Can you make money building bird houses

It has received wide circulation online and was also published in a self-reliance anthology. I built the pictured birdhouses from pallet wood. The Challenge If I can show you how to manufacture birdhouses and other cool stuff anywhere in the country and if I show you how to find the raw materials for freewould you be interested? If so, here is a business plan that works. Have you seen those weathered wooden pallets stacked behind grocery stores, piled beside feed stores or next to the dumpster in your local lumber yard? Those pallets, your initiative, and the information that follows could mean money in your pocket for years to come. Pallets are often available free for the asking. There are two kinds of pallets—reusable and throw away. The reusable pallets are often made of oak, poplar, and occasionally maple.

Reasons for Building a Bird House

In the case of Michael Parayno , they’re not kidding. Parayno spent his early childhood in the Philippines, where even as the son of a doctor he would take a discarded bicycle tire and a fallen tree branch and transform it into a toy, and make kites out of newspapers and bamboo with cooked sticky rice as the glue. So when Parayno, 41, had to replace his rotting wooden fence, he just couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. He decided to make planters and birdhouses out of the wood, and to put them on the grassy strips along the sidewalk outside his North Berkeley home. No one paid much mind to the planters, but the original 10 birdhouses — shaped like Japanese temples, pagodas, Victorians, adobe Indian huts, barns, chalets, log cabins, apartment buildings — drew neighbors’ attention. Parayno had a master’s from Berkeley and had taken M. That was November Since then, Parayno has created and sold more than 2, birdhouses at street fairs, local nurseries and from his Web site, and recently got an order from the national Ethan Allen furniture chain for 1, Within the next year or two, he says he plans to buy condos in Prague and Rio. As a visitor oohs and ahs over his things, Parayno is surprisingly modest. No big deal. The watch was only 20 birdhouses, the TV The birdhouses don’t pay for everything. He says he also makes money from his rental property and from his teaching gigs. He invests his rental income and teaching salaries in more real estate. The birdhouses are for his toys and the ability to treat his friends to things like a sushi dinner for eight two birdhouses or spoiling one of his many heartthrobs with trips abroad and cars of their own. Parayno is a slim, limber man with short black hair that he gels so the small curls and spikes go in every direction. He sits barefoot and cross- legged on his custom brown leather couch, a perpetual smile on his face. He is friendly and easygoing, a benefit, he says, to his study of Buddhist and American Indian philosophies. The birdhouse business was a lark, and he still considers it a hobby. In , the East Bay Express named him best artisan. Home and gardening magazines have called him everything from an architect for miniature houses to a folk artist. Parayno just laughs. But discarded wood, often dropped off on his front steps by admirers of his work, is not his only medium. Each birdhouse has other salvaged pieces: Door knobs serve as perches, door plates as front door decorations, discarded license plates and copper sheets as rooftops. The use of recycled material is a big selling point in environment-conscious California, says Parayno, especially in Berkeley. Each birdhouse also has a circular hole for birds to enter and build their nests. The size of the hole depends on the size of the bird that he is creating the house for. He says he uses specifications provided to him by the National Audubon Society.

The Market

In fact, one entrepreneur we looked at for this article builds them out of completely free materials he is able to find in salvage from businesses. The fundamentals of how to build a birdhouse are not that difficult to master. A birdhouse is basically a bird feeder — a place where you put out food for birds to come and eat each day. For example, you could go to flea markets, offer them for sale on eBay and Craigslist or even start your own web site to sell them. Many people also sell them either directly on consignment to hardware stores and novelty stores that sell to tourists. One of the best ideas we saw for building birdhouses was in the first resource we listed for this article. You just need to ask businesses if you can haul away their old wooden pallets, which you then cut up to make the birdhouses from. Remember also that your work is basically something artistic that people will take home to enjoy and look at, so the nicer you can make your work look, the more likely you are to make good money. Start by visiting local businesses and asking if you can haul away some of their old pallets. Many will be happy to let you do so since they will not have to pay to have them hauled away themselves. Give the first few away until you feel confident that you know what you are doing and then start offering them for sale. How to Advice: Building Scientific Birdhouses for Fun and Profit — Not as comprehensive as the site above, but there is some additional useful information here.

Building Birdhouses to Sell is for many people more than just a hobby!

Making bird houses is a great activity for the entire family. It provides birds with additional nesting opportunities and gives you unparalleled bird watching opportunities. There are a tremendous variety of nest boxes designs. They come in all sizes and materials. But let’s think a minute about why we want to build a bird house and what we hope to accomplish. If the box is too small, the birds will not use it or it may become so crowded as the young grow. They may not be injured, but a crowded box is hard for the adults to keep clean and it is more difficult for chicks to stay cool.

It is possible that young are forced to fledge prematurely. Some believe that larger boxes help the birds exercise more, so they are more capable of flying when they fledge. If the box is too large, the birds may not use it because it is too vulnerable to predators or it may attract too much attention or be difficult to support. Every nest box needs a roof though many natural cavities are open on top. Our choices are fairly simple. Flat or a sloping; overhang or flush.

It appears that in most cases there are lots of nest box designs that 1 inch overlap on the sides and 2 inch overlap in the front is adequate for protecting the occupants from the elements rain and increasing the boxes longevity by keeping the box dry.

Another main function of the roof is to provide shade for nest boxes that are exposed to the Sun, especially in warm climates. So the roof should be sloped to help water runoff as close to 45 degrees as possibleand it should be overlapped to let water drip away from the box and to provide more shade. If you plan to place your box in the open bluebirds for example in a warm area, you should consider a double roof to keep the box cooler.

The two roofs should be spaced to allow air to circulate between. It has also been suggested that a second side wall be added to also shade the west side of the box. Front of Nest Box Most nest box plans have a perpendicular face, but recently, several designs have a sloping. What kind of Hole for the Nest Box? Round, Oval or Slot? One hole or two? Believe it or not, several bird house designs have more than one hole.

Also, if predators or house sparrows get in the nest, at least the adults have a chance to escape through the second hole. If ventilation is an issue, the second hole also acts as a big vent. Well, at least I have convinced myself Some of the research seems to indicate that Bluebirds are attracted to the oval hole more than the Peterson box shape. There are conflicting data about the slot hole design and access for house sparrows. Some say the slot entrance discourages house sparrows and others have found that house sparrows readily use.

If you have trouble with squirrels, then make sure you install a hole guard or restrictor to prevent squirrels from chewing the entrance hole larger. Squirrels will kill and eat nestlings if they get access. The building materials don’t necessarily have to be wood. I guess we could use the recycled plastic material that is being used for decks and fences. Nest boxes can also be made from PVC pipe or plastic buckets, but those are different plans to be covered later.

If you have access to redwood or cypress or even cedar, that’s great. Those types of wood will last a long time, but they can be expensive. Hardwoods will last longer than soft woods, but they can also be expensive. Treated wood softwood will last longer. But is treated wood safe to use for bird houses? The EPA website says treated wood is safe to use in vegetable gardens and on picnic tables, but it is not safe to use on cutting boards, counter tops or bee hives. CCA treated Wolmanized.

This material was stopped from use in residential construction inCanada. I have seen web sites that claim treated wood releases «dangerous fumes» and should not be used when making bird houses. They do not cite the source of this information. Another website says that only untreated wood should be used in case the birds «gnaw» on the wood. Except for parrots, birds are not generally known for gnawing, but they do peck at the wood That is how woodpeckers and chickadees excavate their nest cavities.

The Purple Martin Conservation Organization recommends: «Only untreated wood no pressure-treated wood, no chemically-treated wood. Since birds are well known to be very sensitive to environmental pollutants remember the canary in the coal mine? Only use untreated wood. Nest Boxes can be made from solid wood stock, plywood, bark slabs or solid logs Many of the nest boxes I built in the past were made of plywood, because I always had scraps of plywood handy.

Many plans recommend using plywood exterior grade plywood and some even preserve the wood with spar varnish. Nest boxes can also be built by using exterior slabs slab lumber that still have the outside tree bark when the tree is sawn up to make lumber. Solid logs can also be hollowed when making bird houses.

I have done this by first splitting the log, then hollowing out each side, drilling an entrance hole, then joining the two halves back together with wood glue and screws. The log bird house pictured on the right was not split, but hollowed. How to Build a Log Bird House. Thick or thin wood stock for Nest Box? When making bird houses, the thickness of the stock determines the thermal insulation of the next box.

It can get cold in the Spring and always gets hot in the Summer sun. A one inch thick box will protect eggs and young from temperature extremes more than a half-inch thick box.

This doesn’t mean that a half-inch box is useless I have a half-inch thick blue-bird box that fledges 3 or 4 tree swallows most seasons.

Thicker stock is also heavier and more expensive than thinner stock, but it will also create a sturdier box if constructed properly. Any stock thickness between one-half in up to one inch should be acceptable for a nest box. If your area is notorious for cold nights in the Spring or if your nest box is to be placed in full sun with no shadeyou may want to go with thicker stock or to provide more shade, use two layers of thin stock with spacers between them for roof and west.

We all like the feel of a smooth sanded wood, but the truth is, the birds benefit from a rough surface. A rough surface helps the adults to cling to the side of the box when bringing the nesting material and when feeding the young. It also helps the young scramble out of the box when it is time to go. Rough up or score the wood inside the hole so the chicks can scramble.

Many Wood Duck plans recommend that a «ladder» be made from welded wire or scored into the wood. If rough wood helps the birds to «hang on», wouldn’t it help to add a perch? It probably would We recommend not putting a perch on your bird houses. The birds don’t need it and it just makes it easier for predators to get inside the can you make money building bird houses. Here is a Bird House Dimensions Chart for 34 species.

It is important to design the right type of bird house for different species of birds. It’s also important to know the correct hole size so you can discourage species i. We will be expanding our «Making Bird Houses» page as we further our research as well adding pages for specific bird house plans. All Bird House Plans. Bluebird House Plans. Purple Martin Bird House Plans.

Phoebe and Robin Bird House Plans. Wren House Plans. American Kestrel Nest Box Plans. Gourd Birdhouses. Wooden Bird Houses. Bird House Dimensions Chart. Bird House Designs.

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Birdhouses I’ve made — Outdoors with Trav

Introduction: How to Build a Bluebird Birdhouse

Part Time: Can be operated part-time. Franchises Available? Yes Online Operation? While building and selling birdhouses may not make you rich, it can provide a good source of additional part-time business income. Can you make money building bird houses only requirements for starting a business that manufactures birdhouses is to have basic woodworking equipment and skills. There are birdhouse design plans available, or you can design and build your own birdhouses. The finished products can be sold at craft shows, flea markets and to community merchants. The choices are unlimited in terms of how the birdhouses can be marketed. More important is the fact that this is a good homebased business venture that can be started for peanuts and produce a good part-time income. Customers will be nature lovers and bird enthusiasts, as well as people who enjoy arts and crafts. Entrepreneur Media, Inc. In order to understand how people use our site generally, and to create more valuable experiences for you, we may collect data about your use of this site both directly and through our partners. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the use of that data. For more information on our data policies, please visit our Privacy Policy. Podcasts Books Entrepreneur Insurance. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their. Latest on Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur members get access to exclusive offers, events and. Login with Facebook Login with Google. Don’t have an account? Sign Up. First Name.