Great Job!
Well...not everybody can build them but if you can, it makes you proud,...it's like my wife sewing a dress for the kids.
I hollow the logs out in a lathe, [machine shop]..but I'm thinking to make them outdoor on my home build wood splitter, I just need to modify it.

Home made! I love hand built bird houses, it is a bit more special. Plus I am very partial to cedar due to the bugs and humidity we have here.

Here are a few of mine:

My favorite box, which is a convertible roosting box, bird house. It's woodpecker/flicker/screech owl/flycatcher size. We've had good luck with these so now I have three up.
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Winter style for roosting

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Summer style for nest building use

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Open, with perches

Another which has been oddly a favorite of the birds since it's rather large at screech owl size but last summer titmice (yes, titmice) nested in it as did a great crested flycatcher family

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the slate front guard is from coveside conservation, I thought I would give these a try on a bigger house

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before we could clean out the titmice nests, the flycatchers were already in it

and not a bird house, but a horizontal roosting box we built for the heck of it. It's 2' long, good size.

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and opened, with perches

and of course many wren and bluebird size boxes are all over my property...working on dove cones now.

konrad, I have wanted one of those birch houses for years now. They remind me of home and growing up. We don't have those birch trees here in the south though.

builder24car, I love the smaller bottom house, it has charm, like a small secret in a garden. AND it looks like something birds will actually live in.

Here is a nice web site to give you some ideas for various types of nest boxes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Houses Etc

That log house is awesome Konrad! I went looking for a log today and found one I think will work. Hopefully I'll get started on it this week. If I can make one it'll be a great addition to my houses.

I love your houses Laylaa! I especially like the way you made the door to open. I think that's a lot easier than what I did. I have never even thought of roosting boxes. Do you have good luck with them? I think I'll give that a try.

Thanks for the link Bob! I've already checked it out and see several more things I plan to build.

builder24car - the doors just pivot on galvanized wood screws. They are pretty easy to use. A couple we have had to use hinges on, like a classic petersons, but that's more of a pain in the bottom.

The roosting boxes work but they are like anything else to do with birds - it's all about location. If you put them out very early in spots birds naturally roost in, they get used. The individual boxes get used by the wrens and solitary roosters. We usually put these all the way against a trunk of an evergreen tree or shrub, the only reason the horizontal box is pole mounted is because we thinned out a couple of cedars in an over crowded group, and the chickadees were already using the trees. The other one is an owl box first and roost second so get's tree mounted.

Roosting shelves work very well - for doves inparticular. We have one similar to this:

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this photo is not mine, but ours has a small lip on the front and you can take out the perch in summer and the doves & robins use it as a nesting shelf. Would need to be taller as well to fit those fat doves, but you get the idea. These go all the way in evergreens and have done well enough that I am making a couple more. Super easy to build.

I am making a web site at this time on wildlife gardening & backyard habitat for my area (southeast) and want to put the plans for all of my houses online. I only posted a couple here! I may be asking for other people's ideas and how to when the site goes live. It's a non-profit site, no selling anything.

I see a bird house I like and have my dh make it for me. All of our birdhouses are homemade. I must say I greatly prefer the front opening Gilwood boxes. Blow fly larva cause problems around here so I don't care for top opening boxes, too hard to do a nest change or even see the larva. I love how easy it is to put a Van Ert trap in the Gilwood too. Great design! My dh made nine of them last year some of which we gave away to family. Last year we had five pairs of nesting TRES use the Gilwoods.

Donna

I think the galvanized wood screws would be better then the hinges I use. Hinges tend to work loose over time. I have some evergreens I can put them against. How do I find the proper measurements, etc for roosting boxes? I'd love to see your website when you get it up and running Laylaa!

builder24car - I didn't really have plans, just ideas and took dimensions from what had worked best over the years. I'll try and get some measurements posted for you on the horizontal box - but the larger woodpecker/owl roost box was done at a 6x6 floor, 12" back, 10" front with a 2 1/2" hole. This size allows for several species of larger birds and I've just had a lot of things nest in it. Corners on the floor are notched for drainage, and ventilation comes from holes when you remove the dowels. Also, when you flip the front door, leave a 1/4" gap in the top in summer. You can see it's flush in winter at the bottom but not in summer.

dzyg - I have not tried a Gilwood box. Thank you for the tip. We have bug issues here too and access is important, so I'll try one!

Thanks Laylaa, I appreciate it! I'll work on the woodpecker box and keep an eye out for more measurements.

Great thread! I like homemade birdhouses the best. I've had good luck with using gourds I grow. The wrens don't care if they're plain or decorated! Also, my husband built me a screech owl box. The plans called for the top to open. The next one he builds will open on the side or front because reaching down into the box from the top to clean it out isn't easy when it's hung so high.
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That is so cool sowngrow that you have an owl in your box! I've heard them, but never seen an owl much less have one nest in my yard. For that matter no owl, woodpecker, etc. *sigh* Thanks for that pic! :)

Your welcome bulder24car! I waited 5 years for an owl to find that box. The tree branch below is breaking the box and we were just about to take it down when this fella arrived.

sowngrow - lucky you! I am out there every night listening for the owls, but I think they have selected their nesting sites no it's no go for me this year. Keep taking photos so we can know how they are doing. I want screech owls badly (and turkeys, go figure) and yours are encouraging.

This summer we plan to grow gourds for the first time. Any recommendation on seed brands? Got the type of gourd but don't know if any brand is better than another.

builder24car - the horizontal roosting box 22" long, 8 1/2 deep, 7" tall front, 9" tall back. Roof over hangs 2" in front, 1" sides. Hole is 2" and the dowels were placed about titmice height apart, and so that the birds would not roost on top of each other, hence not poop on each other. I will take the front off & dowels out, add a small lip on the front bottom for doves & robins to nest in. They nest easily on shelves, and it's there so I'll use it. Understand our measurements are just stuff we are winging! It's untreated, unpainted rough cedar.

I got them laylaa, many thanks! :)

laylaa-I'll take more photos if I am lucky enough to get a different type of shot of him. So far the owl sits in the entrance hole of the box, just before sunset and then exits to hunt, right around dark. I've been able to watch him a bit, through windows around my house, as he drops from tree limbs to nab whatever. I could sure use a pair of night vision goggles now! As far as the gourd seed...I think the first gourds I grew were from seed from trades on Gardenweb. Cheap and easy!
Robin

This is great, Robin!
It looks like I have the same boxes, build some for screech owl or Nothern Flicker,...so far just European Starling,...
been throwing the eggs out.

Konrad

Your box looks very similar to mine Konrad! I think we'll paint the replacement for this one (after nesting season) a medium to dark gray color so the owl is less noticeable when he sits in the entrance hole. I love being able to see him clearly, but I want him to blend in as though he was sitting in the hole in a tree.
Robin

I was wondering Robin, how does the little screech owl stay up inside the deep box?

Konrad

I recently purchased a bird feeder and large bag of seed. The seed now has mold. Will this harm the birds and will they stil be attracted?

Konrad-I'm not quite sure. I have seen plans that call for perches in the inside along the wall that has the entrance hole on it, so the baby owls can climb up to the hole. How this male owl sits up there like that baffles me because we didn't put perches in the box. I just hope the babies will be able to get up to the entrance hole when it's time. They may have to hop up onto each others shoulders to get out-wouldn't that make a cute picture!
Robin

Sorry-don't mean to hijack this thread, but it is bird box related, I guess...Konrad, I thought more about this and I believe the owl is actually sitting in the hole. It's just difficult to see his talons due to his feathers covering them when he is in the 3" hole.