Birds are very careful when choosing a house, so you need to follow some basic guidelines. Purple martins, passerines, wood ducks and all other different species have different preferences. Some like it small, some like it big and others need it light. It all depends on the species you want to attract.

Some simple tips to have in mind are to make the research; find out what birds surrounds your home or place you'll set up the houses. The roof should be slanted and extend over the entrance to prevent from rain and sun, make sure to have ventilation holes, etc. When you're ready with the design, it's time to make it reality. You need to begin cutting the wood in the dimensions you've decided and apply all other materials in a correct way. It's not always easy to know in which order to do all this in order to create the best result. There you'll also find some essentials you must think of while building the birdhouse.

If you want to try something really simple and quick, you could start of with a milk cartoon. You can easily adjust the size of it by cutting the bottom according to you preferences and make some ventilation holes on the sides of it. Then just paint it with a nice color you like to make it nice-looking even though it's made of a milk-carton. Who said simple can't be beautiful?

Of course there are ready houses to buy at the local shops, although it's still hard to know what kind to choose since every house attracts different kinds of birds. However, to build your own birdhouse is both fun and a nice relaxing hobby, while you know you're doing something good for the nature.

Robins, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Bluebirds, Wrens, Woodpeckers and a long long list of different species will all appreciate those houses. Like mentioned above, because of the amount of birds, you need to have in mind a special group when building a house. If you make a simple house thinking it will fit all, you're probably mistaken, since that often results in not attracting any birds at all.

But why build a house for the birds? Aren't they supposed to take care of themselves? That's true, in natural conditions. Unfortunately, with today's technology and concrete jungles, most birds and especially the smaller ones can't find the kind of protection they need and therefore appreciate some help from us, humans.