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Purple Martin Bird House · Exterior Steps · Flooring Installation · Window Box
Purple Martins glide to their nests, so there should be no obstructions like trees for forty yards around the bird house. A nearby pond, stream or meadow will make this bird house an ideal nesting site. Assembly The bird house should be made of cedar. Cedar will stand up to weather well because of its natural resistence; redwood or cyprus will also stand up to weather. If the exterior of the bird house will be protected from the weather by stain or paint cedar is not necessary. White Pine is a softwood easy to work with for a first-time project. Woodworkers with more experience may use South American Mahogany, White Oak or Ash which are very nice-looking woods. The look of the bird house is important and a nice looking hardwood may be preferred. Cedar dowel is not readily available for use as perches. If a hardwood dowel is used it should be soaked in tung oil to resist weather. Pressure treated lumber is not recommended. Lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate, pressure treated lumber, is safe for wildlife but cutting this lumber requires extra work. Cutting a board may cause the arsenic compound to leach, which can be dangerous to birds although humans are not affected. Purple Martins are so small even a small amount of arsenic from pressure treated stock may be dangerous. If the cuts in pressure treated lumber are coated properly there is no danger. The arpartment will house twelve pairs of birds on two floors. Each floor uses three dividers to create the individual apartments. The dividers are notched every six inches. Each divider allows a 6 x 6" floor space for the nest. Once assembled the dividers form a six-pack. The dividers do not need to be screwed together, they will be screwed to the exterior walls. The outside walls will attach to the interior dividers (walls). Each long side is 19 1/2", each short side is 14 1/4". The entrance holes are 2 1/2" diameter with the center of the hole 2 1/4" from the bottom of the exterior wall. The height will line up later with a dowel perch on the outside of the arpartment. Above each hole there should be a couple of ventilation holes. Each ventilation hole is 1/4" diamater. The long sides fit three entrance holes, each 6 3/4" apart and 3" from each end. The short sides will fit two entrance holes 3 3/4" from each end, 6 3/4" apart. The four exterior walls are secured with screws that will resist rusting such as stainless steel, brass or galvanized. There are two floors, under each six-pack of apartments. Each floor measures 18 1/4 x 23". The walls are centered and screwed to the floor. Along the center divider wall, two 1/4" diameter holes should be drilled in each apartment floor. These holes will provide ventilation and drainage. Also four holes are required for the connecting rods. The rod will run the entire height of the bird house and hold it together. By removing the connecting rods the bird house can be disassembled. The bird house needs to be disassembled each winter while the birds are migrating. The connecting rods provide a simple method of disassembling the bird house and holding it tight while occupied. The roof of the bird house is 11" wide cut at 60°. The top ends should not show end grain, showing end grain reduces the life of the roof. The ends of the gable are 5 3/8 x14 1/4" boards. The tops are cut to 30° to match the roof pitch. The connecting rods are attached to the ceiling of the bird house before it is attached to the roof. This end is fixed to the ceiling with nuts on either side of the ceilig. When disassembled the connecting rods will remain with the roof since it will be sealed during construction. The connecting rods are attached 1" in from each corner. Holes in each of the floors are 2 1/4" in from the end (lining up just inside the exterior wall), and 3" in from each side (lining up just inside the exterior wall). Once the connecting rods are attached and tightened to the ceiling, the ceiling can be attached to the roof. On each side of the floors and at the top of the roof, dowel can be used to make a perch. The dowel should be 1/2" diameter. It is attached to the floor with 1/4" dowel to raise the perch with a one inch gap. The perch can also be attached with 1/2 x 1" blocks. The blocks can place a gap under the perch with less work than dowel. Once the perches are attached the exterior of the bird house can be painted or stained. The inside of the compartments should remain unfinished, birds may not nest if there is an inside finish. Cedar does not require any kind of finish. If a finish or stain is applied it should be applied only to the exterior but not the bottoms of the floors or the bottom of the ceiling. If painted the bird house should air for at least three weeks. It should not be placed to dry in its final position since the smell of paint will keep birds away. For a semi-transparent finish on hardwood, Cabot Australian Timber Oil is ideal. The product is based on Australian stains which mix common oil-based finishes and tung oil to provide a deep-penetrating stain with improved water repellancy and sunlight protection. The bird house should be placed anywhere from 12 to 20 feet above the ground. The bird house can rest on a 4 x 4" pressure treated post following the same procedure as placing a post for a fence. If the bird house is made from cedar the post will not match, a pipe can also be used. A 2" diameter pipe secured in concrete attached to the bird house with a flange is also possible. Bill of Materials Lumber, Select Cedar 2 · 3/4 x 6 x 19 1/2" long divider 4 · 3/4 x 6 x 12 3/4" short divider 4 · 3/4 x 6 x 19 1/2" side 4 · 3/4 x 6 x 14 1/4" end 2 · 3/4 x 18 1/4 x 23" floor 2 · 3/4 x 11 x 23" roof 2 · 3/4 x 5 3/8 x 14 1/4" roof end 1 · 3/4 x 14 1/4 x 19 1/2" ceiling 5 · 1/2 (d) x 21" perch 15 · 1/4 (d) x 1 3/8" perch support Hardware, Brass Screws #10 1 1/2" Hardware, Threaded Rod 4 · 1/4 (d) x 15" connector Stain, Cabot 1L Australian Timber Oil Variations Cabot stains and finishes provide transparent, semi-transparent or solid colours. All Cabot products are exterior grade. |