Artist: Lester Dumm

Blue Pine wood with cedar shingle roof and floor

Eye bolt and hook to hold the roof closed, but allow access into the nest box to clean

Cedar roof helps keep out rain and snow

Carved and painted 3-D blue bird on front of box

18" tall x 8" wide x 6 1/2" long

Why Boxes??? I don’t know why. I like building boxes. I started to build boxes to practice getting things “square"

You would think that with all the fancy carpentry tools, that making a square cut would be easy. I struggle with everything that needs to have a square corner. I have a statue of St. Joseph in my shop. He is always depicted with a square in his hands. When something I make comes out “square”, it delights me. I thank St. Joseph. So, I make boxes

I make gift boxes, turkey calls, candle lanterns, and bird boxes. My bird boxes are designed by the Audubon Society and bird experts. I want to build Bird nesting boxes for real birds, not like some of the ones seen at the local hobby stores. Those little, cute, cookie cutter houses are way too small and have no debt to them to protect the birds from heat or predators

My bird houses have rough textures on the outside and inside. There are normally no perches. The rough textures provide a place to grip, so that the birds can walk on the side of the house. There is no perch because, that is a place for predators to sit and rob the house. I will even put steps on the inside wall so that the baby birds can come to the hole easier. I also try to match bird boxes to specific size birds that require a certain depth, and size hole

I try to make the boxes square and tight, so they last longer. I always have an easy way in to the box so that the owner can clean them out once a year. Lastly, I may paint the type of bird on the front of the box, just to make it prettier. I hope you enjoy whatever box you buy. I sure had fun making it

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