Advanced Bird House Design & Construction Tools

A wide variety of bird species from owls to purple martins to swallows use birdhouses when natural cavities are scarce. As an advanced crafter ready to elevate your skills, you need to know specific height requirements for individual species before picking up your Construction Tools to build a pole birdhouse. For example, pine martins will only nest in a cavity 10 to 15 feet off the ground. Your craft tools, specifically your measuring tools, will help you determine if you have the proper landscape for a pole bird tower of this size.

Materials And Types Of Pole Bird Houses

Wood makes the best bird house material as it is slow to heat up on a hot day. You have likely already built several bird feeders and bird houses out of wood, having the proper skill set and construction tools to do so. Nearly all bird species like their own house, with the exception of purple martins that prefer living in communities. This means a single birdhouse sits on a single pole, even the purple martin house with its 4 holes, as compared to the traditional one-hole birdhouse for all other species. Further, while the birdhouse itself will be made from wood, the pole can be either wood or metal, even telescoping metals that offer height adjustment.

Size Is Everything To A Bird

Before building any birdhouse, you need to ascertain what size house and depth a particular species requires and what kind of birds you want to attract. For example, chickadees want a 4-inch square house having a depth of 8 to 10 inches with a 1.5 inch hole opening that sits about 6 inches from the house floor. In contrast, a wood duck needs a house 2 times that size, with all elements being proportional.

Attributes Of A Pole Birdhouse

The wooden birdhouses you will have already built included an enclosed space comprised of 4 walls, a roof and hole opening. The pole house will be no different with the exception of small holes near the roof to permit air flow on hot days. Another attribute of a pole birdhouse is that they need to accommodate a human cleaner from time to time. That is just one reason telescoping poles can be advantageous since they can be lowered for cleaning. In contrast, wooden pole houses may require using a ladder to access the birdhouse.

Pole Height As It Relates to Nesting

As previously mentioned, different species live different heights off the ground. Some of this is innate for their protection from other birds or predators. Other height requirements have to do with the nesting function. For example, bluebirds can live comfortably 5 to 10 feet off the ground while screech owls want to be as much as 3 times that height, up to 30 feet off the ground. Further, if you are making multiple birdhouses for different species, you don’t want them too close together since birds are very territorial and will fight.

Location, Location, Location

When planning where to put your pole birdhouse, take into account wind and sun patterns in your yard. Keep pole birdhouses away from natural wind tunnels or large empty spaces that can be exposed to wind gusts or excessive sun. In addition, keep your pole birdhouse away from natural predators.
Once you have decided on the bird species you want to attract and the location, build each house per species requirements. Once constructed, hammer the house onto the poll with your construction tools and enjoy your new fine feathered tenants.