Audubon Birdhouse Book: Building, Placing, and Maintaining Great Homes for Great Birds Paperback – November 15, 2013

This book is concise, informative and helpful for new and experienced birders. In addition to bird house plans it provides information on range, habitat, diet, nesting site preferences and historical information about good folks who have dedicated their time, talent and resources to increasing bird populations. There is much helpful nest safety information for bird house landlords who decide to add nesting sites in their yards. I learned a lot and enjoyed the book. Now to make a trip to the lumber yard!

This book came pretty close to being perfect for me. I do recommend it if you're looking to build "authentic" houses that birds will actually use. After two 70+ hours projects this winter I wanted a quick win for the weekend. I built several houses from this book over the weekend and had such a good time that I built even more the following weekend for a total of 11 houses.I built 4 of their so-called "x box" houses. I gave two to my Mother in Law. My two are occupied with swallows and at least of hers is occupied. In fact, one of mine was in use within 24 hours!I made the HUGE flicker house and mounted it high up on a tree (heavy!), but it's still unoccupied.I made two of their "carolina wren" boxes, mounting them to my barn and shed. The one on the barn was occupied just this past weekend. How fun!I made two platforms from another book but neither has seen any action yet and a bat house from another book, as well. No action there yet, either.The measured layouts are pretty good. I did find one mistake, so be sure to think about it while you're going, instead of following blindly. Also, be sure to adjust as needed if you're not using the same thickness stock. I used rough sawn cedar and white oak, so I had to make a number of adjustments.There's a lot of practical information in the book, and the plans are based on this data. Other books tend to give you plans for houses that look like real people houses and have no scientific research backing their designs, sizes, hole sizes, etc.For the x box design I found that they made the pole mount as quick and simple as possible, which might make sense if you're installing twenty of these in a hurry, but for a homeowner I didn't like the design for two reasons. First, it was has single mounting point at the top. Once the house is set down onto the pole it flops down. Secondly the house turns in the wind! For me, I wanted the hole facing one direction that made sense for the location. Because of these issues I modified the design, adding a second mounting block to the back of the house where the pole passed through, thus preventing the house from flopping and tilting. next, I drilled a small hole through the bottom block and through the first side of the pole. This let me install a screw that anchors the house in one direction, preventing it from spinning. I you make the second mounting block be sure to do it on a drill press because it's almost impossible to make the two holes perfectly parallel in 180 degrees of plane. If they're off even a little the house will be crooked and look awful. I made three attempts at this with a hand drill before realizing the solution.Another modification that I made was to cut shallow grooves along the top roof edges so rain won't hug the surface, running under the roof, towards the house. For more information, this is the same process used on home window sills.As a final comment I loved the inner and outer (top) roofs idea. This allows for a weatherproof roof and more freedom for the top roof. For mine I used rough sawn boards on the top roof, complete with bark and fun shape variation from the log. In fact, one even had the base of a limb embedded in it, which makes for a natural-looking perching surface.

I'm a birder, and Audubon member, and I sometimes get an urge to make something, so I started printing plans for bluebird boxes off the web, and knocking out some bluebird boxes. I'd seen this book on Audubon's Facebook a while back and put it on my wish list. After a couple boxes made from plans from the web, I decided I was was enjoying it enough to take another step and I ordered the Audubon Birdhouse Book.I fully expected a saddle-stitched book about as thick as a magazine with some plans in it. This book is much more than that. Its 160 pages include the whys, as well as the hows, of building nesting boxes for different common species, from wrens to ospreys. It talks about predators and squatters. It shows how to protect your nest box, good woods and bad woods, what you can finish it with, and what not to finish it with. The plans themselves are clear and concise. Some might be a little beyond my hand saw and cordless drill, but to be honest, I'm more into the making, I don't have suitable locations for many of these. I'll place boxes with birders as I build them.I do have to give it 4 stars because perfect-bind books are hard to work out of. Something that would lay flat and stay open, or even a URL to download PDFs of the plans (with proof of purchase, of course) so I can just have a laser copy in my work area would have been great.I'm really looking forward to this weekend, when I can delve into some new plans and boxes.

Published by Audubon, it will come as no surprise that this book puts the needs of birds ahead of all other considerations. The construction and placement recommendations offered are clearly aimed at educating would-be nesting box builders to help them succeed at helping birds. The designs are well thought-out and clearly described to put them within reach of anyone with the proper tools and a reasonable amount of woodworking skill. The list of species that are covered by the designs is pretty comprehensive and is likely to satisfy virtually anyone, regardless of their situation or geographic location.

I value this book! Thorough directions & dimensions for a variety of nesting houses. I got right to it & am building , but it is a great read even if one isn't ready to start cutting up wood .

I have for years lived with Bluebirds and provided a nesting box for them, but knew little about the responsibilities that should go along with Bluebird support. This book has great information about Bluebirds, and many more birds. More than just a "how-to-make" birdhouses for those birds, you will find pretty comprehensive coverage of bird life cycles, habitat and nesting. I borrowed this book, but, have placed it on my "must purchase" list. Wow! Great book for wild bird lovers!

We have had house finches nesting for several years on our balcony curtain rods. We wanted the birds, but not there, so we built a cedar finch nesting box. Finches moved in this spring! So now we get the birds and also get to use our curtains. Very easy instructions for the build, now I want to make more.

This was my first attempt at building a bird house and I found the instructions lacking and wouldhave appreciated more information and more pictures on assembling the different parts.Struggled and had to ask someone for help who knows their woodworking and they were notimpressed either.

This is more than just a book of plans with cutting lists, this book tells how to place the boxes in locations to attract the species you want to help. It also has valuable information on how to observe and monitor the birds using the nesting boxes.

Basic Principles in bird house building, which one may otherwise skip or ignore while focusing more on aesthetics in bird house building only.

Given as a gift at Christmas to a bird lover who said he had been making birdhouses since he was a child!He now admits there is always something more to learn. He is now making his third house for flickers.

The bluebird house is simple to build and one of the most practical I’ve seen. And the bluebirds used it the first year.