Question by John D.: What is the proper diameter for a small song bird house opening?
I have a beautiful hand built bird house. I would like to adapt the openings so that small song birds would use it without being pushed out by larger birds such as blue jays and crackles. I can add plugs with the proper cut-out holes if I knew what diameter opening would work.
Best answer:
Answer by !?!
These are some of the proper diameters for birdhouse entrance holes:
Bluebird Diameter of hole: 1-1/2″ Height above ground: 5-10′
Nuthatch 1″ – 1-1/4″ 6-10′
Chickadee 1-1/8″ 6-15′
Bewick’s Wren 1-1/4″ 6-10′
Tree Swallows or Purple Green Swallows 1-1/2″ 10-15′
Downy Woodpecker 1-1/4″ 6-20′
Hairy Woodpecker 1-1/2″ 12-20′
Note: My birdhouses are mounted on 2” steel water pipes. They are a lot more solid than the store bought birdhouse and bird feeder poles.
Your birdhouse will need ventilation holes or slots near the roof so heat can escape. These holes will be on the sides of the house right below the roof, so rain will not drip in.
Most people think that there should be a perch under the entrance hole. However, the birds nesting inside do not need a perch. The perch also invites predators such as English Sparrows (Passer domesticus) or other birds to attack, kill or bother the parents and nestlings inside.
It will need drain holes or small slots in the bottom of the nest box for drainage.
It has to have a door, roof, or side wall that can easily be opened to clean out the birdhouse. The old nests can attract mites and other parasites.
The inside wall beneath the entrance hole needs a few grooves for fledglingss to climb as they get older.
When selecting the wood to use, use plain untreated lumber. Do not use exterior grade plywood (contains formaldehyde) or pressure-treated lumber (contains toxic preservatives). Plastic and metal often overheat in the hot summer sun.
Never use paint or stain inside the birdhouse. If you want to paint the outside, wait until it is built and paint only the wood that you can see. Use a non-toxic exterior latex paint that does not contain lead. Light colours will reflect the heat and light, keeping the house cooler in the summer. Or keep the house natural, without paint. Red cedar or Redwood would are excellent types of wood that do not need paint.
When you are ready to build a birdhouse (you said yours is already built), one of the most important considerations you must make is the birdhouse hole diameter. While the floor space, entrance hole height and roof height are also important dimensions, it is the diameter of the entrance hole that will most accurately determine which birds find the house attractive.
If you are mounting your birdhouse to a post, attach a baffle to prevent cats, squirrels, raccoons and other predators from climbing the pole to the birdhouse.
Thank you for building a birdhouse for cavity nesting Songbirds… There is a shortage of nesting places for them in their Natural habitat.
Good luck!
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Tags:bird, Diameter, feeder, house, opening, Poles, proper, small, Song
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