bird houses

Before making a birdhouse, choose a species and review the "bird bios" information provided by Cornell. (www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/bios/) The bios give species-specific habitat and nesting requirements that cannot be provided in a simple table like this (such as that boxes for flickers should be stuffed full of sawdust).

The inside should not be painted, because fledglings can't crawl from the nest to the entrance hole if the surface is too smooth. Some builders saw horizontal cuts on the inside surface of the panel that has the entrance hole.

The figure given in the table for the height of the entrance hole is the distance in inches from the bottom of hole to the bottom of cavity.

The links in the species column are mostly to plans provided by the Ornithology Lab at Cornell.

Species	Cavity (dimensions in inches)		Entrance hole		Height above ground in feet	Spacing
Species	Floor	Depth	Height	Dia.	Height above ground in feet	Spacing
Black-capped chickadee	4 by 4	6–8	4–6	1½	6–10
Tufted titmouse	4 by 4	8–10	6–8	1¹⁄₈	6–15
Eastern bluebird	5 by 5	8–10	6	1½	5–10
House finch	6 by 6	8–10	4	2	8–12
Owls
Screech	8 by 8	12–15	9–12	3	10–30
Saw-whet	6 by 6	10–12	9–10	2½	12–20
Barn	10 by 18	15–18	4	6	12–18
Nuthatches
White-breasted	4 by 4	8–10	6–8	1¼	5–20
Brown-headed	2 by 3	8–10	6–8	1	5–20
Swallows
Violet-green swallow	5 by 5	4–6	4–6	1½	10–15
Tree swallow	5 by 5	6–8	4–6	1½	10–15
Purple martin	6 by 6	6	1		15–20	0
Woodpeckers
Downy	4 by 4	8–10	6–8	1¼	6–20
Hairy	6 by 6	12–15	9–12	1½	12–20
Northern flicker	7 by 7	16–18	14–16	2½	6–20
Red-headed	6 by 6	12–15	9–12	2	12–20
Wrens
House	4 by 4	6–8	4–6	1½	6–10

Nesting sites for North American platform-nesting birds

The following species nest on platforms, not in enclosed cavities. A predator shield should be placed around the trunk of a tree with a platform nest.

Species	Platform in inches	Height above ground in feet	Spacing
Robin	6 by 8	6–15
Barn Swallow	6 by 6	10–15
Black or Eastern Phoebe	6 by 6	8
Osprey	3 feet by 3 feet to 4 feet by 4 feet with 2 inch by 6 inch edging	15–20. There must be no trees higher than the ospreys’ platform in the area around their nest. To accomplish this, either clear trees or raise the platform.	½ mile

On the Web

If you erect birdhouses, please consider joining the Birdhouse Network at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/

For Further Reading

René and Christyna M. Laubach.
The Backyard Birdhouse Book; Building Nestboxes and Creating Natural Habitats.
Storey Books, 1999.

bird houses

Bird houses for North American cavity-nesting birds

Nesting sites for North American platform-nesting birds

On the Web

For Further Reading