How to Get Birds to Nest in a Birdhouse

Build or purchase a birdhouse without a perch and is not brightly colored. Natural cavities have no perches and they only encourage exotic species such as English sparrows and European starlings to dominate the birdhouse. Birds don't find newly painted birdhouses attractive and prefer weathered paint or plain wooden surface. The birdhouse should have ventilation holes just beneath the roof. Match the birdhouse measurements to the preferences of the bird species you want to attract. For example, the barn owl likes its birdhouse to measure 22 inches wide and 18 inches tall, while the Carolina chickadee only needs a space that measures 4-inches wide and 8-inches tall.

Place the birdhouse on a building, a tree or a wooden or metal post. Attach it to a surface located away from tree limbs to reduce access by snakes and other nest predators. Also add a baffle, which is a sheet of metal or plastic that fits around the pole of the birdhouse, preventing animals from climbing up. The height of the birdhouse should match the bird's preferences.

Place the birdhouse at least 100 feet away from any other birdhouse or bird feeder because birds tend to be territorial during the breeding season. They will not nest in crowded places.

Clean the birdhouse right before the nesting season begins in your area. If other birds have stayed in the birdhouse before, remove all their nesting materials because birds generally don't like living where other birds have lived. Many birds return to the same local area and sometimes to the same birdhouse after migration, but they also like a clean cavity.