Fancy Birdhouse Designs

Chances are you enjoy time in your backyard and that would include watching the swooping of birds zigging and zagging across your yard. Also the chirping, or bird song, of these feathered friends usually signifies spring is upon us or waking us up on summer mornings. How do we make them feel even more comfortable in our backyard? With a fancy bird house of course! Not only will you be providing a habitat for the birds, you can make a fine visual impression with the addition of a bird house to your backyard décor.

The designs range from mansions to churches, you're limited only by your imagination. This can also make a great DIY project for you or your children, especially in the summer months when trying to keep your kids occupied and away from technology or TV.

Here is a look at a few fancy birdhouse designs that will add to your bird watching.

Something for Everyone

One of the more popular ways to add to the attractiveness of your back yard is to provide a habitat that draws in your bird population. Birds are a delightful member of your "estate" adding not only a pleasing visual improvement, but the wonderful sounds that accompany many bird species. Fancy birdhouses are a simple way to attract the birds while making the yard attractive to your human visitors.

However, the story is incomplete unless we recognize that putting a birdhouse in the backyard also allows for flights of fancy as well. These are miniature houses, and generally the birds are indifferent to the exterior of the house, so it provides a great opportunity to add a twist that reflects the personality of the owner of the property.

This personal expression can take on an incredible range of options. Below are some of the most popular variations of bird houses.

Stained Glass Birdhouses - One of my favorites, these are often simple designs, but have sides fashioned with stained glass that will capture are reflect the sun and add a visual appeal that is larger than the house itself.

Painted Birdhouses - By simply adding a design with paint, the choices are endless. You can create almost any desired look with paint, and these tend to be relatively inexpensive as well.

Bamboo Birdhouses - are ideal for the eco-minded friend of birds. You can purchase one made completely out of bamboo or use bamboo to trim and decorate your birdhouse.

Gazebo Birdhouses - have an "ease of operation" with their easy in and out access. They are typically six- or eight-sided with regularly spaced sides, has a roof and is sometimes ornately shaped. The roof protects from the weather and the sides are either open, screened or plexiglass. Their design is one of the more exquisite designs proving them to be one of the most popular of avid birders.

One of the favorites for many backyards are the Victorian mansion birdhouse. These reflect the best the era had to offer, and can be found in multi-story designs, with the size and presence you would expect from a mansion. If you can't afford a real mansion, this may be the next best thing!

What could be more stately than a church or a chapel. These capture a variety of houses of worship. From the old traditions of the Byzantine eastern Christianity, to the stately Notre Dame, or a Gothic look, or to the simple country chapel, there is a church birdhouse design to fit your tastes. Some of the church designs look more like the mansions, while other are reminiscent of a small country chapel, put in a more rustic setting. Either way a church bird house is a great home for some of the smaller birds like wrens that may frequent your yard.

It should be noted that there is not one specific style that is truly Victorian, but there are a number of styles that were popular in the U.S. around the time of Queen Victoria's reign in the last 60 years of the 1800's. Different styles became popular in the the Northeast (for example, the Stick-Eastlake with its steeply pitched roofs and wood shingles) to the Southern and Western states (Queen Anne with its wide balconies and wrap around style) to Italianate style which was popular in many places, including New Orleans and San Francisco, which featured bay windows and oddly placed chimneys.

Even though the styles of these home varied significantly, the one common theme was that they represented a lifestyle, sort of the 1800's version of the rich and famous. Conspicuous consumption and excess was the theme, and that was what you spent your money on.

Today these ornate birdhouses allow us to recapture just a little of the grandeur of the era, by putting a small piece of it in our homes. Since most of us can't afford or may not want to live in one of these homes, it's a comparatively small luxury we can afford to put one in the yard.

Just like the homes of the era, there are a wide variety of Victorian bird houses to be found. You can find simple cottages, or multiple story houses, with intricate roofs and replica balconies and porches.

Many are hand crafted, but these days many of the decorative birdhouses are fashioned from resin material that is actually molded, which allows very intricate designs to be built at an affordable cost. There are also many miniature ceramic birdhouses as well, and you can even find some that come with a pedestal.

Another popular item for backyard birders is are gazebo bird feeders. These have some of the same Victorian elements that recall the 1800's.

If you are looking for something not quite so ornate, but a little more rustic, how about a log cabin bird house design. From a simpler time in our country's history, these are one of the more favorite birdhouse designs as they mimic the "natural" habitat of our feathered friends.

A recently popular type of house, these are shaped like an A frame, but the front surface is a face made from a resin form. The faces available include a popular cat, where the bird hole is the mouth, along with a pirate face, or a frog, a tree leaf, or a deer with antlers and of course, this elfin friend pictured below.

This type of bird house resembles a tree face but made into a bird house.