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Construction Plans
 

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A one page PDF plan is also available, click on PDF version.

Note: the sizes above are actual size of the finished piece.  The cutting blade will take up some wood, and what is left is for the roof.  The roof should be from the "best" part of the board!  Next cut the floor/guard, and finally rip the sides from the front/back.  To cut the front and back apart, set the saw at 90 deg. miter and 5 deg. bevel.  The sides are cut apart using a miter angle of 5 deg. and a bevel angle of 0 deg.  I make the entrance hole using a 1-9/16" Forstner bit.  (1-1/2" is also fine.)  Run a 1/4" round router bit to round the edges of the entrance on both sides.  The little hole under the entrance is not needed, I use it to mount a special Huber trap I have (which I can move from box to box.)  A Gilbertson Universal trap is very easy to use in this box, and I highly recommend it.  See "Favorites" for contact information.  The floor is 4.5" in one dimension, the other dimension is equal to the side width minus 1.5".  The floor corners are cut off either at a miter angle of 45 deg., or a miter angle of 45 deg. and bevel angle of 20 deg.  If the latter is used, you'd have a "self cleaning" vent by placing the larger opening downward.  The top opening should have a size at least 1/2" on the cut.  The roof is about 11.5 inches long.

Make grooves in the lower side of the roof as shown to the left.  The single groove in the front may be omitted.  Make grooves in the front (on the inside) under the entrance as shown on the right.  These are blade width, about 1/2" apart.  Make 7 or more grooves.  These provide a ladder for weaker and baby birds to climb up and exit.  The floor is slightly recessed, about a quarter inch is good.

If you wish to have a deeper box, (longer distance from hole to floor, more than the 5.5" shown,) then extend the sides, back, and front by the extra amount you like.  Note that the board needed will be longer by TWICE that amount.

Note that the back has a 1/4" hole and two small holes as shown.  The 1/4" hole is centered 1-1/2" below the top, and the two small holes are about 1" apart, centered 1-1/2" above the bottom.  These holes are used to mount the box on a 3/4" EMT (Electric Metal Tubing) pole.  Make 1/4" hole in the EMT 1" from the end.  Drive the pole in the ground, use 1/4" carriage bolt to mount the box to the pole.  Use a short length of wire in the two small holes, twisted around the EMT to make sure the box stays fastened.  I use a post driver to drive the EMT into the ground.  Also, I shorten the EMT from 10' to 8' (if you are more than six feet tall, you can shorten it to 9'.)  I drive it far enough into the ground so that when mounted, the box is at my eye level.

Make a notch in each side for venting.  These are 3/8" deep, 3/4" from the back and 1-1/2" from the front as shown in the figure to the left.  The guard is optional, it is 4.5" square with entrance hole 1-1/4" from the top as shown on the right.

The various parts are glued (waterproof glue) together and fastened with either nails or screws.  First glue together the back, two sides and bottom.  More construction details in the Construction Photos section.  Then center the roof.  The front may need to be shaved a little for free movement.  Put the two hinge screws and the one screw to keep it closed.

As usual, make sure to put a stove pipe predator guard under the box in order to protect it from ground predators.

Finally, a diagram of the box with the mounting pole is shown to the left.  [It is possible to hinge the top using a hinge on the back, then you'd have a front AND top opening box.  One screw is used to keep the top closed.  If not hinged, then glue and fasten the top on the box permanently.  I rarely hinge the top.  People who want to take pictures of the nest and babies need a hinged top...]

 

horizontal rule

Please feel free to send me, Fawzi Emad, any corrections, observations, comments or questions.  Thank you!  (The tail feather on the left is from Koko, our Blue-Front Amazon Parrot.)