Bluebird House Plans

If you are looking for bluebird house plans, you have probably decided to try to attract some of these lively blue colored thrushes to your yard or garden. Good for you! The decline in natural habitat and the competition for nesting sites by the more aggressive starlings and swallows has caused a decline in the population of these beneficial, insect eating birds.

Bluebirds are cavity nesting birds, meaning that they nest in the hollowed-out parts of a dead or dying tree. This can have either occured naturally, or by another animal or bird, such as a woodpecker. When looking for a bluebird house plan, keep this information in mind. One of the most common bluebird house plans is the man-made wooden box that imitates the natural cavity found in dead or decaying trees. Any soft, untreated wood about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick will work well. Two of the more popular woods that most people use are pine and cedar. If you have been doing research on the web, you will find both bluebird house plans to build from a template and those that come in a kit that just need to be assembled. Based on your skill level and time available for the project, the choice is yours!

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To paint, or not to paint, that is the question! Bluebird house plan purists will not use any paint or stain on their birdhouses, but bluebirds have been seen in painted houses. If you do decide to paint your bluebird house, stick with a water based paint and just do the outside in a soft natural color like gray, green or brown. A factor of much greater importance than appearance is the proper dimensions. You will see some variations, but in order to attract bluebirds, the suggested dimensions are a 5” x 5” floor, an interior height of 8” to 10” with an entrance hole 1 ½ inches in diameter centered about 6” above the floor. The location and size of the entry hole is probably the most important factor in the bluebird house plan. If it is too large, other birds will use it. If it is too low to the floor, the nest can be damaged by the elements and if it is too high, the occupants will have a hard time coming and going.

Along with choosing your bluebird house plans, you will also want to consider location. The natural habitat of bluebirds is open fields, prairies, and meadows with few trees or shrubs. They like to sit on low perches, waiting for insects to wander too close by. Most of the do-it-yourself bluebird house plans are designed to be mounted on a post or attached to a tree trunk. An open sunny spot is best. Most plans call for the bluebird house to be mounted 5 to 10 feet off the ground. However, some people have observed that if you place the bluebird house as low as 3 feet off the ground, bluebirds will still use them, but sparrows will not.

You can always experiment in your yard or garden. If you place your bluebird house near woods or brush piles, other species of birds will be tempted to use them also. These species, like the bluebird, are usually welcome additions to the area and you might not want to discourage them from using the bird house. These birds are also helpful in controlling insect populations. It may be possible to get a bluebird to nest in the same area by placing another house about 100 feet from the one the other bird is using. The rule of thumb is that you will need about an acre of land for each nesting pair of bluebirds. However, if you don't want anything other than abluebird to use the nesting box, just remove the nesting material and they will usually scout out another location. For this reason and to clean out the box at the end of the season, you will want to make sure your bluebird house plans are designed so that you can do this.

Where ever you place your bluebird house, you will want to consider predators. The easiest way to discourage predators such as other birds, cats, snakes, raccoons, etc. is to mount the bluebird house on a metal pole or use a metal predator guard on a wood post.

Selecting the type of bluebird house plans you feel most comfortable with is just the first step in helping to attract these fun to watch birds to your property while at the same time, helping to increase the population of this beneficial species. We wish you many happy hours of bluebird watching!

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