DIY: Minimalist Gourd Birdhouse
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 09.30.07
If mod is your style but dropping $150 on a birdhouse doesn't do it for you, here's an awesome, green alternative. Courtesy of two straight lines comes this great DIY project: take a gourd, drill a hole in it, hollow it out, slap some no-VOC paint on it, add a branch and call it good. Inspired by this minimalist house at design*sponge, the gourd version offers a nice green upgrade to the polystyrene material -- would you want to live in a plastic house? Didn't think so -- and a really clever use of materials. If hollowing your own gourd doesn't sound like much fun, don't fret; you can get one here for about $10. ::two straight lines via ::design*sponge
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This has been done in the farmcountry of south georgia for a long time- basically they keep racks of gourd-houses around for swallows to nest in. Why? After harvest, gnats and flies descent upon anyone outside and attempt to carry them off.. and swallows eat half their weight every day in insects.
Now here's an idea that's not just for the birds, if you ask me.
Wouldn't it be great if human houses could be similarly grown. It's not too far fetched, I think — we have gigantic vegetables breaking records, we've managed to make squarish tomatoes and watermelons for better stacking, and we have a whole new realm of container architecture. Put the three together and you've got an idea!
While admiring your minimalist gourd birdhouse, listen to the sounds of the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, from Richmond, Virginia. We're the band that puts the culture back into agriculture. Learn more at www.gourdorchestra.com.
"Plant a seed, grow an orchestra'.
how do you empty the used nests and feces out of it?
can you send me a list of bird whole sizes for makeing birdhouse gourdes?
To invite a house wren, choose a gourd at least 4" in diameter, and make a 1" hole.
-carolina wren or chickadee: 5" gourd, 1&1/8" hole.
-tufted titmouse, downy woodpecker or nuthatch: 5" gourd, 1&1/4" hole.
-small owl, bluebird, tree swallow, or hairy woodpecker:
5" gourd, 1&1/2" hole.
- flicker: 7" gourd, 2&1/2" hole.
-purple martin: 8" to 13" gourd, 2&1/2" hole.