My daughter made a nice little bird house, the kind that’s more or less shaped like a human house with a sloped roof and a little hole in the side. What, if anything, should we do besides just hang it up, to get birds to move in? Should any nesting materials be placed inside?
thanks.
It depends on where you live, what kind of habitat you have around your house, and what kind of birds you have there.
It also depends a WHOLE lot on exactly how big the opening is. If you live in the average suburbs, and have made the average size opening (“the hole”), you’re just going to get either starlings or house (English) sparrows, neither of which are considered “desirable” residents (hint: they’re “weed species” 
), and neither of which species requires any nesting materials to be provided.
The only thing that keeps the sparrows and starlings out and allows the desirable species like house wrens in is the size of the hole.
So, what’s the exact diameter of the hole (to the nearest 1/8 inch), and where do you live?
Here’s some stuff to read while your kid is looking for a tape measure.
http://www.seanet.com/~fowler/birdhome.htm
http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/boxreferencechart.html
http://midwest.fws.gov/marktwain/kids/crafts/Nestbox/Nest_Box1.htm
Thanks for the links, DDG, we are in a suburb of Cincinnati. We keep a bird feeder in the backyard which attracts cardinals, what I think are wrens, and the occasional bluejay. I don’t ever recall starlings or sparrows, but I’m not so much on birds so I could be mistaken. Now I’ll have to look those types up. We also have rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels in the backyard, which is pretty nice after living in some places with less fauna. The whole is about 1" diameter, IIRC, but I’ll measure it tomorrow when the sun is out.
Oh, okay, if you’ve got cardinals and jays, then you’ve got enough shrubby-type stuff to have great House Wren Potential. Just make sure the opening is small enough and follow the instructions in the links for where to hang the birdhouse.
House Wren pic and .wav file of song. The pic doesn’t do it justice–the tail sticks up more, IRL.
http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/HOUWRE/
Quite distinct from house (English) sparrows, with their black bibs.
Specific House Wren birdhouse info. Also has a better pic.
http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/bird_bios/speciesaccounts/houwre.html
I measured the hole this morning, it’s somewhere between 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 inches in diameter.
Maybe you could work something out with;
tarpal
who doesn’t seem to share your appreciation of our feathered freinds.
Peace,
mangeorge