Upcycle Your Empty Coffee Container For An Adorable DIY Birdhouse

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Convincing birds to flock to your yard involves providing food, water, shelter, or all three. A homemade birdhouse can be enticing if it's available in the spring or summer, the seasons most birds build nests. In addition to boosting your chances of spotting adorable hatchlings, giving local birds a place to raise their young can promote biodiversity in your community. The key is building and mounting the house in a way that attracts native birds rather than invasive species. All you need are a little knowledge and a big coffee container, though a few other supplies may come in handy. These include a ruler or measuring tape, sandpaper, and a cutting tool such as the Workpro Premium Utility Knife.

A plastic coffee canister or milk jug can be repurposed for this project, which produces one house for two small birds and their babies. Before setting up your construction site, wash the container with soap and water and dry it thoroughly. This helps remove scents that might bring predators to the house. Don't throw away the lid, which will serve as the roof. Before cutting an entrance hole in the container, decide what kind of birds you'd like to live in the house. Different species require different hole diameters, and some need the hole to be placed in a specific spot. For example, eastern bluebirds require a 1½-inch hole that's centered and 6 inches from the house's floor. Chickadees like similar hole placement, but they need the opening to be 1⅛ inches across. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has a handout listing these measurements and mounting heights for several popular bird species.

Once you've cut the entrance hole in the plastic container, buff any rough edges with sandpaper. Next, cut a few slits in the house's bottom to aid airflow and water drainage. After that, you can paint the house to customize it. Wild birds tend to prefer homes that are brown, green, or other earth tones, which provide some protection from predators. If you decide to apply paint, make sure it won't harm your feathered friends. In general, non-toxic paints labeled safe for kids' furniture and toys are also safe for birds. You can omit any perch from your birdhouse, as it can encourage invasive birds to move in.

To keep invasive sparrows from nesting in your birdhouse, place it at least 300 feet from your home. Also put it where your desired species expects it to be. For example, white-breasted nuthatches favor houses attached to tree trunks near wooded areas. They're most likely to use houses that are 12 to 20 feet off the ground. Chickadees seek homes that are elevated 6 to 15 feet. Their ideal neighborhoods include dense shrubbery.

Birds also seek neighborhoods with plentiful food and water. Turn your birdhouse into a hot property by putting a bird bath or feeder elsewhere in your yard. To prevent predator problems, it should be about 130 feet from your coffee canister house. Just be sure you're ready for the maintenance that comes with these items. This includes banishing mosquitos from bird baths and addressing messes beneath feeders.