 cm. For the bottom, a workpiece in the form of a square with a side of 16 cm is required. The entrance should be 5-6 centimeters in diameter. Important! Before building a birdhouse, the dimensions should be checked several times. If the offered living space seems cramped for the birds, they will simply bypass your new building. However, you should not chase after large sizes. Otherwise, the offspring raised in too spacious apartments will be sickly and weak.

Step-by-step instruction

Building a simple birdhouse doesn't require a lot of skill or woodworking experience. The main thing is to use the blueprints correctly. If you are building a dwelling for birds for the first time, then the question naturally arises: how to build a birdhouse in stages?

The image shows a diagram of a traditional solid house, known to everyone since childhood.

The sides of the roof are different. One should be longer by the thickness of the board to cover the edge of the first. After all, a birdhouse should not only be practical, but also have an excellent appearance.

After all the blanks have been cut out of the board, be sure to check if they make up the birdhouse correctly. If all the previous tips were taken into account, then there should be no problems when assembling the house.

It is best not to drive in the nails, but rather to drill small holes. The nail may not enter the wood correctly, then the sharp edge will stick out in the birdhouse, making the shelter unsafe enough for the birds. Or maybe split the wood altogether. To make the drilling process as safe as possible, secure the wood pieces in several C-clamps. Before using nails or screws, be sure to glue the edges of the sides with a good

After assembling the frame, you should tackle the round entrance. For such purposes, there is a special drill. It drills the hole very quickly and accurately. Such a notch will turn out with smooth edges, and therefore does not need additional grinding.

If there is no such drill, drill several holes inside the circle, and then cut the desired tap hole with a jigsaw. A brace is not bad for this purpose.

There is one more method for making a notch. But it assumes a frame that has not yet been assembled. The faceboard can be split in two at the center. Quite easily with the help of a chisel, the necessary half-holes are cut out. You can connect both halves using thorns - nails with broken off caps.

The next step is to install the roof.

Under the taphole, you need to place a stick 1.5 cm thick - a porch. A porch that is too large will invariably attract crows and jackdaws to the birdhouse.

Types of houses

It is customary to call any birdhouse a birdhouse, although it is not built for starlings alone. Other birds also need shelter. How to build a birdhouse for birds depends on the characteristics of future residents. For example, housing 25-30 cm high is being built for titmouses. The bottom should be a square with a side of 10-12 cm. The lettuce for tits is 30-35 mm in diameter.

Wagtail housing requires a completely different design. The bird itself does not have sufficient tenacity of the legs, therefore, in front of the house, it needs a certain ladder. And you need to place such a house under the roof, approximately at a height of three to five meters.

The pike feels more comfortable in a house with two through holes. They are located on the left and right. Such additional entrances allow the bird to hide in time if a predator attacks the house.

Decorative houses

Fans of original solutions can dream a little. It is enough to decorate the birdhouse quite a bit, and it will acquire a truly fantastic look. The birdhouse, stylized as a village house, looks original. For birds, it does not matter how the house looks from the outside. The main thing is to keep it warm and dry inside. And it will bring a lot of pleasure to the designer to decorate the housing of birds.

If desired, it is not difficult to build even apartment house... Several families will settle in such a birdhouse at once, which will greet the rising sun with sonorous joyful chirping. At the same time, there will be no difficulties how to build a birdhouse. The photo below illustrates the process quite clearly.

The house can also differ significantly in shape. An interesting solution is diamond-shaped housing. However, the question arises - is it convenient for birds?

It's up to you to decide: how to build a birdhouse, the size and decor of which depends entirely on the prospective residents and your skills.

Most the best way housing for birds - a wooden birdhouse. It is warm, and the birds in it feel like in the hollow of a tree. However, not everyone has the opportunity to build such housing on their own. In this case, the materials at hand will help out.

A beautiful birdhouse is obtained from a log. The core can be selected with a chisel. It remains only to drill a hole for the entrance and think over the roof.

You can even make a bird house from a regular plastic bottle. But such a house must be insulated. You should tie the bottle around with warm ropes or even tie a tight cover. And don't forget the sharp cuts of the hole. It is better to cover them with tape around the perimeter.

How to install a birdhouse?

So, in theory, you already know how to build a birdhouse correctly, but the correct installation of the house is also an important point in creating housing.

Most often, the birdhouse is nailed to a long pole, which is then screwed with wire to a tree about 5-7 meters from the ground. Hang the house slightly inclined forward, then rainwater will not flow into the housing to the birds. It is worth considering the direction. The entrance should face south or east.

House protection

Everyone knows that cats are great hunters. They are so dexterous that they can catch a bird even on the fly. Based on this, you need to protect the birdhouse as much as possible from the teeth and claws of the predator. Place a plywood circle in the middle of the pole parallel to the ground. The diameter of the circle should be 45-50 cm. Cats will not be able to overcome such an obstacle, and the chicks will remain safe and sound.

Be sure to dry the material before building a birdhouse. The raw wood will dry out very quickly and the house will become uninhabitable.

It is a good idea to put a small layer of earth, peat and sawdust on the bottom of the birdhouse. This layer should be no more than 5 cm.

It is very easy to make the roof removable. Then, when cleaning the house, when the tenants leave their homes in the fall, there will be no special difficulties. To do this, nail a thick board from the inside of the roof, which will enter the house, like a cork in the neck of a bottle.

Instead of a conclusion

Knowing how to build a birdhouse, it is not difficult to calculate the size of future housing. With the help of such a house, you can not only alleviate the fate of birds, but also get rid of plant pests. One brood will mourn enough to protect the plantings from thousands of May beetles and larvae in just 5 days! And the birds will bring the greatest joy to children. After all, what is familiar and understandable to adults is a window into wonderful world wildlife!

Environmental project

"Skvorushka - starling"

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Lyudmila Petrovna

Explanatory note

The relationship of man with nature and its inhabitants - actual question modernity. It is feasible if every child has a sufficient level of ecological culture, ecological consciousness, the formation of which begins from early childhood and continues throughout life.

In urban conditions, there are very limited opportunities for communication with nature, therefore, one of the important tasks of the work on the formation of ecological culture, I consider the acquaintance of children with the natural objects of the immediate environment.

Whom: animals or birds do we most often see in our cities and forests? Of course, birds. Here, in the city, birds live side by side with us and delight us with their singing and colorful outfit.

As part of the International Day birds, which is celebrated on April 1, we decided to devote our project to the starlings that come to us in the spring.

PROJECT PASSPORT

Project type: cognitive and creative.

Duration of the project: 3-4 weeks of March - 1 week of April.

Project participants: children of the younger group (3 - 4 years old), group teacher, parents.

Subject of study and creativity: starling, birdhouses.

Objective of the project: Clarify and expand the idea of children about the starling, the home for the starling - "birdhouse".

Project objectives:

Create conditions for the formation of a cognitive interest in starlings in children;

To acquaint children with the features migratory birds- starlings;

Cultivate a caring attitude towards birds.

The intended result:

Expand and deepen the knowledge of children about such a migratory bird as a starling;

Develop interest and cognitive skills through joint creative activities of children and parents;

To form parents' interest in the problem of the ecological development of their children;

To cultivate a respect for birds.

Project products:

The book "All About Starlings ...".
Birdhouses.

Stages of project implementation:

Preparatory (defining the goals and objectives of the project, drawing up a plan).
Basic (implementation of the project plan).
Final (summing up the results).

Stages of project implementation	Project activities		Terms of implementation
Preparatory	Development of a project implementation plan. Compilation of summaries of events	Design and systematization of activities for the implementation of the project	3rd week of March
	Selection of illustrative material	Equipping the subject-spatial environment of the group.	3rd week of March
	Introducing parents to the project plan.	Involving parents in project activities, defining their role in this project	3rd week of March
Basic	Integrated lesson "House for a starling"	Acquaintance of children with a migratory bird - a starling. To foster a respect for birds, the ability to take care through creative activity	4th week of March
	Compilation of the book "All About Starlings ..."	Collection of information with poems, riddles, proverbs about the starling.	4th week of March
		Determine the best places for placing birdhouses around the kindergarten area	4th week of March
	Introduction to reading fiction: A. Barto "A tall maple awaits guests ...".	Expand children's ideas about the starling, the starling house - the birdhouse.	4th week of March
Final	Promotion "Each starling - a palace"	To cultivate a respectful attitude towards birds, to teach them to express their care for them in useful activities	1st week of April

Project applications:

Synopsis of the integrated lesson "House for a starling". Creative works of children.
Synopsis of the target walk "Where to hang a house for a starling?"
Synopsis on introduction to reading fiction:
The book "All About Starlings ...".
Photo report from the action "A palace for each starling."

A. Barto "A tall maple awaits guests ...".

Municipal preschool educational institution

Kindergarten combined type "Rainbow"

Abstract

integrated lesson on the topic "House for a starling"

for children of the younger group

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Lyudmila Petrovna

Integrated lesson "House for a starling"

in the younger group

Target: continue to form children's ideas about birds

Development of memory, attention, observation,
Develop the ability to compare the starling with other birds;
To form in children an idea of the starling;

The development of coherent speech in preschool children,
Enrichment of the children's vocabulary - children should learn the concepts: arrival of birds, breeding chicks, caring for them, human help.

Fostering curiosity, a desire to help and take care of living beings, i.e. birds.
To cultivate a kind attitude towards all living things, a sense of empathy.

Integration of educational areas: Social and communicative development, Cognitive development, Artistic and aesthetic development, Speech development.

Methodological techniques:

generalizing conversation-dialogue,
game situation,
physical minutes,
looking at illustrations and then talking about them,
productive activity of preschoolers,
reflection.

Stroke educational activities

Educator: Spring has come. The sun warms up, the first thawed patches appear on the hills. Streams run along the roadsides. At this time, the messengers of spring return to their native lands from distant countries.

Ask a riddle:

There is a palace in the courtyard,

One singer lives there.

Very clever fellow,

And his name is ... (Starling)

Educator: Our feathered friends will arrive. Starlings will settle in birdhouses, hollows. Arriving home, the starlings sit on trees and sing merrily. The birds begin to build their nests.

The child recites the poem "Starling"

A starling is smaller than a crow

But a little more sparrow -

He's from a birdhouse like from a balcony,

Sings no worse than a nightingale!

The teacher exposes a picture of a starling. Children in the picture describe the starling. (A large, beautiful bird with black plumage, the starling has a long beak that helps to catch worms.)

Fizminutka

We got up early today.

They waited for the birds yesterday.

Security walks around the yard,

Drives cats out of the yard.

We wave our hands to the starlings

Drum and sing:

Live in our house

It will be good for you in it!

Educator: What do people do, waiting for birds in the spring?

Children: People make birdhouses and hang them on trees.

The teacher shows the children a birdhouse, they examine it. A birdhouse is a bird house for starlings in the form of a small booth that needs to be hung in a protected place on a tree or on a wall. In the birdhouse, the starlings hatch their chicks. The house should be hung high so that the cats cannot reach the chicks.

Application "Birdhouse"

(from ready-made forms) with musical accompaniment

How to work:

1. Examination of the sample.

2. Remember what parts the birdhouse consists of?

3. Offer to lay out the birdhouse on the table.

4. Performance of work by children.

At the end of the lesson, all works of children are considered.

Municipal preschool educational institution

kindergarten combined type "Rainbow"

Target walk

"Where to hang a starling house?"

(Junior group)

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Lyudmila Petrovna

Target walk "Where to hang the starling house?"

Goal and tasks:

to consolidate knowledge of the names of trees growing in the immediate environment of the kindergarten
develop a cognitive interest in the natural world.
to develop cognitive activity in the process of observing objects and phenomena of nature.
learn to choose the proposed places for hanging birdhouses;
continue to introduce birds to life in the spring;
to form the skills of nature conservation, environmentally competent and safe behavior for nature and for the child himself.
cultivate love and caring attitude towards birds.

Methodical techniques: observation, story, conversation.

Dictionary activation: high, safe, birdhouse.

Preliminary work: the teacher's story about the starling, about hanging houses for starlings, reading fiction, applying a birdhouse.

Walking course

Before going out for a walk, the teacher says to the children: Today you and I will walk along the street. She is beautiful and wide. There are many trees in the street. You and I will walk along the sidewalk. We will go in pairs one after another, without disturbing passers-by. On the street, you must behave in a cultured way: do not shout, talk calmly, do not point your finger.

Educator: Drops fall from the roof,

It smells of spring everywhere.

The sky seems to be higher

Louder is the forest air.

Guys, the trees will soon wake up, leaves will appear on them, and now the buds are swelling on the trees.

These little buds
Spring will print.
In the meantime, the leaves are sleeping in them
And they grow during sleep.

See how many trees are growing around the kindergarten. What trees do you know? Children name the trees they see (birch, maple, poplar, spruce, linden). The teacher asks to show these trees: Tell me, which tree do you see? Run to the tree quickly.

An outdoor game "Run to the tree."

Rules of the game: the child names a tree. After the words of the teacher "Run to the tree!" children run to the named tree.

As spring approaches, titmouses no longer fly to the feeder, only sparrows and pigeons remain. To learn to establish the simplest connections in nature - the sun warmed up - grass appeared - birds flew in. Migratory birds will fly to us. Who flies to us in the spring? What kind of birds have you seen in the trees? (children's answers)

Observe the appearance of migratory birds.

Recall and describe the starling: Large, beautiful bird with black plumage, the starling has a long beak that helps to catch worms.

Guys, you and I made an applique - a house for a starling, at home you and your parents make large wooden birdhouses. You and your dads will hang birdhouses on the trees near the kindergarten. Let's remember how to weigh a birdhouse?

Children's answers: you need to hang in a protected place on a tree, high, so that cats do not get close.

The teacher suggests looking for tall trees for hanging birdhouses.

After identifying the trees for the nesting boxes, the children return to kindergarten.

A tall maple awaits guests -
The house on the branch is fortified.

The roof is painted
There is a porch for singers ...
In the blue sky, chirping is heard
A family of starlings is flying to us.

We got up early today
They waited for the birds yesterday.
Security walks around the yard,
Drives cats out of the yard.

We wave our hands to the starlings,

Drum and sing:
- Live in our house!
It will be good for you in it!

The birds began to approach
Flew to the yard
We could not resist
They shouted in unison: - Hurray!

Amazing thing:
The whole family flew away!

State budgetary educational institution of the Samara region

secondary school № 1 p.g.t. Sukhodol

municipal district Sergievsky of the Samara region

Social project

Birdhouse

pupil 6 "G" class

Teacher: Moiseeva O.N.

Sukhodol, 2015

Introduction

1. Justification of the choice of the project topic.

2 Birds of my village

2.1 Research and development of ideas.

2.2 Terms of Reference.

2.3 Information about the birdhouse.

3. Technological section

3.1 Description and drawing of the birdhouse.

3.2 Drawing of a birdhouse.

3.3 Technological sequence for the manufacture of a birdhouse.

3.4 Safety precautions when working with hand carpentry tools, power tools

4 Research section

4.1 Environmental research.

4.2 Manufacturing economic analysis birdhouse

5. Conclusion

Get to know yourself - it's interesting!

Create yourself - it is necessary!

Confirm yourself - it is possible!

Show yourself - it's real!

Annotation of the project.

This development contains a description of work on the project "Birdhouses near my school" and a presentation. Students of the 6th grade took part in the project. Creative activity on a project is a festival of birds. Nature excursions and bird watching. Practical activity - the construction of birdhouses. The result of the project - birdhouses as a gift to the school.

Caring for birds does not require large expenses, but only the desire of the children, their parents and teachers. April 1 - International Day of Birds. Today is the time to remember and revive the International Day of Birds as a bright, informal event that should rightfully re-incorporate the traditions of our ancestors.

Grade 6 students decided to take care of their feathered friends and actively prepare to meet them. The boys, together with their parents, made a birdhouse. The starling is one of the most familiar songbirds for the townspeople. We will revive the tradition of making birdhouses at school and at home, hanging them all together. If a starling does not sing nearby in spring, then spring does not seem quite spring ... So let's make spring!

Create favorable conditions for birds, instill in children a sense of responsibility for life on earth, develop sensitivity, kindness and cognitive interest of students in nature.

Introduction

Wood is one of the most common materials that people learned to process in ancient times. With the help of an ax, knife and other tools, people made houses, bridges, windmills, fortifications, tools, dishes and much more.

Nowadays, we are surrounded by a large number of wood products: furniture, musical instruments, children's toys, etc.

I consulted with my dad about what you can do with your own hands from wood. He suggested making a cozy, beautiful and neat bird house. Indeed, birds need houses. They will settle in new apartments, breed chicks and feed them with pests from our garden. And the guys and I will watch them and rejoice at what we did good for the birds.

Target : Help the birds to equip their nests in the spring. Promote the conservation and survival of birds.To draw the attention of schoolchildren and parents to the problem of the shortage of bird houses for starlings in the Suhodol settlement.

Tasks:

Collect and study diagrams and drawings for the construction of birdhouses.

Find out the number of birdhouses in Suhodol

Find out from the labor teacher Teryoshin S.M. about the technology of manufacturing a birdhouse.

Conduct daily observations of the settlement of birds in the manufactured birdhouses.

Relevance

Spring will come, and starlings will soon arrive in our region. Students of our school take care of feathered friends and are actively preparing to meet them. Pupils together with their parents made birdhouses. The starling is one of the most familiar songbirds. We will revive the tradition of making birdhouses at school and at home, hanging them all together. If a starling does not sing nearby in spring, then spring does not seem quite spring.The problem of nature conservation has always been and remains relevant. We believe that helping in solving this problem is the concern not only of adults, but also of us - children.

Expected results

The attitude of children and adults to the problem of attracting birds in their native village will change.

The number of birdhouses in Suhodol will increase

Dates: April-May.

1. Justification for the choice of the project topic

The life of people is inextricably linked with the life of birds. People have always been interested in birds. A person at least once in his life would like to fly high above the ground and look at the world from a bird's eye view. The singing of birds has always fascinated people. They are orderlies of forests, gardens, fields, destroying harmful insects, eat the seeds of weeds. That is why it is necessary toto feed birds, help them in life.

Research and development of ideas

Necessary materials and tools for making a birdhouse. To get the desired product, we initially began to look for required material in the Internet. We were interested in the design of the birdhouse, its aesthetic design, types of houses for different birds. How many interesting things we have learned! We are still in the 5th grade, and it is very difficult for us alone to complete such a difficult task. Then we called our senior comrades for help and began to do with them. The guys advised us to stop at a simple version of the birdhouse for now. To make the craft, we asked my dad for boards and screws, prepared a screwdriver, a hacksaw and a measuring tape.

Materials (edit)

not planed dry boards, preferably hardwood (birch, aspen, alder, etc.). It is impossible to use compressed wood (chipboard, fiberboard, etc.), it is toxic and short-lived.

nails 4-4.5 cm long or screws.

Instruments

hacksaw for wood;

hammer;

drill with a feather drill;

narrow chisel;

pencil and ruler;

Birdhouse dimensions

boards should be at least 2 cm thick so that the walls retain heat well;

optimal inner size: square bottom 10-15 cm.

diameter of the tap hole (hole) 4.5-5 cm;

the distance from the entrance to the bottom is 15-20 cm;

birdhouse height 30-35 cm;

the top canopy should protrude at least 5 cm to protect the entrance from the elements.

Where and how to hang

You can hang it on a tree, pole, wall to a height of 3 m with a slight forward tilt, so that the rain does not flow into the entrance, and it is easier for the birds to get out. You can hang birdhouses throughout the year, but the best time is late March and early April. The entrance must face south, east, or southeast tono wind was blowing into the birdhouse. We saw birdhouses in pictures, in textbooks, in the trees of our neighbors. From this we concluded that the bird house should be spacious, light and comfortable for the residents. The finished birdhouse will need to be hung on a tree, but not nailed to the trunk, but attached without nails so as not to harm the tree.

What to feed starlings

Starlings are omnivorous. They feed on both plant and animal foods. Usually starlings arrive when the snow melts. At this time, they hunt for earthworms that climb to the surface of the earth, looking for insect larvae that hibernated in secluded places.

If you want to attract starlings to your house while there is still not much food in the spring, or if the cold and snow have returned to your area after the arrival of the starlings, then a feeder can be arranged a few meters from the birdhouse. Although starlings primarily feed on animal food, they will not give up on the available plant foods. Starlings can eat grain, various seeds (seeds), a variety of berries and fruits of other plants (for example, apples, pears)

How to care

Birdhouse description

A birdhouse can be made of wood of various species, rectangular, with an inclined lid, a round entrance, a wooden perch. The birdhouse will be attached with nails and wire to the trunk of the tree.

Product drawing

Economic calculation material costs per product

Determine the cost of the materials needed to make a birdhouse.

The cost of wood is 50 rubles.

The cost of nails or screws is 20 rubles.

Electricity costs

Total: the cost of wood + the cost of nails or screws - 50 + 20 = 70 rubles

Output

Our birdhouse turned out to be quite spacious and comfortable. We hung it on the east side. We really enjoyed working with wood. The next year we decided to try to make a decorative birdhouse and see which house the starlings would like more, simple or decorative.

Having made a birdhouse with my own hands, I learned:

What kind of wood is

How to make a birdhouse

How to hang bird houses correctly

How to feed the birds.

We will instill in children a love for animals and teach them to take good care of nature! Hanging houses - birdhouses - near the dwelling is an old folk tradition. Seeing a starling - spring is at the porch! Let's revive good traditions. Woodwork brings joy, gives skill, makes our life more beautiful and richer.

Bibliography

1. Buzkinov M., Potapov G., - The art of wood carving. -M .: Antikva, 2010

2. Glikin M.S. Decorative woodwork on machine tools. M .: Iskona, 2012.

4. Leontiev D.P. Do it yourself. - M .: Education, 1985.

5. Logacheva L.A. The basics of woodcarver craftsmanship. Moscow: Folk Art, 2012.

Birdhouse - a type of artificial closed nesting, the most popular among people - friends wild birds, and their charges. The tradition of hanging birdhouses on Bird Day exists all over the world, and in places suitable for nesting, real bird towns appear here and there, see fig.

Note: International Bird Day, April 1, is not celebrated in the Russian Federation. In Russia, it is customary to consider the so-called Day of the Birds. Gaining, but not a Christian church holiday, but a national one. Popular Acquisition falls on March 9 according to the Gregorian calendar, this date is more suitable for hanging birdhouses, see below. The origin of the name of the national Acquisition is not associated with the acquisition of the head of John the Baptist, but with beekeeping - if by this day the bees are found (are) in the hives, it means that they have overwintered safely.

Making a good birdhouse with your own hands is not difficult; a schoolchild will cope with this. Birdhouses are used to attract not only birds - insect exterminators to personal and summer cottages, but also small songbirds to cities and dwellings, as well as to create nests for hollow-nesting birds in forests and parks. Many useful and beautiful birds hollows nest and competition for "living space" during the nesting season is fierce, because There are not so many hollows in the trees and, as a rule, they have been busy with someone since autumn.

The birdhouse assembly technology is really simple, expensive and / or complex materials are not required for it. But, to make a birdhouse, you need to know in advance who will live in it. In closed nesting sites, many small birds, which in other conditions are able to nest openly, do not mind building a nest. All potential newcomers of the birdhouse have their own requirements for the nesting site, therefore, the design of birdhouses for different types or groups of bird species differ, which is expressed in their names: titmouse, flycatcher, wagtail, owl, etc.

General terms

The device of the birdhouse is generally as follows: it is an upwardly elongated cavity, predominantly in wood, with a blank bottom and a removable lid. Under the roof there is a hole - a taphole - for birds that have settled in it. A removable cover is necessary, firstly, for the autumn inspection and cleaning of the cavity: of the birds, only starlings, titmice and nuthatches, after the chicks emerge, will certainly throw out the old nesting material and make “ general cleaning". Most of the others leave the trash as it is and the next year the cluttered "secondary housing" will no longer take. Secondly, instead of birds, the birdhouse can be captured by unwanted occupying animals; we'll talk about them below.

The body (structure) of the birdhouse can be prefabricated from boards, as well as some other materials, or chiselled or chipped from a piece of log - churak; the latter are called nest boxes. The dimensions of the birdhouse are usually, depending on the type of birds for which it is intended, 20-40 cm in height; a notch with a diameter of 2.5-6 cm is located 5-6 cm under the roof. Removal of the roof over the entrance is needed at least 5 cm for protection from rain and cats. The diameter of the inner cavity (nesting chamber) is from 10x10 to 15x19 cm in nesting boxes made of boards or from 7 to 20 cm in diameter in nest boxes. Sometimes a pole or a landing pad for parents is required in front of the entrance; in what cases - let's see further.

Houses like a birdhouse are also made for other animals living in hollows: squirrels, bats, but their proportions are different. It is necessary to make a birdhouse for birds within the specified height limits so that the chicks can still climb the walls for feeding, but for squirrels, and especially sleepyheads, such a high threshold would already be inconvenient. The nesting chamber should not be made too spacious, firstly, for the same reason. Secondly, on a large nesting area, the female will lay more eggs, but the parents will not have enough strength to feed everyone. Some chicks will then die, and the rest will grow stunted and will not survive the winter.

What are the birds waiting for?

A birdhouse must meet very specific requirements. First, it must be strong and opaque: the secrecy of the brood is the main reason for which hollow nests nest in tree cavities. Further, the inner walls should be not very hard and slightly rough so that the chicks can climb towards the parents who have arrived with food. Without this physical exercise, the chicks will not properly get on the wing and will not survive the flight to winter or will become victims of predators.

The following conditions: the material of the birdhouse should be moderately sound-permeable, keep heat as best as possible, and its structure should not have cracks. Reasons: chicks should hear arriving parents or a creeping predator, but at the same time, their squeak should not spread far. In addition, the chicks of all hollow-nesting nests are at first naked, the slightest draft can destroy them, and wetting the nest will destroy the entire brood for sure. Chicks, like all birds, emit quite a lot of heat, and in a warm, dry dwelling, they will have a much better chance of surviving a sudden cold snap.

About materials

Make a birdhouse best of all from edged unplanned boards of deciduous wood. Conifers are suitable only when matured, without visible streaks or a noticeable smell of resin. The best ones are used, from some disassembled shed. The thickness of the boards is 20-30 mm, then the conditions of sound conductivity and thermal insulation will be maintained. If the boards are planed, then the inner side of the one where the notch will be must be "rough": treated with a coarse sandpaper, covered with notches or scratches with the tip of a knife or a corner of a chisel.

Note: in some cases, some other materials are suitable or even preferable, incl. and junk henchmen. We will talk about their application further.

Plywood, even waterproof, is not suitable for birdhouses: it muffles sounds and does little to prevent heat loss. OSB, chipboard, fiberboard are absolutely unsuitable - birds are much more sensitive than us to vapors of phenol compounds. The nest chamber made of synthetic sawn timber on a phenolic binder of the highest consumer grade for chicks will turn into a gas chamber. MDF, in which there are no phenolic resins, would, in principle, fit, but this is a material for internal use and, under the influence of precipitation, will soon swell and deteriorate.

Enemies and protection

There are plenty of people who want to eat eggs or chicks in nature. In addition, the nesting box can be occupied by new settlers "without a warrant", or even extremely undesirable in the garden, such as, for example. sleepyhead. Dormouse is interested in seeds in juicy fruits, and just a couple of these animals can spoil the harvest in the whole garden. Squirrels, bats, and in Siberia and chipmunks can also capture a birdhouse. In general, there is no harm from the four-legged invaders, but useful birds are deprived of their nesting sites.

The worst birdhouse destroyers are large woodpeckers, big motley and desirable. By the beginning of the nesting time, these generally useful birds experience an acute shortage of animal protein, it is time for them to nest too, and for this, woodpeckers peck at birdhouses, destroying eggs and chicks. There is nothing to be done, everything is poison and everything is a medicine, not only in medicine.

In second place in terms of danger for brood - cats, domestic and wild. Small predators from the weasel family, strange as it may seem at first glance, are not particularly dangerous for clutching and chicks: by the time of nesting of birds, they have at their disposal abundant easily accessible prey - mice, voles.

Methods for protecting the birdhouse from ruin are shown in Fig. Pos. 1 - from woodpeckers: a tin collar 5-6 cm wide, upholstered with small studs at the same distance or an overlay made of straight grained wood with fibers oriented horizontally; the fact is that woodpeckers can only peck at a tree with vertical grains. The latter method is preferable because the pad does not rust and does not create inconvenience to the owners of the house. But keep in mind that the rest of the structure must be made of wood with fibers oriented vertically or obliquely, otherwise the bird house will quickly split.

Pos. 2 - protection from cats. The best way- anti-cat "skirt"; it can be made from dry twigs or wire pieces. 1-2 short twigs at the root part are cut off so that small inclined stumps remain, and the entire belt is fastened with a wire passing under them, without pulling it tightly so as not to damage the tree. The "skirt" is positioned at the same height as the lower tin belt, see below.

The threshold inside under the notch (below at pos. 2) is less laborious, but inconvenient for both chicks and their parents. It is done if there is no way to arrange an anti-cat belt. Another good remedy "from cats" is a wooden collar protruding outward by 3-5 cm around the entrance.

Method on pos. 3 - tin belts - gives a full guarantee against any predators and invaders. Indicated in fig. dimensions, in cm, must be kept accurate to 3-4 cm; they are designed so that potential destroyers cannot jump over the belts, then catching themselves on the bark, neither from below nor from above. Of course, in the section of the trunk between the belts there should be no branches, twigs, feeders and other supports for predators.

Note: good way only from the invaders - hanging in the fall, before the cold, the so-called. temporary substitute birdhouses. We will talk about them further.

For starlings

Common starlings are the most frequent and desirable inhabitants of birdhouses. Therefore, without going into details, let's see how to make a birdhouse for starlings. The common starling is a rather large bird for hollow-nesting, and its relatives, the starling-myna, etc., are even larger. Therefore, in general, a birdhouse, which is a birdhouse, is larger and deeper than others, its entrance is wider, and a pole is definitely needed under the entrance. Starlings prefer to nest in places inaccessible to predators, but with good overview, and the starling is the head of the family is very caring. He will sing a marriage song only if the chosen one has the opportunity to immediately inspect and accept the living space attached to the proposal of the wing and heart.

Drawing of the most popular birdhouse, the so-called. village type is shown in fig. The assembly order is as follows:

Blanks are cut from the board;
A notch is cut out in advance in the facade with a feather drill or a crown on a tree, a pole is inserted into the drilled hole, the inside of the front wall, if necessary, is "roughened", as indicated above;
The sidewalls are glued to the bottom and right there - the front and rear walls;
The box is leveled from the bottom and side walls, while the glue is liquid, and tied with twine until it sets;
Dry the box in an upright position on spread plastic wrap;
When the glue sets, the box is fastened with nails or self-tapping screws, 2-3 for each glue seam;
Trying on the lid blank without an overlay, trim / trim the upper edges of the front and rear walls so that the roof fits tightly;
The cover plate is put on the flowing glue, the cover is put in place, and supporting the cover with your finger through the notch, the roof is finally adjusted in place;
Once the glue is seized under the lining, it is attracted to the lid with 4 small nails or self-tapping screws.

This birdhouse manufacturing instruction is designed for the use of PVA glue. In the old manuals, from where the current authors write off a lot really useful tips, it is recommended to collect birdhouses on carpentry glue, but this is because there was simply no much better PVA then. Compared with PVA bone carpenter's glue:

Waterproof.
It is plastic in a dry state: it does not dry out, does not crack, and ensures complete tightness of the seams.
Allows, having smeared the parts with glue and immediately folding them, for 3-5 minutes adjust the connection in place, slightly moving the parts in passing, without breaking the adhesive layer.
Always ready to work, does not require the use of a glue machine or other special equipment.
Used as an impregnating composition in 3-5 times diluted with water, it allows you to use some waste hygroscopic materials for a birdhouse.
Cheaper than wood glue and more durable outdoors.

There are only 2 disadvantages of PVA in front of carpentry glue: its seam is plastic, which is not essential for a birdhouse that is not a sideboard or sofa, and after assembly on PVA, the product must be dried for at least a day in a warm room, and the carpentry glue sets immediately.

When and how to hang?

Well, let's assume that the birdhouse is ready. When and how to hang it? There are 2 seasons for hanging birdhouses: in the fall, after harvesting, but before the cold weather, birdhouses for wintering birds are hung: titmouses, nest boxes for nuthatches and substitute birdhouses for the occupiers. Birdhouses for migratory birds, incl. starlings, hung up in the spring, a week and a half before the start of mating games of birds.

If you are familiar with ornithology, then you need to hang bird houses, especially for certain species of birds (see below), after noticing the precursor birds. They arrive in advance at summer sites, spin there for several days, almost not eating, then fly off. There are always few harbingers, they examine the site, "report" to their relatives and, if everything is in order, a mass arrival begins. Among the points of the "report" is the nesting situation; if the forerunners spotted "straight from the tin", ie clearly not competitive and not looked after by the destroyers of the nesting grounds, they will not fail to inform their fellows about this in their own way, and the settlement of the "new buildings" is guaranteed.

If you do not have experience in observing birds, you should hang nesting places, in the Central Zone of the Russian Federation, during March, but before the April heat hits. Here you can be guided roughly by the first thawed patches: when the bumps are "sagged" on them, you need to hang them up. More precisely - according to the weather, when the equinox storms pass; as meteorologists say, when the latitudinal movements of atmospheric masses in the temperate zone prevail over the meridional ones, but in places with a continental climate this sign is weakly expressed.

It would not be a mistake to hang birdhouses on the People's Day of Birds (March 9) or on the first Sunday after it, but in this case, the probability is quite high that they will be occupied, and the harbingers will overlook them. From the first, however, you can insure yourself by hanging substitutes in the fall.

The second question is how to hang the birdhouse correctly? General rules:

The entrance should be oriented to the east-southeast, so that in the spring the first rays of the Sun can penetrate into it.
Suspension height 3-5 m.
It is preferable to hang it on trees, so it seems safer for the birds.
The exception is wagtails (see below), they must be hung under the roof of a shed (not a residential building!) At the same height.
The titmouse can be hung on the wall of the house, balcony or under the ceiling of the veranda if the birds were regularly fed nearby during the winter.
A starling birdhouse can be raised on a pole in a bare yard.
If the birds were fed in winter, the birdhouse should be no closer than 15-20 m from, so as not to attract the attention of the destroyers.

A rather serious sub-question - how to attach a birdhouse to a support? Nailing down - a path opens into the tree for diseases with pests, and the benefits of birds may be lost in vain. In addition, cats are able to slowly tear off nailed birdhouses or, throwing off the roof, grab chicks.

The main ways of hanging birdhouses and mistakes are shown in Fig. By pos. 1 bird house is fixed if there is not a thick enough tree. The method according to pos. 2 - optimal, it does not harm the tree at all, and the birdhouse holds firmly. By pos. 3 birdhouses are attached to a pole. Please note: in the end, the birdhouse should be tilted downward by 2-3 degrees, this will completely protect it from cats and make it easier for the chicks to feed.

On pos. 4 - the wrong, pseudo-eco-friendly way of hanging with a wire and a wooden block; in fact, it hurts trees worse than nails, the block soon falls out, the birdhouse begins to slurp. And finally, when hanging on a tree, protection from cats is required, pos. 5.

How to climb a tree?

Birdhouses are also hung in the forest, and even a ladder will not always help to climb a tree if it is spreading. That is, to hang a birdhouse, you have to climb a tree. The first thing to remember here is do not climb like children, clinging to branches. Let them race there with squirrels or monkeys, but you are twice or three times heavier, if you fall from the same height, the blow will be about five times stronger, the bones of children are more elastic, and internal organs more resistant to deformations than adults.

The art of climbing trees is called arborism, and those who are fond of it are called arborists. Arborists climb trees, using a safety belt and special devices - gaffs, which, in essence, are the same pliers' claws. You can familiarize yourself with the technique of lifting on gaffs in the video:

Video: how to climb trees?

And about how to make gaffs yourself - from the video:

Video: homemade tree climbing gaffs

However, much less laborious and, paradoxically, statistically safer is the method of lifting with a rope loop, which has long been used by tropical fruit pickers, see the video:

Video: how to climb a tree without knots?

But in any case, what is called, as a step, you need to observe the following precautions:

To work only together, with an insurer below, who knows how to provide first aid for bruises and fractures.
Have transport at hand so that you can quickly deliver the victim to a medical facility; all workers must be able to manage it.
Do not climb with a load; you need to attach a rope to the belt, and only then, having established itself in place, lift the birdhouse on it and, if required, a bag with the tool.
The insurer should not come closer than 3 m to the place of a possible fall of objects or a climber, taking into account the strength and direction of the wind.
The insurer must see the climber at all times; if it disappears from the field of vision, immediately command the descent, and the climber must unquestioningly execute the command.
And most importantly: before starting the ascent, look out for your descent path and clearly understand the procedure for it.

Sinichniki and spetsstroy

You can attract many more useful, interesting and / or beautifully singing birds with the help of a birdhouse. But they are unlikely to settle in a birdhouse-birdhouse, it is great. Artificial nests for small songbirds are made of different types; further we will figure out which of them which birds need. First of all, we will consider stationary birdhouses made of wood, and after them - temporary substitutes for wintering birds and distracting occupants from other materials.

Note: special birdhouses are usually more difficult to make than usual. Therefore, before getting down to work, make sure that potential new settlers are in the local avifauna, and be patient - they, except for tits, do not trust people as much as starlings. A "small-singing" birdhouse can hang for a year or two until it is inhabited, and all this time you need to make sure that it does not decay, does not get littered, and is not occupied by someone else.

Who else to wait for?

Desirable neighbors both in the city and on the personal plot will be, in addition to starlings and great tit, crested, blue tit, muskrat, long-tailed and chick (pos. 1-7 in the figure), also pikas, common and short-fingered, or garden pikas (pos. 8 ; common and short-toed pikas from a distance are almost indistinguishable), nuthatches (5 species in the Russian Federation; at pos. 9 - common), gray flycatcher, pos. 10, and a pied flycatcher, pos. 11. All these birds (pos. 8-11) are hollow nests, actively destroying harmful insects.

For redstarts (at pos. 12 - redstart-bald; you can also wait for black and redstarts) and robins (pos. 13), any of the titmouse described below will do. But the wagtail (pos. 14) needs a special "wagtail", because legs of this bird are not adapted for vertical climbing. You can build a birdhouse for wagtails by laying a school-type titmouse on one side, see below, and providing it with a kind of balcony, see Fig. "Wagtail" must either be installed on a bare yard on a pole 2.5-3 m high, reliably protected from cats, or hung under the overhang of the roof of a non-residential building for the same purpose. But the new settlers will not keep themselves waiting and, pacing the ground, peck at a lot of pests, and no one has noticed the damage from wagtails yet.

If a passerine owl is seen nearby (pos. 15) and it was possible to attract it to the site - joy to the owner, and grief to the pests: this little scoop is a live WMD for them. Small birds of a sparrow owl have nothing to fear: they called it that not because it is somehow dangerous to sparrows, but because it is itself the size of a sparrow. The sparrow owl, like the scops owl, can be tamed by feeding it from time to time with small pieces of raw meat and mealworms. He is friendly, his behavior is funny. But it will only nest in a nest box made of natural material (see below), and to make it requires considerable skill, as for any owl.

Types and designs

I. Sokolovsky was involved in the design of birdhouses. His developments served as the basis for many further designs. The device of 3 types of Sokolovsky birdhouses is shown in Fig; nest boxes will be discussed later.

Titmouse

On the left in Fig. - scheme of a titmouse based on a typical birdhouse.

Designations, as for the next. pos:

A - tap hole diameter: 35 mm for the great tit, crested, blue tit, redstart and 30 mm for other tits and robins;
B - the side of the square bottom, 10 cm is enough. If the titmouse is intended only for the great and crested tits, common in the city, then it is better to take B = 12 cm;
C - the height of the front wall, 22 and 25 cm in the same order as in item 1;
D - the height of the back wall, 28 and 30 cm, respectively.

Note: the distance of the top of the taphole from the top of the front wall is 5 cm and the removal of the roof is from 5 cm, as for a regular birdhouse. The sixth in front of the entrance is not needed.

Bird lovers, using the recommendations of Sokolovsky, are trying to create a birdhouse-titmouse, suitable for any small songbirds. Projects of 3 such titmouses are shown in Fig. They differ, in essence, only in the construction of the roof. The school birdhouse is the easiest to make, no roof adjustment required. It was these who were skilled in Soviet schools in labor lessons, some students managed to make up to 3 items per lesson. The birdhouse-house protects better from cats and, especially, from precipitation. It is advisable to hang such in rainy places, with a long spring. Flycatchers also nest in the universal titmouse, but it is better to attract them with special birdhouses.

Note: if you make a bottom of 15x15 cm in a universal birdhouse (maximum for projects), then it will turn into a birdhouse mainly for starlings. Other birds will occupy it if there are not enough starlings for everything hung.

Half-house and flycatcher

The gray flycatcher prefers to nest in half-dwellings, similar to natural voids in trees. The scheme of a half-nesting birdhouse is shown in the center in Fig. with Sokolovsky's birdhouses. Dimensions:

A - 4 cm;
B - 10 cm (square);
C - 7 cm;
D - 14 cm.

Pied flycatchers are more likely to occupy hollows in horizontal or slightly inclined thick branches, therefore, a birdhouse-house in the form of a cubic nesting chamber with an inner side of about 12 cm, set with a "diamond", is desirable for them. downward, see fig. on right. The front wall needs to be made larger, about 20x20 cm, to protect against cats. Tap hole diameter - 40 mm.

Flycatchers start nesting relatively late, when enough insects are bred. By that time, the heat is established, the parents supply the chicks with high-calorie food in abundance, so the thermal insulation of the flycatcher is no longer decisive. This circumstance can be used for a more complete imitation of the nesting habitual for these birds by building a birdhouse for flycatchers from a plastic bottle or canning can, see fig. A light-colored roof is a must, otherwise the chicks will die from solar overheating!

Note: as for other birdhouses from bottles, see fig. on the right, these are products, perhaps artistic, but not functional. The blank does not meet any of the requirements for the birdhouse. If birds occupy such a nesting place, as they say, out of bitter need, then for a brood such a housewarming ends tragically - it dies either in the mouth of a cat, or when it falls out fledgling; birds abandon such chicks.

For pikas

The birdhouse for pikas has a very special design. In nature, these birds nest in hollows with 2 holes in order to escape through an emergency exit if necessary. Therefore, in the "squeak" requires 2 tap holes in the side walls. The device of a birdhouse for pikas is shown on the right in Fig. with Sokolovsky's birdhouses. Common and short-toed pikas are similar in appearance, but differ in size, therefore, the sizes of nesting sites for pikas differ, see table.

Note : artificial nesting places for pikas and are hung differently than for other birds - only on a tree and at a height of approx. 1 m from the ground.

Nest boxes

Nesting boxes are made of straight-grained deciduous tree decks 25-40 cm long and 15 cm in diameter. For nesting birds, this is the most comfortable, reliable and healthy housing. The percentage of brood deaths in nest boxes is much less than in birdhouses.

Making a nest box in the simplest way is shown in pos. 1 fig. The wide bottom and lid, as in this case, are designed for wagtails. If the notch is made not from the side, but in the lid closer to one of the corners, and the entire structure is hung on its side, orienting the nest chamber with a rhombus, then you will get an excellent nesting flycatcher. For other songbirds, the lid and bottom are cut out to the size of the billet diameter.

Owl, pos. 2, it is more difficult to do, because owls are demanding on the configuration of the chamber and do not tolerate cracks in its sides and bottom. So you have to sweat, chipping the workpiece and hollowing out the camera. Dimensions in fig. suitable for a sparrow owl; the diameter of the taphole for him is 4 cm, because all owls are densely built.

Nest boxes are often hung in forests and parks. In this case, it should be taken into account that the composition of the bird population in broad-leaved, coniferous plantations and birch forests differs not only in species, but also in the average size of birds. The dimensions of the nest boxes for coniferous-deciduous forests / parks and birch forests are given in pos. 3.

About the design of nest boxes

A few words about the design of birdhouses in general will be said later. As for the nest boxes, they look good on trees even without additional decoration, on the left in Fig. If you want to show your skill and taste, then they should really be skill and taste combined with a subtle sense of the material, in the center and on the right in the same place.

Park birdhouses

The tradition of attracting songbirds to parks is widespread in Europe and is developing in our country as well. Park birdhouses should, firstly, attract beautiful birds, loudly and beautifully singing; secondly, and be attractive to people themselves. Among domestic designs of this kind, birdhouses of the "Blue Finch" type are popular, on the left in the figure, but the Germans prefer birdhouses-huts, painted in the color of foliage or bark, with a tin plate on the ridge of the roof, which perfectly protects from cats, on the right in the same place. The diameter of the tap hole, indicated by (*), is selected according to the type of bird, see above.

More about design

Birdhouses should be painted in discreet colors: this is not a feeder, the birds' housing should not attract attention. The shape of the birdhouse should be awkward for ravages. For example, pos. 1 and 2 in Fig. - unsuccessful. Both are set clearly low, the cat or the woodpecker have where and how to establish themselves for ruin, and the first is also brightly colored. But pos. 3 and 4 are both tasteful and functional enough. If pos. 3 provide a collar around the taphole, and in pos. 4 to make an anti-cat skirt from a tree oriented horizontally with fibers, then both birdhouses will become inaccessible to both predators and woodpeckers.

Atypical samostroy - birdhouses from scrap materials

Sometimes it is not worth spending energy and a tree on a stationary birdhouse. Firstly, if it is intended for wintering birds, the same tits. They do not like to nest twice in the same place, because over the winter, they became familiar with hungry ravages and the annual change of nesting sites significantly increases the chances of survival of the brood. Secondly, you do not need to try very hard for the sake of animal occupants. They need to be distracted from the fall with temporary wintering housing. Then in the spring, fearing to lose him, they will not occupy the bird houses, and they will live the summer. In both cases, it is advisable to make a temporary birdhouse from a material that does not require special tools, labor-intensive processing and a separate workplace.

The first thing that comes to mind is paper. Paper birdhouses were invented by amateur poultry farmers in the United States, the equipment for keeping and breeding pets is very expensive there. At home, in an aviary, in paper nest boxes, it really is possible to breed budgerigars or, say, red cardinals. But you can't seriously talk about a street paper birdhouse: the material is absolutely unstable. Nevertheless, we give in fig. a couple of patterns of birdhouses made of paper: on the left - a distracting substitute for four-legged invaders, and on the right - a bird's one. They will be useful to us a little lower, and on occasion, using the same patterns, you can make a bonbonniere or a gift box.

Note: paper birdhouses have another unpleasant property - bumblebees and, especially, wasps willingly settle in them. The latter themselves build paper nests, and here is a ready-made zero cycle. Having a swarm of hornets in the neighborhood is not only unpleasant, but can be very dangerous.

Temporary birdhouses are best made of cardboard impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion or liquid diluted PVA, then they will last outside from autumn to spring. The house is glued with the same PVA. The manufacturing technology for the pattern is shown in Fig. below. Pay attention to pos. 4: the fold lines must be cut before bending; this is the only subtlety in this process.

Manufacturing according to a pattern gives a large waste of material, which is not always desirable, and there may simply not be a lot of cardboard boxes in the closet. For such a case - in Fig. on the right is a way to cut a cardboard strip into birdhouse parts.

If sleepyheads are seen on the site, then the winter hut-trap for them is obtained from a box insulated with foam; it is possible from its pieces, see fig. left. Two sixes are needed to attract exactly the dormouse. It is difficult to catch an active dormouse, but it is not difficult to get rid of sleeping animals. You don't need to kill them: dormouse are actually cute and funny, they will most likely be taken to a pet store or bought by lovers of wild animals. They check the son's bedroom when the hard frost hits, just do not bring the discovered animal into the house. Sleepyheads do not go into real hibernation; in the warmth they wake up and go roaming around furniture and curtains.

Finally, good birdhouses are obtained simply from scrap materials, you just need to know the habits and preferences of birds. For example, bucket construction and board trimming, pos. 1 in fig. below is sure to please flycatchers. Substitute houses made of empty cylinders (items 2 and 3) are well suited for small four-legged ones; if it's a squirrel, then why drive it? Birdhouse from a desktop beer or wine-cognac keg, pos. 4, the birds are unlikely to attract, too big, but bats, also very useful, will fit. A basket with a vine lid, suspended under the roof of the veranda, will be willingly populated by tits, if they were fed in winter and were not offended.

On pos. 6 is not so funny as it might seem: the chicks are soft, warm, the bird (it looks like some kind of nuthatch) is convenient to feed the brood, the woodpecker does not hammer the skin, and in cats the shoe is firmly associated with a crushed tail and broken sides. Finally, a plastic pot with slightly rough, solid walls can turn into a shallow owl, pos. 7.

Direct benefit

The author once set himself the goal of calculating: what is the economic efficiency of a birdhouse on a plot of 6 acres "for myself"? Labor costs accounted for the bulk of the cost of the bird house; the cost of working time was 200 rubles per hour, which corresponds to a decent salary of 32,000 rubles at that time. Taking this into account, the birdhouse and 2 titmouses cost about 1000 rubles.

4 years later, while the birds were living, it turned out that only the savings on the purchase of vegetables, fruits and plant protection products, compared to the same period without the involvement of birds, is ... about 28,000 rubles, or 7,000 rubles / year! That is, the birdhouses paid off 28 times, or 2800%. Wow profit!

(1 estimates, average: 5,00 out of 5)

Operation "Birdhouse"

Bird nests

Important! To avoid injury to children, it is necessary to make and hang nesting places for birds only together with adults!

In March, when the birds begin to return from warm countries, it's time to help them with the arrangement of their homes.The classic common bird house is the birdhouse. His homeland is Western Europe.

The fashion for bird houses came to Russia with Peter the Great. Seeing birdhouses in Europe, he did not fail to introduce them to his homeland without fail.

For the manufacture of a birdhouse, any boards (except for coniferous trees) with a thickness of 15 - 25 mm will go. Plywood, fiberboard and chipboard are not suitable. They are toxic to birds. The inner surface of the birdhouse should not be sanded, preferably with burrs and scuffs: on a smooth painted or polished surface, it will be difficult for chicks, and their parents, to get out. If the boards are smooth, it is recommended to make horizontal notches from the inside, below the taphole with a chisel or a knife. In addition, parents feed their chicks by hooking their paws to the walls, hanging on them. The legs slide on a smooth surface, and birds avoid settling in such nests.

If you want to enjoy your feathered neighbors for more than one year, you should install a birdhouse with a removable roof to inspect the house before the arrival of birds and clear it of the past nest. In addition, it is best to have a flat roof with little or no slope. a gable (like a hut) may soon begin to leak.

Birdhouses are hung at a height of about 4-6 meters, vertically or slightly tilted forward (when leaning back, it will be difficult for the birds to get out of the house, in addition, rainwater will get into the birdhouse). You need to hang birdhouses only on deciduous trees. When fixing the birdhouse on a tree, you need to make sure that the branches do not touch the front wall, otherwise cats will be able to reach the birds.

If you want to install a birdhouse on a pole, then it is also important to protect the birdhouse from cats. The easiest way is to attach a plywood circle with a diameter of 45-50 cm in the middle of the pole, cats will not be able to climb it and harm the chicks.

Scientists believe that about a tenth of all birds nest in man-made houses. We can all help our smaller brothers find a warm and comfortable house.

The sizes of birdhouses as well as the sizes of other man-made nests (titmouses, flycatchers) may differ slightly from each other in shape and size.

Titmakers are fond of many birds: tits, pied flycatchers, redstarts. A titmouse is a wooden house 30-40 cm high with a bottom area of 10x10 cm, a taphole of 2.7x3.0 cm, which is located 3 cm from the lid. It is advisable to paint the inner walls of the titmouse in a dark color with a simple pencil - then the likelihood that the house will be occupied by the titmouse will increase many times over. The dark coloring of the walls for tits is a matter of survival. These birds scare away enemies who have approached the nest with a loud hiss and demonstration of "monster eyes" - white spots on the head, and in the dark it turns out especially effectively. Titmouse-titmakers definitely need to make a very small entrance - 2.5 cm in diameter (so as not to crawl through large birds) and pour rotten sawdust inside.

Flycatcher. This is a 10 cm high house with a 12x12 cm bottom area and a 3x3 cm entrance, which is located 3 cm from the lid. Redstarts, gray flycatchers and pied flycatchers willingly settle in flycatchers. Scientists recommend painting them white from the inside with chalk. These birds like these houses more.

All these houses should be hung at a height of 2.5 to 5 m. Flycatchers should not be hung on trees, they are better placed on fences and buildings.

The direction of the entrance is not essential, but, nevertheless, you should not hang the nest towards the prevailing winds.

Remember one more subtlety - hanging time. In order for the right owners to populate your houses, the houses cannot be hung up all at once. Birdhouses and wagtails are hung from March 21 to April 10, that is, according to the arrival time of the owners, titmouses by April 15 - 20, and flycatchers will be useful only by May 1.

The starling is undoubtedly a useful bird, but in the fall, at the time of flight and roaming, a thousandth flock of these birds can cause irreparable damage to gardens and vineyards. It will probably be correct if only one birdhouse is hung out for every five titmouses and flycatchers. This measure will both save birds and reduce their numbers.

The height of the birdhouse is 40 cm, the bottom area is 15x15 cm, the size of the taphole is 5 cm. The distance from the taphole to the bottom is 30 cm. Outside, under the taphole, there is no need to fix perches and special perches. Starlings do not need them, but magpies and crows can use them to get to the chicks. It is better to make the bottom in the houses plug-in, the lid is removable . The lid should be slightly larger than the bottom so that there are “cornices” on the sides. The canopy of the lid of any nesting box should protrude at least 5 cm to protect the entrance from windblown rain and from cats, preventing them from climbing inside the nesting box from above.

Birds inhabit houses with round entrances better than houses with rectangular entrances.

DIY birdhouse - step by step construction

Let's look at how to make a birdhouse correctly using the example of the simplest version of a bird house. We will get an ordinary birdhouse, the drawing of which is quite simple, so even a schoolboy can figure it out.

Birdhouse Blueprint

However, despite the simplicity of the drawing, there are some important nuances in the construction algorithm that you need to know. So, for work we need the following materials:

dry non-planed boards;
nails or screws;

Instruments:

Ruler and pencil;
hacksaw for wood;
chisel or drill;
hammer.

Now let's look at making a birdhouse step by step:

1. Let's start with the preparation of the wooden elements of the bird's shelter. To do this, on the prepared boards with a pencil, mark the dimensions of the parts - the bottom, roof and walls. The bottom is a square with a side of 13 cm, the height of the front wall is 32 cm, and the height of the rear wall is 24, that is, the front board is 4 cm more than the back one - this must be taken into account so that the roof slopes back. For this, bevels are provided on the upper part of the side walls. Two pieces of different sizes are prepared for the roof, which are then fastened together. One detail should be the same as the bottom, and the other slightly larger to create a kind of canopy.

2. Using a hacksaw, we cut our parts to size. For beauty, it is better to trim the outer surface. In the front wall with a chisel or drill we make a hole with a diameter of 3.8 cm - this is the so-called entrance - the entrance to the birdhouse. In principle, you can make a rectangular hole, but by its nature, birds are closer to a round hollow, so they are more likely to settle in a birdhouse with a round entrance.

3. We put the side walls vertically and glue the front wall to their ends. We glue it very carefully so that there are no gaps left either above or below. Then, after waiting for the glue to dry, we fasten the parts with nails or self-tapping screws. Next, we glue the front and side ends of the bottom with glue and glue it to the front and side walls, and then additionally fix the connections with nails or self-tapping screws. We glue the last and nail the back wall.

Stages of building a birdhouse

4. We fasten together the two roof parts. There is no need to nail it to the birdhouse - it must remain removable so that the birdhouse can be opened and cleaned if necessary.

5. We nail the bar to the birdhouse, with the help of which the house will be fixed to the tree.

6. It is not necessary to paint the birdhouse, however, if you want to make it more decorative, then choose gray or red water-based paint.

7. Here we have such a birdhouse!

The birdhouse is ready!

How to make a birdhouse with your own hands?

For the device of the bird house, a board with a thickness of 15-20 mm and a width of 200 mm is taken. We saw it into pieces with a length of 300 mm, which will later be used as the front and back walls of the birdhouse.

On the front wall, retreating 40-50 mm from the top, a hole is drilled - a taphole, the diameter of which is 28-100 mm, depending on which birds will live in the birdhouse.

It often happens that when drilling a wooden board either cracks or splits into two parts. This is not yet a reason to throw out the material, it is enough to fasten the board with transverse strips from the outside.

Then you should start cutting out the side walls of the bird house, their size should be 150x300 mm, we prepare the bottom of the birdhouse with a size of 150x150 mm, and also cut out a longitudinal strip, the width of which is 50 mm and the length is 700 mm.

Edged boards with a width of 140-160 mm are also suitable for the device of side walls, in this case the area and configuration of the birdhouse floor will change. Instead of a square one, it will become rectangular and acquire dimensions of 140x150 mm or 140x160 mm.

The roof of the birdhouse must be made in such a way that it protrudes 50-60 mm above the front. In this case, when it rains, water will not get into the entrance. To do this, the lid must be filed with a length of 250 mm.

In addition, a so-called sleeve should be nailed to the lid - a square board with a size of 150x150 mm. It is fastened in such a way that the layers of its wood fall across the layers of wood of the cover itself.

Sitting tightly into the birdhouse, the sleeve should hold the lid tightly. Two thin bars with a cross section of 30x30 mm can replace the wooden sleeve just as effectively. This cover can be easily removed if necessary.

Having prepared all the details of the structure, you can start assembling it, adhering to the following work order. First, the side walls are nailed to the wooden bottom of the house, after which the back and front are attached.

When twisting the walls of the birdhouse, do not use too many screws. Enough 2-3 pieces on each side of the board. It is necessary to tighten the screws, stepping back from the end by 30-50 mm so that the boards do not split. It is better to use screws with a length of 50-60 mm.

Large slots formed during the assembly of the house must be caulked with cotton wool, tow, or rags. You can also smear it with clay or putty. Small gaps located on the side walls and at the bottom do not need to be repaired, they will provide ventilation for the bird house.

How to make a birdhouse

To make one birdhouse, you will need:

1. Materials:

edged board (thickness 2-2.5cm, width 20cm, length 80-100cm) - 1 piece
edged board (thickness 2-2.5cm, width 15cm, length 80-100cm) - 1 piece
self-tapping screws (length 45-50 mm, 20 pcs), you can use nails
steel wire 1 mm in diameter, about 1 m long (for hanging the house)
two or three trimming a board or block (needed to secure the treehouse)

2. Tools:

simple pencil
square
hacksaw with medium tooth
drill or milling cutter for wood with a diameter of 50mm
drill for wood with a diameter of 4mm
screwdriver with Phillips bit (or drill and Phillips screwdriver)
hammer

The procedure for manufacturing birdhouse parts:

You need to make 7 parts in the following sizes:

from a board 20cm wide - parts 25-30cm long - 3 pieces (front and back walls and the upper part of the birdhouse lid)
from a board 15cm wide - parts 25-30cm long - 2 pieces (side walls of the birdhouse)
from a board 15cm wide - parts 15-16cm long - 2 pieces (the bottom of the birdhouse and the bottom of the lid).
Important! Please calculate carefully the length of the last two parts - it depends on the thickness of the boards you have chosen to make the house!
The length of these parts = 20 cm - (2 x the thickness of the boards).

1.Use a square and a pencil to mark the birdhouse part.

2. Then saw off the part using a hacksaw.

The marking and sawing off of the parts must be done sequentially so that the paired parts are the same size.

3. Drill a hole in the front wall - a tap hole with a diameter of 50 mm. The starling will enter its house through this opening.

To prevent the cat's paw from reaching the nest with chicks, the hole must be located at a distance of 5 cm from the upper edge.

4. In the front and rear walls of the birdhouse, drill holes with a diameter of 4 mm for self-tapping screws along the entire perimeter of the wall at a distance of 1 cm from the edge. 2-3 holes per side are enough.

Birdhouse assembly procedure:

1. Screw the front wall to the right side wall of the birdhouse.

2. Screw the back wall to the left side wall of the birdhouse in the same way.

3. Connect the resulting two parts with self-tapping screws, be sure to try on the bottom of the birdhouse and the bottom of the lid.

4. Replace and secure the bottom of the birdhouse to all four sides.

5. Connect the bottom of the birdhouse lid to the top. The center of the lower part should be offset from the center of the upper part by 5 cm to form a visor.

6. Insert the cover into the birdhouse body and secure it from the sides.

Since the birdhouse needs to be cleaned of old nests, it is enough to fix the lid with only two self-tapping screws.

Preparing a birdhouse for anchoring on a tree:

1. Screw one self-tapping screw into the side walls at the level of the tap hole (one on the left and one on the right) so that the wire can be fastened to them.

3. Cut a piece of wire equal to the perimeter of the tree + 15 cm.

4. Bend the ends of the wire into the loop.

5. Prepare wire shims. They are needed so that the wire does not cut into the bark of the tree, as the tree grows and the trunk increases in girth. Instead of the barrel, the wire will cut into special pads.

6. Hang the nesting box on the tree by attaching the wire loops to the self-tapping screws and installing spacers.

Useful tips when designing a birdhouse.

Birdhouse boards should be at least 1.5 cm thick, best of all - 2-2.5 cm
From the outside of the house, the boards can be planed, but from the inside they cannot be processed: it is very difficult for chicks and adult birds to get out on a smooth surface. If the boards turn out to be smooth, then before assembling the house on its front wall - from the inside, below the taphole - you need to make horizontal notches with a chisel or a knife.
It is advisable to make the roof removable in order to inspect the house before the arrival of the birds and to clear it of the past nest. It must be strengthened so that neither the wind nor the crow could bring it down. The most rational roof is flat with a slight slope back. Gable (like a hut) will begin to flow faster
It is better to use screws to secure the sides and bottom. A plank is nailed to the back wall, with which the nest is attached to a tree or pole.
The sequence of assembling the house: the side walls are attached to the bottom, then the front bar and, finally, the rear one. We must try to make the house firmly knocked down, without cracks. And remember that you make these houses for the birds! Originality and creativity, of course, are always held in high esteem, but birds will not understand this, moreover, a too bright, pretentious house can simply scare them away.

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