Chickadee Towers

Chickadee Towers

For summer 2020, I'm trying to get out more. We have created the insect hotel and then the birdhouse condo, I wanted to have more birdhouses but with COVID-19 and isolation, the only way I can collect them quicker is learning how to make a bird house.

Truth be told, I have never made a birdhouse before. It requires tools that I am scared of, such as the table saw. I thought about making fairy doors for the bases of random trees but also, higher up decor like posts with birdhouses.

I didn't know where to start, so I bought 4 books on Amazon. I don't do affiliate links, but you can see the titles here if you are interested in them. I find them each valuable with information. It has birds that I have in my regions such as morning doves, flickers, owls, chickadees and more.

Audubon really focuses on the roofs only. Such as pitches, tilts, shingles and assorted structures like log houses and more. Extremely helpful.

Daniel recommended I try a chickadee house as we have plenty. The calls of the chickadee are so soothing and part of the ambiance of our home.

My First Birdhouse

Chickadees prefer a long narrow home that is deep. The books have the schematics to follow. This is my first ever birdhouse. However, I could keep it as is, but I really want colour. So it's ornamental but built in the case a chickadee really uses it.

Learning angles for the table saw was a bit daunting. Inside the house, the walls on the one side are indented called kerfs. This allows the bird to climb out of their house. Chickadees don't like perches.

Though the schematic didn't include a back door to clean out the house, I pulled information from another book. I found the small hinges in the picture framing section of the hardware store.

I really wanted 5 houses. I did the other 4 at the same time and saved resetting my saw and did all of the parts of each like an assembly line. I also learned that the underside of the roof needs to have kerfs so the rainwater slides off the roof but when it hits the kerfs, it pools and drips off instead of travelling inside of the house.

I painting the underside of the house and under the roof on the same day I made them. I did a couple coats and then left it overnight to dry.

I used assorted colours in semi-gloss outdoor paint.

I began painting in a completely random manner. I ended up using 8 colours in all. I decided during painting to paint the 45 degree angles a different colour.

I picked up shapes at the local craft store. I hot glued the shapes to dowels so I could paint them without holding them with my hands. Once two coats were down, I snapped them off the dowel.

In some ways, I wish I hadn't added them to the houses but it's a learning lesson.

I added the houses to a frame that I made. I wanted a 3D look. So different beams have different heights and directions. The tower is supposed to look random, which it is.

I attached the houses just with one screw.

Daniel dug a hole and we put it in. Balanced it. I then climbed the ladder to balance out of the houses. One beam was shifted for the balance once it was up. We both stood back to see it before we committed it to secure into the hole.

The tower stands 10 feet tall. It's been placed just outside of the tree line, far from the house. The birds like to have their privacy and having an up-close view would be cool but not ideal for the birds.

So the tower is part of the decor of the grounds in the distance.

Conclusion

I learned plenty of things just making this one type of house. I got comfortable with a table saw. I learned you need to go in steps and take your time.

With the houses so colourful, the green woodlands directly behind it, it makes the colours pop. I don't really know if the Chickadees will like the colours. My grandfather used to make birdhouses that I recently remembered, so I was feeling a bit nostalgic. It's pretty whimsical.

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