Imagine that you and the adults made a birdhouse. Ecological project “Starling is a starling. Municipal preschool educational institution

An interesting observation: outside the city there are much fewer birds than in the city. Why is that? It turns out that in the city for birds there are many secluded places. 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 builds her nest on a coil of wires. Can you imagine the conditions under which a bird lives, a small fighter against plant pests? But a person is able to thank the winged helpers, but how? Build which will be larger than the lantern pipe.

Construction materials

To determine how to build a birdhouse for starlings, you need to select the appropriate material. Wooden boards of exclusively hardwood species - birch, alder, aspen are best suited for construction. Coniferous wood is not recommended. It releases a resin that makes the surfaces of the birdhouse sticky. Not suitable for plywood bird house. It does not retain heat well, making the new building very cold. And it practically does not miss sounds that are very important for birds, especially in case of danger. Pressed 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 the starling is 35 cm. For the bottom, you will need a blank in the form of a square with a side of 16 cm. The letok should be 5-6 centimeters in diameter. Important! Before building a birdhouse, the dimensions should be checked several times. If the proposed living space seems cramped to the birds, they will simply bypass your new building. However, it is not worth chasing large sizes. Otherwise, offspring grown in too spacious apartments will be sickly and weak.

Step-by-step instruction

Creating a simple birdhouse does not require much skill or experience with wood. The main thing is to use the drawings correctly. If you are building a birdhouse for the first time, then the question naturally arises: how to build a birdhouse in stages?

The image shows a diagram of a traditional durable 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 are cut out of the board, be sure to check whether 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 nails, but to drill small holes. The nail may not properly enter the wood, then the sharp edge will stick out in the birdhouse, making the housing unsafe for birds. Or maybe even split the wood. To make the drilling process as safe as possible, fix the wooden parts 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 take up the round entrance. For such purposes, there is a special drill. It drills a 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 out the desired notch with a jigsaw. Not bad for this purpose is suitable brace.

There is another method on how to make a notch. But it assumes a frame that has not yet been assembled. The front board can be divided in the center into two halves. Quite easily, with the help of a chisel, the necessary half-holes are cut down. You can connect both halves with the help of spikes - nails with broken off hats.

The next step is the installation of the roof.

Under the entrance it is necessary to place a stick 1.5 cm thick - a porch. Too large a porch 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 housing. How to build a birdhouse for birds depends on the characteristics of future residents. For example, housing for titmouse is built with a height of 25-30 cm. The bottom should be a square with a side of 10-12 cm. The notch for tits is 30-35 mm in diameter.

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

Pika 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 escape in time if a predator attacks the housing.

decorative houses

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

If desired, it is easy to build even apartment house. Several families will settle in such a birdhouse at once, which will greet the rising sun with a ringing joyful chirping. In this case, there will be no difficulties how to build a birdhouse. The photo below clearly illustrates the process.

The house can differ significantly in shape. An interesting solution is housing in the form of a rhombus. However, the question arises - is it convenient for birds?

It is up to you to decide: how to build a birdhouse, the size and decor of which completely depend on the intended tenants 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, improvised materials 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.

Housing for birds can be built even from ordinary plastic bottle. But such a house must be insulated. You should tie the bottle round with warm ropes or even tie a tight case. And do not forget about the sharp cuts of the hole. It is better to paste them around the perimeter with adhesive tape.

How to install a birdhouse?

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

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

House protection

Everyone knows that cats are excellent hunters. They are so dexterous that they can catch a bird even on the fly. Based on this, it is necessary to protect the birdhouse as much as possible from the teeth and claws of a predator. Place a circle of plywood 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.

Before building a birdhouse, be sure to dry the material. Raw wood will dry out very quickly, and the house will become uninhabitable.

At the bottom of the birdhouse, it’s good to pour a small layer of earth, peat and sawdust. Such a 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 particular 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 of starlings is enough to protect 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

"Starling - starling"

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Ludmila Petrovna

Explanatory note

The relationship between man and 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 in early childhood and continues throughout life.

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

Who: 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 dedicate our project to starlings that come to us in the spring.

PROJECT PASSPORT

Project type: educational and creative.

Project duration: 3rd-4th week of March - 1st 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: To clarify and expand the children's understanding of the starling, the house for the starling - the "birdhouse".

Project objectives:

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

Introduce children to special migratory birds- starlings;

Cultivate a caring attitude towards birds.

Expected result:

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

To 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;

Cultivate respect for birds.

Project products:

The book "All about starlings ...".
Birdhouses.

Stages of project implementation:

Preparatory (determining the goals and objectives of the project, drawing up a plan).
Main (implementation of the project plan).
Final (summarizing the results).

Stages of project implementation	Project activities		Implementation timeline
Preparatory	Development of a project implementation plan. Drawing up summaries of events	Design and systematization of measures for the implementation of the project	3rd week of March
	Selection of illustrative material	Equipping the object-spatial environment of the group.	3rd week of March
	Acquaintance of parents with the project plan.	Involving parents in project activities, defining their role in this project	3rd week of March
Basic	Integrated lesson "A house for a starling"	Acquaintance of children with a migratory bird - a starling. To cultivate a caring attitude towards birds, the ability to take care through creative activities	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 to place birdhouses around the territory of the kindergarten	4th week of March
	Introduction to reading fiction: A. Barto "A tall maple awaits guests ...".	To expand the ideas of children about the starling, the house for the starling - the birdhouse.	4th week of March
Final	Action "Each starling - a palace"	Cultivate a caring attitude towards birds, teach them to express their concern for them in useful activities	1st week of April

Project applications:

Synopsis of the integrated lesson "House for the Starling". Creative work of children.
Synopsis of the target walk "Where to hang a house for a starling?".
Summary of introduction to reading fiction:
The book "All about starlings ...".
Photo report from the action "To each starling - a palace".

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

Municipal Preschool educational institution

Kindergarten combined type "Rainbow"

Abstract

integrated lesson on the theme "House for the starling"

for children of the younger group

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Ludmila Petrovna

Integrated lesson "A house for a starling"

in the younger group

Target: continue the formation of ideas about birds in children

Development of memory, attention, observation,
Develop the ability to compare the starling with other birds;
To form in children an idea of \u200b\u200ba starling;

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

Education of curiosity, the desire to help and take care of living beings, i.e. birds.
Cultivate a good 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.

Methodical methods:

summarizing conversation-dialogue,
game situation,
physical minute,
looking at the pictures and then talking about them,
productive activities of preschoolers,
reflection.

move educational activities

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

Guesses a riddle:

There is a palace in the courtyard

A 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 the trees and sing merrily. The birds are starting to nest.

The child recites the poem "Starling"

The starling is smaller than the crow,

But more sparrow -

He is from a birdhouse as from a balcony,

Sings like a nightingale!

The teacher puts up a picture of a starling. Children describe the starling from the picture. (A large, beautiful bird with black plumage, the starling has a long beak, which helps to get worms.)

Fizminutka

We got up early today.

Waiting 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

Well you will be in it!

Educator: What do people do when they expect 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 hang high so that the cats cannot get to the chicks.

Application "Birdhouse"

(from ready-made forms) with musical accompaniment

Work methods:

1. Examining the sample.

2. Recall 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 the children's work is reviewed.

Municipal preschool educational institution

Kindergarten of the combined type "Rainbow"

target walk

"Where to hang a house for a starling?"

(Junior group)

Compiled by: educator

Kuzmina Ludmila Petrovna

Target walk "Where to hang a house for a starling?"

Goal and tasks:

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

Methodical methods: observation, story, conversation.

Dictionary activation: high, safe, birdhouse.

preliminary work: the teacher's story about the starling, about hanging houses for starlings, reading fiction, birdhouse application.

Progress of the walk

Before going for a walk, the teacher says to the children: Today we will walk along the street. She is beautiful and wide. There are many trees growing on the street. We will walk along the sidewalk. We will go in pairs one after another, without interfering with passers-by. On the street, you need to behave culturally: do not shout, talk calmly, do not point the finger.

Educator: Drops fall from the roof,

Everywhere smells of spring.

The sky seems higher

The forest air is louder.

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

Those little buds
Spring will print.
And while the leaves are sleeping in them
And grow during sleep.

See how many trees grow near 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, what tree do you see? Run quickly to the tree.

Mobile game "Run to the tree."

Rules of the game: the child names the tree. After the teacher’s words “Run to the tree!” children run to the named tree.

With the approach of spring, titmouse 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 visits us in the spring? What birds did you see in the trees? (children's answers)

Watch for migratory birds.

Remember and describe the starling: A large, beautiful bird with black plumage, the starling has a long beak, which helps to get worms.

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

Children's answers: you need to hang it 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 trees for birdhouses, children return to kindergarten.

A tall maple awaits guests -
The branch house 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 towards us.

We got up early today
Waiting 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!
Well you will be in it!

The birds began to approach
Arrived at the yard
We couldn't resist
Chorus shouted: - Hurrah!

Amazing thing:
The whole family is gone!

State budgetary educational institution Samara region

secondary school No. 1 p.g.t. Sukhodol

municipal district Sergievsky Samara region

Social project

birdhouse

student 6 "G" class

Teacher: Moiseeva O.N.

Sukhodol, 2015

Introduction

1. Justification for 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. Technology section

3.1 Description and drawing of the birdhouse.

3.2 Drawing of a birdhouse.

3.3 Technological sequence of manufacturing a birdhouse.

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

4 Research section

4.1 Environmental study.

4.2 Economic analysis of manufacturing birdhouse

5. Conclusion

Get to know yourself - it's interesting!

Create yourself - it's a must!

Confirm yourself - it's possible!

Show yourself - it's real!

Project summary.

This development contains a description of the work on the project "Birdhouses near my school" and a presentation. Students of the 6th grade took part in the project. Creative activity on the project is a holiday of birds. Nature excursions and bird watching. Practical activity - the construction of birdhouses. The result of the project is 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 Bird Day. Today is the time to remember and revive International Bird Day as a bright, informal event that should rightfully include the traditions of our ancestors again.

Year 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 city dwellers. Let's 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 seems not quite spring ... So let's make spring!

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

Introduction

Wood is one of the most common materials that a person has learned to process in ancient times. With the help of an ax, a 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 I could do with my own hands from wood. He offered to make a cozy, beautiful and neat house for birds. Birds really need houses. They will settle in new apartments, hatch chicks and feed them with pests from our garden. And the guys and I will watch them and be glad that we did good for the birds.

Target : Help the birds build their nests in the spring. Contribute to the conservation and survival of birds.To draw the attention of school students and parents to the problem of the lack of birdhouses for starlings in the village of Sukhodol.

Tasks:

Collect and study schemes and drawings for building birdhouses.

Find out the number of birdhouses in the village of Sukhodol

Learn from the labor teacher Tereshina S.M. about the technology of making a birdhouse.

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

Relevance

Spring will come, and starlings will soon arrive in our area. The students of our school take care of their 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. Let's 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 seems not quite spring.The problem of nature conservation has always been and remains relevant. We believe that helping to solve this problem is a concern not only for adults, but also for 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 the village of Sukhodol will increase

Dates: April-May.

1. Rationale for the choice of project topic

Human life 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's why obere is necessarygait birds, help them in life.

Research and development of ideas

Necessary materials and tools for making a birdhouse. To get the right product, we initially began to look for necessary material in the Internet. We were interested in the structure of the birdhouse, its aesthetic design, types of houses for different birds. How many interesting things we 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 things with them. The guys advised us to stop for now on a simple version of the birdhouse. To make crafts, we asked dad for boards and self-tapping screws, prepared a screwdriver, a hacksaw and a measuring tape.

materials

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.

Tools

wood saw;

hammer;

drill with a feather drill;

narrow chisel;

pencil and ruler;

Birdhouse dimensions

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

optimal internal size: square bottom 10-15 cm.

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

the distance from the notch 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 weather.

Where and how to hang

You can hang it on a tree, a pole, a wall to a height of 3 m with a slight inclination forward so that rain does not flow into the notch, and it is easier for the birds to get out. You can hang birdhouses throughout the year, but the best time is the end of March and the beginning of April. The entrance should face south, east, or southeast tothe wind did not blow into the birdhouse. We saw birdhouses in pictures, in textbooks, in neighbors' trees. From this we concluded that the bird house should be spacious, bright and comfortable for 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 omnivores. They eat both plant and animal food. Usually starlings arrive when the snow melts. At this time, they hunt for earthworms that get out to the surface of the earth, looking for insect larvae that wintered 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 has returned to your area after the arrival of the starlings and snow has fallen, then you can arrange a feeder a few meters from the birdhouse. Although starlings predominantly feed on animal food, they will not refuse 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

Description of the birdhouse

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

Product drawing

economic calculation material costs per product

Determine the cost of materials needed to make a birdhouse.

The cost of wood is 50 rubles.

The cost of nails or screws - 20 rubles.

Electricity costs

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

Conclusion

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

What to feed the birds.

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

Bibliography

1. Buzkinov M., Potapov G., - The art of woodcarving. -M.: Antiqua, 2010.

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

4. Leontiev D.P. Do it yourself. – M.: Enlightenment, 1985.

5. Logacheva L.A. Fundamentals of wood carving. M.: Folk art, 2012.

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

Note: International Bird Day, April 1, is not celebrated in the Russian Federation. In Russia, it is customary to consider the Day of the Birds of the so-called. Finding, but not a Christian church holiday, but a folk one. People's Finding 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 people's Finding is not connected with finding the head of John the Baptist, but with beekeeping - if by this day the bees are found (are) in the hives, then they have wintered safely.

Making a good birdhouse with your own hands is easy; a student can handle it too. Birdhouses are used to attract not only birds - insect exterminators to home gardens and summer cottages, but also small songbirds to cities and housing, as well as to create nests for hollow-nesting birds in forests and parks. Many useful and beautiful birds hollows nest and the 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 occupied by someone since autumn.

The birdhouse assembly technology is really simple, it does not require expensive and / or complex processing materials. But, to make a birdhouse, you need to know in advance who will live in it. In closed nesting places, many small birds, which in other conditions are able to nest openly, do not mind making a nest. All potential birdhouse settlers have their own nesting requirements, so birdhouse designs for different types or groups of bird species differ, which is expressed in their names: titmouse, flycatcher, wagtail, owlet, etc.

General terms

The device of a birdhouse in general is as follows: it is an upwardly elongated cavity, mainly in wood, with a blank bottom and a removable lid. Under the roof there is a hole - notch - for the birds that settled in it. A removable cover is necessary, firstly, for autumn inspection and cleaning of the cavity: among the birds, only starlings, tits and nuthatches, after the departure of the chicks, will certainly throw away the old nesting material and make general cleaning". Most of the others leave the garbage as it is and the next year the cluttered “secondary” will no longer be taken. Secondly, instead of birds, the birdhouse can be captured by unwanted occupying animals; we will talk about them below.

The body (structure) of the birdhouse can be prefabricated from boards, as well as some other materials, or dug or chipped from a piece of log - churak; the latter are called hollows. 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. The removal of the roof over the notch is needed at least 5 cm in order to protect it from rain and cats. The diameter of the internal cavity (nesting chamber) is from 10x10 to 15x19 cm in birdhouses made of boards or from 7 to 20 cm in diameter in hollows. Sometimes a pole or landing area 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 indicated height limits so that the chicks can still climb the walls for feeding, but for squirrels, and especially for dormouse, such a high threshold would be inconvenient. You should not make the nesting chamber too spacious, firstly, for the same reason. Secondly, in a large nesting area, the female will lay more eggs, but the parents will not have enough strength to feed them all. Some of the chicks will then die, and the rest will grow stunted and will not survive the winter.

What are the birds waiting for?

The birdhouse must meet very specific requirements. First, it must be durable and opaque: the secrecy of the brood is the main thing for which hollow nests nest in tree cavities. Further, the inner walls should not be 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 get on the wing properly and will not survive the flight for the winter or become victims of predators.

The following conditions: the birdhouse material should be moderately sound-permeable, keep heat as best as possible, and its structure should not have cracks. Reasons: the chicks should hear the arriving parents or a sneaking predator, but at the same time, their squeak should not spread far. In addition, the chicks of all hollow nesters are initially naked, the slightest draft can kill them, and wetting the nest will kill 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, unplaned hardwood boards. Conifers are only suitable when aged, without visible streaks or a noticeable smell of resin. The best ones are used, from some sort of dismantled shed. The thickness of the boards is 20-30 mm, then the conditions of sound transmission and thermal insulation will be maintained. If the boards are planed, then the inside of the one where the notch will be must be “roughened”: treated with a large sandpaper, covered with notches or scratches with the tip of a knife or the corner of a chisel.

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

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

Enemies and defense

There are plenty of people who want to eat eggs or chicks in nature. In addition, the birdhouse can be occupied by newcomers “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. Another birdhouse can be captured by squirrels, bats, and in Siberia, chipmunks. In general, there is no harm from four-legged invaders, but useful birds are deprived of nesting sites.

The worst destroyers of birdhouses are large woodpeckers, big motley and greedy. By the beginning of 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. Nothing can be done, everything is poison and everything is a medicine, not only in medicine.

In second place in terms of danger to the brood are cats, domestic and wild. Small predators from the marten family, oddly enough at first glance, do not pose any particular danger to masonry and chicks: by the time the birds nest, they have at their disposal plentiful easily accessible prey - mice, voles.

Ways to protect 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 a tree with vertical fibers. The latter method is preferable, because. the overlay 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 branches or pieces of wire. 1-2 short twigs at the root part are cut so that small inclined stumps remain, and the entire belt is fastened with a wire passing under them, without pulling it tight so as not to damage the tree. The "skirt" is placed at the same height as the lower tin belt, see below.

The threshold inside under the notch (at the bottom in pos. 2) is less laborious, but inconvenient for both the chicks and their parents. It is done if it is not possible to arrange an anti-cat belt. Another good remedy “from cats” is a wooden collar around the notch that protrudes outward by 3-5 cm.

Way to pos. 3 - tin belts - gives a full guarantee from both any predators and invaders. Indicated in fig. dimensions, in cm, must be maintained with an accuracy of 3-4 cm; they are designed so that potential destroyers cannot jump over the belts, then catching on to the bark, neither from below nor from above. Of course, on 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 from 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 most 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 nesters, and its relatives, the starling myna, etc., are even larger. Therefore, in general, a birdhouse, which is a birdhouse, is larger and deeper than the others, its notch is wider, and a hearth is definitely needed under the notch. 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 build order is:

Blanks are cut out of the board;
In the facade, a notch is cut out in advance with a pen 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;
Sidewalls are glued to the bottom and right there - the front and back walls;
The box is leveled from the bottom and side walls, while the glue is liquid, and tied with twine until it sets;
The box is dried in a vertical position on a spread plastic film;
When the glue sets, the box is fastened with nails or self-tapping screws, 2-3 for each glue line;
Trying on the cover blank without a lining, trim / cut the upper edges of the front and rear walls so that the roof lies tightly;
The lining of the lid is put on fluid glue, the lid is put in place, and supporting the lining with a finger through the notch, the roof is finally adjusted in place;
After the glue has set under the lining, it is pulled to the cover with 4 small nails or self-tapping screws.

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

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

PVA has only 2 disadvantages before wood 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 wood 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 are hung for wintering birds: titmouses, nest boxes for nuthatch and substitute birdhouses for invaders. Birdhouses for migratory birds, incl. starlings are hung in the spring, a week and a half before the start of the mating games of birds.

If you are familiar with ornithology, then you need to hang birdhouses, especially for certain types of birds (see below), by noticing the harbinger birds. They arrive in advance at the places of summering, spin there for several days, almost without 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 harbingers spotted "fresh", i.e. obviously not competitive and not looked after by the destroyers of nesting places, they will not fail to notify their fellows about this in their own way, and the settlement of "new buildings" is ensured.

In case you have no birdwatching experience, you should hang nests in the Central Strip of the Russian Federation during March, but before the April heat hits. Here you can roughly navigate by the first thawed patches: when the tubercles “wilt” on them, you need to hang them. Somewhat more precisely - according to the weather, when the equinoctial 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 will not be a mistake to hang birdhouses on the National 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 a birdhouse correctly? General rules:

The letok should be oriented to the east-southeast, so that in the spring the first rays of the Sun penetrate into it.
Suspension height 3-5 m.
It is preferable to hang on trees, so it seems safer for birds.
An exception is wagtails (see below), they must be hung under the roof of a barn (not a residential building!) At the same height.
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 birdhouse for starlings can be carried up 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 ruins.

A rather serious sub-question - how to attach a birdhouse to a support? To nail - the path to diseases with pests opens into the tree, and the benefits of birds can be lost in vain. In addition, cats can slowly tear off nailed birdhouses or, dropping the roof, grab chicks.

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

At pos. 4 - incorrect, pseudo-ecological way of hanging with wire and a wooden block; in fact, it harms trees worse than nails, the block of wood soon falls out, the birdhouse begins to slosh. And finally, when hanging on a tree, protection from cats is necessary, pos. 5.

How to climb a tree?

Birdhouses are also hung in the forest, and even at home 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 not to climb like children, clinging to branches. Let them race with squirrels or monkeys there, but you are two or three times heavier, when falling from the same height, the impact will be about five times stronger, the bones in children are more elastic, and internal organs more resistant to deformation 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 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 gaffs for climbing a tree

However, much less time-consuming and, paradoxically, statistically safer is the method of climbing with a rope loop, which has long been used by pickers of tropical fruits, see the video:

Video: how to climb a tree without knots?

But in any case, what is called as otchenash must be observed the following precautions:

Work only together, with the insurer downstairs, 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 lift with a load; you need to attach a rope to your belt, and only then, having established yourself in place, lift a birdhouse on it and, if necessary, a bag with a tool.
The insurer must not come closer than 3 m to the place of possible fall of objects or the climber, taking into account the strength and direction of the wind.
The insurer must see the climber at all times; when it disappears from the field of view - immediately command the descent, and the climber must unquestioningly execute the command.
And most importantly: before starting the ascent, look out for yourself the path of descent and clearly understand the procedure for doing 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, great. Artificial nests for small songbirds are of various types; then 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 invaders from other materials.

Note: making special birdhouses, as a rule, is more difficult than usual ones. Therefore, before starting work, make sure that there are potential new settlers in the local avifauna, and be patient - they, except for tits, do not trust a person like starlings. A “small-singing” birdhouse can hang for a year or two until it is populated, and all this time you need to make sure that it does not dilapidate, is not littered, or is not occupied by someone else.

Who else is waiting?

Desired neighbors both in the city and on the plot will be, in addition to starlings and great tits, crested, blue tit, moskovka, long-tailed and chickadee (pos. 1-7 in the figure), also pikas, common and short-toed, or garden (pos. 8 ; common and short-toed pikas are almost indistinguishable from a distance), 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 nesters, actively destroying harmful insects.

For redstarts (at pos. 12 - coot redstart; you can also expect black and red belly) and robins (pos. 13), any of the titmouses described below will do. But the wagtail (pos. 14) needs a special "wagtail", because. The paws of this bird are not adapted for vertical climbing. You can build a birdhouse for wagtails, as if laying a school-type titmouse on its side, see below, and providing it with a kind of balcony, see fig. The "wagtail" must either be installed in a bare yard on a pole 2.5-3 m high, reliably protecting it 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 you waiting and, walking on the ground, peck out a lot of pests, and so far no one has noticed grass from wagtails.

If a sparrow owl (pos. 15) is seen nearby and it was possible to attract it to the site - the owner is happy, and the pests are sorry: this little scoop is a living WMD for them. The small birds of the sparrow owl have nothing to be afraid of: it was so named not because it is somehow dangerous to sparrows, but because it is the size of a sparrow. The Owl, like the Sply Owl, can be tamed by feeding small pieces of raw meat and mealworms from time to time. He is friendly, his behavior is funny. But it will nest only in a nest box made of natural material (see below), and to make it, considerable skill is required, as for any owl house.

Types and designs

I. Sokolovsky was engaged in the design of birdhouses a lot. His developments served as the basis for many further designs. The device of 3 types of Sokolovsky's birdhouses is shown in fig; nests will be discussed later.

Sinichnik

On the left in fig. - a diagram 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 tit, 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 great and crested tits, common in the city, then it is better to take B = 12 cm;
C is the height of the front wall, 22 and 25 cm in the same order as in paragraph 1;
D is the height of the back wall, 28 and 30 cm, respectively.

Note: the distance of the top of the notch from the top of the front wall is 5 cm and the roof extension is from 5 cm, as for a conventional birdhouse. Six in front of the notch 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 presented in fig. They differ, in essence, only in the design of the roof. A school birdhouse is the easiest to make, no roof fitting is required. It was these that were mastered in Soviet schools at labor lessons, some students managed to make up to 3 products per lesson. Birdhouse-house better protects from cats and, especially, from precipitation. These are desirable to hang in rainy places, with a protracted spring. Flycatchers also nest in universal titmouses, but it is better to attract them with special birdhouses.

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

Half-hollow and flycatcher

The gray flycatcher prefers to nest in half-hollows, similar to natural hollows in trees. The scheme of the half-hollow 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 sloping thick branches, so they want a birdhouse-house in the form of a cubic nesting chamber with an inner side of about 12 cm, set with a “rhombus”, i.e. downward angle, see fig. on right. The front wall needs to be made larger, about 20x20 cm, to protect against cats. Taphole diameter - 40 mm.

Flycatchers start nesting comparatively late, when enough insects are breeding. Heat is established by that time, parents supply the chicks in abundance with high-calorie food, so that the thermal insulation of the flycatcher is no longer of decisive importance. This circumstance can be used to more fully imitate the nesting habitual for these birds by building a birdhouse for flycatchers from a plastic bottle or 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 the birds occupy such a nesting place, as they say, out of bitter need, then for a brood such a housewarming party ends tragically - it dies either in the cat's mouth, or having fallen out of the fledgling; birds abandon such chicks.

For pikas

A birdhouse for pikas has a very special design. These birds in nature nest in hollows with 2 holes in order to escape through an emergency exit if necessary. Therefore, in the "pischushnik" 2 notches are needed in the side walls. The birdhouse device for pikas is shown on the right in fig. with Sokolovsky's birdhouses. The common and short-toed pikas are similar in appearance, but differ in size, therefore the sizes of the nests for pikas differ, see table.

Note : artificial nests 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.

duplyanki

Birdhouses-hollows are made from logs of straight-leaved deciduous trees 25-40 cm long and 15 cm in diameter. For hollow-nesting birds, this is the most comfortable, reliable and healthy housing. The percentage of death of broods in nest boxes is much less than in birdhouses.

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

Counsellor, pos. 2, it is more difficult to make, because owls are demanding on the configuration of the camera and do not tolerate slots in its sides and bottom. So you have to sweat, hewing the workpiece and gouging the camera. Dimensions in fig. fit and sparrow owl; the diameter of the notch for him is 4 cm, because all owls are heavily built.

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

About the design of hollows

A few words about the design of birdhouses in general will be said later. As for the hollows, 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 material, in the center and on the right there.

Park birdhouses

The tradition of attracting songbirds to parks is widespread in Europe, and is developing in our country. Park birdhouses should, firstly, attract beautiful birds that sing loudly and beautifully; secondly, and themselves to be attractive in appearance to people. Of domestic structures of this kind, birdhouses of the Blue Reel 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 lining on the roof ridge, which perfectly protects from cats, right there. The diameter of the notch marked with (*) is chosen according to the type of birds, see above.

More about design

Birdhouses should be painted in discreet colors: this is not a feeder, bird housing should not attract attention. The shape of the birdhouse should be inconvenient for the ruins. For example, pos. 1 and 2 in fig. - unsuccessful. Both are clearly set low, a cat or a woodpecker has where and how to establish itself for ruin, and the first one is also brightly colored. But pos. 3 and 4 are both tasteful and functional enough. If pos. 3 to provide a collar around the notch, and on 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 improvised materials

Sometimes you should not waste your energy and wood 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. over the winter, hungry ruins became familiar and the annual change of nesting site significantly increases the chances of survival of the brood. Secondly, you do not need to try very hard for the sake of the occupying animals. They need to be distracted from the fall with temporary wintering housing. Then in the spring, fearing to lose him too, they will not occupy the bird houses, and they will live through the summer anyway. In both cases, it is desirable 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 USA, equipment for keeping and breeding pets is very expensive there. At home, in an aviary, in paper nests, it is really possible to breed budgerigars or, say, red cardinals. But you can’t seriously talk about a street paper birdhouse: the material is absolutely unstable. However, 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 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 one more unpleasant property - bumblebees and, especially, wasps willingly settle in them. The latter build paper nests themselves, and here is the finished zero cycle. Having a swarm of hornets in your neighborhood is not only unpleasant, but can be very dangerous.

Temporary birdhouses are best made from 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 according to the pattern is shown in fig. below. Pay attention to pos. 4: fold lines must be cut before bending; this is the only subtlety in this process.

Making 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 in the closet. In such a case, in Fig. on the right is a method of cutting a cardboard strip into parts of a birdhouse.

If dormouse is seen on the site, then a winter 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 sleepyhead, but it is not difficult to get rid of sleeping animals. There is no need to kill them: dormice are actually cute and funny, they are most likely to be taken to a pet store or bought by lovers of wild animals. They check Sonya's bedroom when a hard frost hits, just do not bring the discovered animal into the house. Dormouse do not fall into a real hibernation, they wake up in the warmth and go to roam the 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, a construction from a bucket and trimming a board, pos. 1 in fig. below, flycatchers will surely like it. House substitutes from empty cylinders (pos. 2 and 3) are well suited for small quadrupeds; if it's a squirrel, then why chase it? Birdhouse from a table beer or wine and cognac keg, pos. 4, unlikely to attract birds, too big, but bats, also very useful, it will fit. A basket with a wicker lid, suspended under the roof of the veranda, will be willingly populated by tits, if they were fed and not offended in winter.

At pos. 6 is not such a curiosity as it might seem: it is soft and warm for the chicks, it is convenient for the bird (it seems to be some kind of nuthatch) 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, durable walls can turn into a small owl house, pos. 7.

Direct benefit

The author once set out to calculate: what economic efficiency birdhouse on a plot of 6 acres "for yourself"? The main share of the cost of the bird house fell on labor costs; the cost of working time was taken as 200 rubles per hour, which corresponds to a decent salary for that time of 32,000 rubles. With this in mind, a birdhouse and 2 titmouse cost about 1000 rubles.

After 4 years, 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 attracting birds is ... about 28,000 rubles, or 7,000 rubles per year! That is, birdhouses paid off 28 times, or 2800%. Wow profit!

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Operation Bird House

Bird nests

Important! To avoid injury to children, it is necessary to make and hang bird nests only together with adults!

In March, when birds begin to return from warm countries, it's time to help them with home improvement.The classic well-known birdhouse is the birdhouse. His homeland is Western Europe.

The fashion for birdhouses came to Russia with Peter the Great. Seeing birdhouses in Europe, he did not fail to introduce them in 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 polished, preferably with burrs and scuffs: on a smooth painted or polished surface, it will be difficult for the chicks, and their parents, to get out. If the boards are smooth, it is recommended from the inside, below the notch, to make horizontal notches with a chisel or knife. In addition, parents feed their chicks, clinging to the walls with their paws, hanging on them. The paws slide along the smooth surface, and the 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 birds arrive and clean it from the last nest. In addition, it is better that the roof is flat with little or no slope, because. 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 tilted 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 a birdhouse on a tree, you need to make sure that the branches do not touch the front wall, otherwise cats can get to the birds.

If you want to install a birdhouse on a pole, then it is also important to protect the bird house 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 on it and harm the chicks.

Scientists believe that about a tenth of all birds nest in man-made houses. We all can 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.

Many birds love titmouses: tits, pied flycatchers, redstarts. A titmouse is a wooden house 30 - 40 cm high with a bottom area of 10x10 cm, an entrance 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 tit will occupy the house will increase many times over. The dark coloring of the walls for tits is a matter of survival. These birds scare away enemies that have approached the nest with a loud hiss and a demonstration of the "monster's eyes" - white spots on the head, and in the dark this is especially effective. The chickadees must definitely make a very small notch - 2.5 cm in diameter (so that they do not crawl through large birds) and pour rotten sawdust inside.

Flycatcher. This is a house 10 cm high with a bottom area of 12x12 cm 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. Such houses are more like these birds.

All these houses should be hung at a height of 2.5 to 5 m. Flycatchers should not be hung on trees, it is better to place them on fences and buildings.

The direction of the notch is not significant, but, nevertheless, you should not hang up the nesting box towards the prevailing winds.

Remember one more subtlety - the time of hanging. In order for your houses to be populated by the right owners, you can’t hang the houses all at once. Birdhouses and wagtails are hung from March 21 to April 10, that is, according to the time of arrival of the owners, titmouse by April 15 - 20, and flycatchers will come in handy only by May 1.

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

The height of the birdhouse is 40 cm, the bottom area is 15x15 cm, the size of the notch is 5 cm. Starlings do not need them, but magpies and crows can use them to get to the chicks. The bottom in the houses is better to make plug-in, the lid is removable . The lid should be slightly larger than the bottom so that there are "cornices" on the sides. The visor of the lid of any birdhouse should protrude at least 5 cm to protect the entrance from windblown rain and from cats, preventing them from climbing inside the birdhouse from above.

Houses with round entrances are better inhabited by birds than houses with rectangular entrances.

DIY birdhouse - step by step construction

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

Birdhouse - drawing

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 unplaned boards;
nails or screws;

Tools:

Ruler and pencil;
wood saw;
chisel or drill;
hammer.

And now consider the manufacture of a birdhouse step by step:

1. Let's start with the preparation of wooden elements of bird housing. To do this, on the prepared boards with a pencil, we mark the dimensions of the details - 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 back is 24, that is, the front board is 4 cm larger than the back - 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. For the roof, two parts of different sizes are prepared, which are then fastened together. One detail should be the same as the bottom, and the other a little larger to get a kind of canopy.

2. Using a hacksaw, 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 notch - the entrance to the birdhouse. In principle, a rectangular hole can also be made, but by nature, a round hollow is closer to the birds, so they are more likely to settle in a birdhouse with a round hole.

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 either above or below. Then, after waiting for the glue to dry, we fasten the parts with nails or self-tapping screws. Next, 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 joints with nails or self-tapping screws. Glue and nail the back wall last.

Stages of building a birdhouse

4. We fasten together the two parts of the roof. It is not necessary to nail it to the birdhouse - it must remain removable so that, if necessary, you can open and clean the birdhouse.

5. We nail a bar to the birdhouse, with 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 construction of a bird house, a board with a thickness of 15-20 mm and a width of 200 mm is taken. We cut it into pieces 300 mm long, which will later be used as the front and rear walls of the birdhouse.

On the front wall, retreating 40-50 mm from the top, a hole is drilled - a notch, 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 breaks into two parts. This is not a reason to throw away 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 bar, the width of which is 50 mm and the length is 700 mm.

For the device of the side walls, edged boards having a width of 140-160 mm are also suitable, in which 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 cover must be sawn with a length of 250 mm.

In addition, the 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 lid itself.

Firmly entering the birdhouse, the sleeve should firmly hold the lid. Two thin bars with a cross section of 30x30 mm can no less effectively replace a wooden sleeve. This cover can be easily removed if needed.

Having prepared all the details of the structure, you can proceed with its assembly, 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 for each side of the board. It is necessary to tighten the screws, retreating 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 gaps formed during the assembly of the house must be caulked with cotton wool, tow, or rags. You can also smear with clay or putty. Small gaps located on the side walls and at the bottom do not need to be sealed, 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), nails can be used
steel wire 1 mm in diameter, about 1 m long (for hanging the house)
two or three trimming boards or blocks (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
wood drill 4mm diameter
Phillips screwdriver (or drill and Phillips screwdriver)
hammer

The procedure for manufacturing birdhouse parts:

You need to make 7 parts of the following sizes:

from a board 20 cm wide - parts 25-30 cm long - 3 pieces (front and back walls and the top of the birdhouse cover)
from a board 15 cm wide - parts 25-30 cm long - 2 pieces (side walls of the birdhouse)
from a board 15 cm wide - parts 15-16 cm long - 2 pieces (the bottom of the birdhouse and the lower part of the lid).
Important! Please carefully calculate 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. Using a square and a pencil, mark out the part of the birdhouse.

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. A hole should be drilled in the front wall - a notch with a diameter of 50 mm. The starling will enter its house through this hole.

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

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

Birdhouse assembly order:

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 to each other, 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 walls.

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

6. Insert the cover into the body of the birdhouse 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 the birdhouse for mounting on a tree:

1. Screw one self-tapping screw into the side walls at the level of the notch hole (one into the left wall and one into the right) so that the wire can be fixed behind them.

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

4. Bend loops at the ends of the wire.

5. Prepare wire pads. 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 a barrel, the wire will cut into special linings.

6. Hang the birdhouse on the tree by attaching the loops of wire to the self-tapping screws and installing the lining.

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: on a smooth surface, it is very difficult for chicks, and even adult birds, to get out. If the boards turn out to be smooth, then before assembling the house on its front wall - from the inside, below the notch - it is necessary to make horizontal notches with a chisel or knife.
It is advisable to make the roof removable in order to inspect the house before the arrival of birds and clean it from the previous 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 start to leak faster
To fasten the walls and bottom, it is better to use screws. A plank is nailed to the back wall, with which the nesting box 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 back. We must try to make the house firmly knocked down, without cracks. And remember that you are making these houses for the birds! Originality and creativity, of course, are always held in high esteem, but the birds will not understand this, moreover, a too bright, artsy house can simply frighten them away.

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