How to create an environmentally friendly birdhouse

La birdhouse is useful for giving animals a place of shelter and allowing children to admire their growth. Here’s how to make it in a green version

It often happens to see the little birds nest under the roofs of houses, near the gutters or between makeshift holes. As far as animals are concerned, they are able to autonomously create their own place in which to rest, wanting to give them a hand building a cottage is useful and funespecially if there are children in the house so that they can enjoy the spectacle of egg laying and the birth of new little bird friends up close.

The methods to make it are many, as well as the materials but if you really want to be respectful of the environment and not just animals, they exist some things to know and directives to follow.

Wooden houses

A birdhouse can be made of different materials and the first thing to ask yourself if you want to opt for a green construction is what the less impactful as possible for the environment.

The number one answer is obviously wood, as long as it is natural and therefore not painted or treated in any way.

The ideal is that it is at least one thickness of about 2 cmso as to guarantee future small inhabitants shelter from the high summer temperatures but also from the low winter temperatures, in case the bird species is not migratory but always stations in our country.

How to build them

There are two types of wooden birdhouses that are most popular: open or closed and to differentiate them is the fact that the former are characterized by a base, walls on three sides and a roof, while the latter by walls on all four sides and an exit hole.

In open ones, the front wall should only consist of one parapet of variable height depending on the species you want to host. If you do not have clear ideas about the possible tenants of the house, you can orient yourself on intermediate heights, taking into account that for the robin and the white wagtail it should be about 8 centimeters. Attention also to the trailing edgewhich must be returned coarse with a passage of rasp paper to allow the birds not to slip but to take flight with agility.

In the closed little houseon the other hand, the hole inlet should be up to one width between 2.8 and 3 centimeters.

In both types of houses it is also necessary to make a hole on the bottom useful for ventilation and drainage. Even better do not stare at the roof definitively but providing a system that makes it open, in case there is the need to inspect the interior or clean the house.

Even if the temptation to make the bed comfortable for little feathered friends is great, you don’t need to add anything inside, they will bring twigs, leaves or other small items that they consider useful. Go ahead, instead, to some food, such as bread crumbs, oatmeal or small pieces of apples, pears or grape.

Where to place them

Once built, place the house on a pole or tree trunk about 2.5 meters high, with the entrance on the opposite side from the main wind direction. To secure it, use ropes or ties and not nails, the tips of which, if uncovered, could accidentally injure animals. Periodically check that nothing yields but everything remains in place.

Small houses with recycled material

Even if wood remains the most immediate solution, if you are looking for a more creative but still eco-sustainable idea that helps the Planet to be preserved, there are other options that allow you to host small birds without resorting to pre-built modules that can be purchased in stores. We are talking about nests that come to life from creative recycling of materials which, even if they are not natural or not 100%, can have a second life by transforming themselves into birdhouses, and therefore do not end up in the waste.

The materials that lend themselves best to this reuse are the sice cream cases ei tetrapak containers.

To create this last version of the house it is necessary to have a tetrapak container with angular and non-spherical walls, scissors and tempera in case you want to paint the house making it more fun.

After washing the container thoroughly removing all traces of residue, cut out the inside of the walls leaving only four pillars or make a hole entrance taking into account the dimensions, as done with the wooden version. Once finished, color it to your liking and hang it where you want it most.

To create a birdhouse with the ice cream sticks get a good number of sticks, string, hot glue and, at will, tempera or various decorations.

The procedure involves drawing the project of the house on a sheet of paper, which in this case must be from open model, then assemble the sticks following what is designed on the paper, gluing them together with hot glue. Once dry, check if the construction is stable, decorate it as you like and hang it where you want with string.