I'll be the first to tell you that I
flunked woodworking in grade school. Being a left-hander
took a toll on this kid learning to use hand tools.
Because of that, I've resisted the idea that I could build
a simple birdhouse, thinking it would look more like an
ashtray than what it was intended to be.
As it turned out, even I could construct a decent looking
birdhouse.
You can find plans for building birdhouses on the internet.
One place I found useful is 50birds.com. They have free
birdhouse plans for all
types of birds.
Also, one book I have found to be very informative is
the Stokes Birdhouse Book
by Donald and Lillian
Stokes.
The pictures below show the construction of birdhouse #2.
The dimensions are for chickadees.
The floor is 4"x4". The
corners are cut away to provide airflow. It will also
provide drainage if necessary.
The hole is 1¼" diameter. It
is about 6" above the floor. The grooves shown below the
hole will provide grip for the fledglings.
All the screws are brass and
were pre-drilled to prevent cracking the wood.
The top was cut at a 25º angle to provide a slope for the
roof.
The roof overhangs to protect
the opening. You can see that grooves were cut under the
hole to provide grip for the birds.
Brass hinges are applied enabling the top to open for
cleaning or adjusting the camera that was installed.
