Building Scientific Bird Houses For Fun And Profit

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Build and sell attractive standard model and custom birdhouses
and bird feeders that are scientifically designed for specific
species.

This business requires a wood shop and basic woodworking tools,
paint, some basic knowledge of carpentry and birds, but not much
else. It can be a very pleasant and uncomplicated but highly
rewarding business.

To be effective, you need to know something about the birds in
your area -- when they nest, what size houses, entry holes,
whether one or more nest in the same area, and of course, how
high off the ground they must be mounted.

If you aren't qualified bird-watchers don't worry - you can only
build one type of birdhouse at a time anyway and you can find out
all you need to know about the bird's nesting needs at your local
library.

As you learn new bird house patterns, you can study up on the
birds -- one species at a time. When your houses are ready to
sell, you will be able to tell your customers all about that
particular bird, what it eats, needs, where to place and how to
take care of the birds and their birdhouse.

You can start with a single pattern or blueprint. These are
available from many sources (some are listed below), which will
be for one bird species. You are free to alter the patterns and
colors so long as you maintain the basics -- keep the entries
large enough for the target bird, but too small for predators.

Provide cleverly disguised trap doors for cleaning, different
styles of perches and roofs and of course, a variety of color
combinations and/or designs.

There are enough variables to allow you to make your own style of
birdhouse for any species and still retain the required features.

Check with the local lumbar yards to find the best quality and
prices on materials. You cannot used some types of treated lumbar
due to its odor or even toxicity of the birds at close quarters,
but you can use a silicone sealer like Thompson's (to prevent
rapid weathering).

Let the lumbar yard know you can use odd-sized pieces (which
should be considerably cheaper) and many kinds of scraps. A
variety of woods will serve you nicely -- then you can offer a
variety of birdhouse models.

Arrange your working area to have separate places for
sawing/sanding and painting operations. Experiment with building,
assembling, painting and decorating techniques.

Make jigs and patterns for cutting out and fitting the pieces as
close to assembly line fashion as possible. Cut out or buy
stencils for decorative patterns (Dover has some nice,
inexpensive ones - see Business Sources).

Build your birdhouses with hinged roofs or panels so they can be
opened and cleaned each season - birdhouses that are not cleaned
are seldom used again.

Commercially available, assembly line (most are put together with
unfinished wood and staples) birdhouses and feeders start at
about $5 each, but they are very poor quality at that price.

They are made with obvious scraps, some of which will not hold up
outside (e.g. inside grade plywood and paneling) - and unpainted
or treated.

You can get a much better price with attractive scientifically
designed and well colorfully decorated.

Commercial birdhouses seldom specify the type bird they are
designed for -- or how high it should be mounted. The reason is
simple: they don't want to limit their sales!

You should start with the understanding that you cannot build and
sell birdhouses as cheap as the discount stores. You can,
however, offer better ones at nearly their price -- and make good
money.

Since your bird houses are scientifically built for a particular
species of bird, you should provide a little info sheet with each
house. tell a little about the bird, its habits and history, and
how to get results with the bird house.

This info sheet should be no more than one standard sheet --
perhaps an 8 x 11 sheet folded to make two inside pages, each 8 x
5 1/2. The cover could have a title and silhouette of the bird,
the back, plain. You can have a little booklets printed
inexpensively (see Business Sources section).

Since you need to find out a little about the bird anyway to
build the correct birdhouse, you already have most of the
information. This little gimmick alone can help you get a dollar
or two more for each birdhouse!

You can market your birdhouses and feeders through ads, bulletin
boards and posters that feed stores or pet shops allow you to
post. You can sell them at flea markets, at a stand along the
road, or advertise them in the paper.

Check with real estate agent for a vacant store and arrange to
rent a show window until the store is leased.

Set up a display there for your birdhouses and have a sign that
tells people where they can get them.

Take pictures, make up a scrapbook of your different models, add
prices and offer to wholesale them to pet shops and stores, or
arrange to place them on consignment.

You can even advertise in bird watcher.

If you want to be different or expand your business, offer do-it-
yourself kits with assembly, directions and all the parts, nails,
hinges, glue, stencils and possibly even paint.

These could be sold for about half the cost of a completed bird
house. Your instructions would be included in a plastic bag,
along with the same little info booklet mentioned above.

Other possible variations are to paint the birdhouses in patterns
to match each other, or the customer's home; selling mounting
and/or squirrel guards and other intruder accessories; mounting
them, and custom designs (if you are artistically inclined,
otherwise fancy stencils).

About the only problem area in this business would be to build
too many birdhouses for unpopular birds (like sparrows).

If this is a consideration,it might be a good idea to build
several models and see which ones sell best before going into
mass production of any one model.

BUSINESS SOURCES

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, 31 E. 2nd St.,Mineola, NY 11501,
516/294-7000. Discount books, including reference books
(birdhouse patterns), stencil decorations and many types of bird
books.

PUBLISHERS CENTRAL BUREAU, Box 1197, Newark, NJ 07102. Discount
books, including reference.

MARSH FARMS, Box 7, Garden Grove, CA 92642. Birds, equipment and
instructions books.

ZPS, Box 581, Libertyville, IL 60048-2556. Business card,
letterhead stationery, etc. Will print your camera-ready logo or
design, even whole card.

QUILL CORPORATION, 100 Schelter Rd., Lincolnshire, IL 60917-4700.
Office supplies.

IVEY PRINTING, Box 761, Meridan, TX 76665. Write for price list.

SWEDCO, Box 29, Mooresville, NC 28115. Three line rubber stamps.
Write for free catalog.

NEBS, 500 Main St.,Groton, MA 04171, 800/225-6380. Office
supplies.

WALTER DRAKE, 4119 Drake Bldg.,Colorado Springs, CO 80940. Short
run business cards and other stationery products. No choice of
color or style, but good quality.

OLYMPIA PRINTING, 1282 Monomoy, Aurora, IL 60506. Business cards
and letterhead. Write for price list.