Sheet index
seven guides- 01Birdhousestypes, plans, placement, how to build
- 02Bird feederstube, hopper, suet, squirrel-proof
- 03Purple martin housesgourds, poles, predator guards, feeding
- 04Butterfly gardenplants by zone, host plants, species by state
- 05Extinct birdsthe Labrador Duck, the Great Auk, more
- 06Audubon platesthe 1840s octavo edition
- 07Carolina Turtle-doveplate and species account
Bird houses and feeders by type
Most yards need two different things to hold birds: somewhere to nest and something to eat. The bird houses and feeders on offer fall into a few clear types, and each type suits a narrow group of species. A nest box is a cavity, and only cavity nesters use it. A tube feeder, a hopper, a platform, a suet cage and a window feeder each present food in a different way and draw a different crowd.
The birdhouse guide covers the nest-box side: entrance size, floor, depth, ventilation, drainage and the plan for a bluebird box cut from a single board. The bird feeder guide covers the other half: feeder types, foods, squirrels, windows and hygiene. Purple martins get their own section, because their housing is built for colonies and works on different rules; the purple martin house guide explains houses, gourds, poles and sites.
Placement: height, setting and distance
A box that is the right size can still fail because of where it hangs. For an Eastern Bluebird the published figure is a pole mount at 4 to 6 feet in grassland or open woods. A chickadee box goes between 5 and 15 feet, in woods or in town. Purple martin housing is mounted at 10 to 15 feet in an open site, well clear of trees. Cornell Lab’s NestWatch program gives these figures species by species, and the finder at the top of this page shows them side by side.
Feeders follow the same logic. A feeder close to a window and a feeder far from one carry different risks, squirrels reach some poles and not others, and spilled seed under a feeder changes who visits. Placement is the main variable in both guides, and the pages say where the sources agree and where they do not.
How to attract birds to your yard
Anyone asking how to attract birds to your yard has four things to work with: food, water, cover and nest sites. Equipment covers some of that, and plantings cover the rest, which is why the butterfly garden guide is part of this site. The same nectar plants that draw butterflies also suit hummingbirds, and a hummingbird feeder sits well beside them.
How to attract birds to your yard also depends on what is already there. NestWatch lists woods or town for a chickadee, open grass or grassland for a bluebird and open grass near water for a tree swallow, so a look at the yard comes before the shopping.
Purple martin guides
Purple martins have their own set of pages because their housing works differently from a bluebird box. The purple martin house guide is the overview. The detail sits in house and pulley types, what martins eat and when to feed, pole guards against snakes and raccoons, drying gourds and martin house sizes and plans.
Makers and gear
Five guides cover names that bird-product shoppers search for. Loon Lake Decoy Company was a Minnesota decoy maker whose name was sold in 2015. Coveside birdhouses gives the sale history of a Maine maker and a checklist for judging any birdhouse by the NestWatch standard. The Alpen optics warranty explains how a binocular warranty works and where the current terms live. Heartwood and Lazy Hill Farm are birdhouse makers whose ownership changed hands.
Five more guides answer common questions: hummingbird houses, woodpecker houses, wood duck houses, do ladybug houses work and how to choose a spotting scope.
A short guide to the rest of the site
Two sections go beyond backyard equipment, and a bird houses and feeders guide that stopped at the backyard fence would miss them. The butterfly section is a planting guide: nectar and host plants, region by region, with a milkweed table. The Audubon section is about John James Audubon’s The Birds of America in the seven-volume octavo edition of the 1840s. Its hub, Audubon’s Birds of America, explains the editions and the plate numbering, and a sample plate page covers the Carolina Turtle-Dove, the bird now called the Mourning Dove. The extinct birds in Audubon’s plates, from the Passenger Pigeon to the Labrador Duck, have a page of their own.
Every page of this bird houses and feeders guide lists the sources behind its figures and the month it was last reviewed. Where two agencies disagree, the page says so instead of picking one quietly.
Common questions
What is the easiest way to start with bird houses and feeders?
Pick one species and match the equipment to it. A nest box for a chickadee needs a 1 1/8 inch round entrance, a bluebird box needs 1 1/2 inches, and a feeder only draws the birds that eat what it holds. The finder at the top of the page lists entrance, floor size, mount height and setting for five common species, and each full guide goes into the details.
How do I attract birds to my yard without a feeder?
Food is only one of four things a yard can offer: water, cover and nest sites matter too. A nest box in the right setting suits cavity nesters, and the butterfly garden guide covers plants that feed pollinators and hummingbirds. Placement matters as much as the equipment itself.
Which types of bird houses suit a small yard?
Small cavity nesters such as chickadees, wrens and tree swallows use compact boxes with entrances between 1 and 1 3/8 inches. Bluebirds need open ground nearby, and purple martins need a wide open site, so a small, tree-filled yard suits the first group better than the second. The birdhouse guide sets out the entrance and mount height for each.
How high should a bird house be mounted?
Height depends on the species. The sources used here give 4 to 6 feet for an Eastern Bluebird, 5 to 15 feet for a chickadee, 5 to 10 feet for a House Wren and 10 to 15 feet for purple martin housing. NestWatch lists a metal pole in its checklist for a good birdhouse, because raccoons and chipmunks climb trees and fence posts easily.
Do bird feeders need cleaning?
Yes. Feeders that are not cleaned can pass disease between birds. The feeder guide gives a cleaning routine and explains what current wildlife agency guidance says about avian influenza.
Where can the history of Audubon's Birds of America be read?
The Audubon section describes the folio and octavo editions of the book, and its pages quote the text of the 1840s octavo edition. The list of extinct birds in the book is on a page of its own.