I wonder what the ideal form actually is for birdhouses.
While not a bird house, I...
While not a bird house, I did design a bird feeder that I'm contemplating putting into production, assuming I have enough interest, and can afford the tooling. Opinions on this piece?
http://lowe9.com/index.php?/industrial/bird-feeder/
I like birds, and cats, but...
I like birds, and cats, but I hate noise and the smell of cat food so it all works out ok.
Nice though I can imagine something cone and Pagoda like, hanging stacked dishes... combination feeder, nesting box and bath.
I wonder though about the hanging, why? It seems to suit what I'll drunkenly call the christmas tree impulse but putting yourself in the boots of the bird, who wants their dear precious kitteh yummy offspring swaying about in the breeze? And who want to land on a moving target?
Thats the question isn't it? ...
Thats the question isn't it? I LOVE this sort of thread so please don't think any comments I make are meant to be unpleasant, its the questioning, critiques and research that are so good and necessary, have you spoken to or shown the design to any ornithologists? I wonder if perhaps most of the bird houses available are too big? Insulation is important no? Small birds that inhabit birdhouses are often predated upon by crows, perhaps the hanging one above has too many openings?
I'd like to see something that clings to the trunk, then again I just remebered a tree at my Granparents house that had a lot of these hanging from it so perhaps it could work, what species are common to your local area or where you'd think you'd get the most sales?
Heath, wouldn't the above...
Heath, wouldn't the above bird houses be 'safer' then regular bird nests? I realize that some birds build enclosed nests, but a large amount of them build nest that are completely open on top. So wouldn't these birds be better protected from the environment and predators with houses that are enclosed? And as a side note, the design in the third post is a bird feeder not a bird house. They wouldn't be living inside it only eating at it LOL
I like birds a lot
... outside my windows that is. We love watching the variety of birds in our yard and we have a cool old encyclopedia of birds we use to try and identify them. I can't imagine keeping a bird indoors as a pet. I do quite like bird sculptures in our house, though.
Anyway, we like to encourage birds to visit our yard so we have bird feeders, bird baths and bird houses out there. We are always interested in finding them in a modernist aesthetic.
As a novice bird watcher, there is a lot I don't know including which species prefer what type of nest or will use different style of houses. We have a few houses with small openings that wrens seem to like. And I can tell you Heath, that the houses and feeders that hang down do not do so just as a design choice. They also serve a function, namely keeping predators and plundering squirrels at a safe distance. They do swing when it's windy, but not any more than a thin branch in a tree, and the birds seem to handle it just fine.
Lowe 9, I also like your feeder design, the teardrop shape is quite pleasing. A couple of thoughts though... you might want to consider making the top a little wider than the bottom so that it sheds rain water and serves as an umbrella rather than possibly letting it into the bottom portion and getting seed wet. I know you can put drain holes in the bottom, but those always seem to clog, then you have wet seed sprouting in your feeder. Also, the sticks that serve as a perch you might want to make more level. It would be easier for the birds to stand on, and I would think in terms of production, easier to fabricate. You could even put two dowels straight through the feeder in an X arrangement. Just my 2 cents. But like others said, if it were available and priced reasonably, that is a design I would consider buying. I love the white color also.
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