Before You Set Out a Bird House Please Read the Following Information

When you set out a bird house you become responsible for the lives of the birds attracted to it and the lives of their babies.  Birds nest in wood cavities to protect their young from weather and predators.  Most commercial bird houses are toys designed to attract people and do not provide this protection. Thousands of birds are injured or die in cute, pretty, or cheap bird houses every year.

Please Do Not set out a birdhouse if:

• It has a perch -  Perches make it easy for predators to raid the nest and attract non native cavity nesters. 

• The wood is less than 3/4 inch thick -  Thinner wood causes the birds to suffer or die in heat during sunny periods and chill on cool nights. 

• The wood at the entrance hole is less than one and a half inches thick-  A deep hole helps prevent raccoons, crows, starlings and other predators from reaching into the nest to take the young, adult, and/or eggs.

• It is made of cedar -  The odor you smell contains plicatic acid which is one of the leading causes of occupational asthma in people and pollutes every breath of the young birds  especially on hot sunny days. Chests are made of cedar to create an undesirable  environment for, or kill small creatures and should not be used for bird homes.  More about Cedar

• The distance from the center of the hole to the bottom of the front is less than 7 inches- Shallow boxes become feeders for Blue Jays, squirrels, raccoons and other predators.

• It doesn't have adequate ventilation  The young birds will die on hot sunny days as the mother bird sits in the entrance hole gasping for air.

Click Here To Read About What Makes a Great Bird House