The recent Spring weather has seen us out in the garden tidying up after the winter and planting for the coming seasons. I’ve also noticed a pair of robins busily flying in and out of some tangled greenery – presumably building a nest, or just scoping out the locale and having a practice build. Yes, apparently birds will do this. The first few attempts at building a nest are sometimes just practice runs before the final Grand Design that becomes home for the family.
Trouble is, this perky pair of robins have chosen a site that’s only about three and a half feet off the ground. And our adopted cat, Rusty, has been sitting watching their activity with an anticipatory gleam in her eye. I guess it’s like watching a pop-up restaurant being built in your back yard …
So I decided to research contemporary birdhouses. Our garden is definitely not ultra-contemporary and minimalistic, but I don’t like garden accessories that are too rustic or twee either. Happily, I’ve found some fabulous modern birdhouses with simple, modern lines that fit the (ahem) bill perfectly,.
They’re both both practical and stylish but, more importantly, provided they’re put in the right place they should thwart Rusty and her other neighbrourhood feline friends.
This classic wooden Bird House by Fallen Fruits is livened up with a contemporary paint finish and has a latched front door to facilitate cleaning out at the end of the nesting season.
The clean, modern design of this glossy ceramic White Nesting Box by Eva Solo is deceptively simple. Thoughtful features include a lid with a built-in ladder and four different tunnel sizes in order to attract new birds. Its two straps enable it to be easily mounted to a tree, but it can also be screwed onto a surface of your choosing.
The very cleverly designed Cork Bird House, by Gavin Coyle, is specially for small song birds. It comes flat packed and with everything you need; it’s then easily assembled from two die-cut pieces of cork/rubber composite which you shape into cones and link together to form a natural dipped nest.
This asymmetrical bird house, inspired by Swedish mountain tops and handmade in Sweden, is called the Home for Wings Bird House with Side Terrace and is by Lotte Cole Design. The “side terrace” perch isn’t a grandiose design whim, but is so positioned because a stick placed under the hole can be a danger to birds, as it can allow predators to get to the eggs. Other practical features include a base that pivots to enable a yearly clean-out and fixings so that the bird house can be mounted on a tree or a wall.
The spherical, ceramic Birdball Birdhouse, above, couldn’t be more elegant or more simple, and echoes the curves of birds nests. It’s available in wall-mounted or hanging options, and in Terracotta or White finishes.
In contrast to the clean lines of the spherical Birdball, this Driftwood Birdhouse by The Orchard from Not on the High Street falls very firmly into the rustic category, but I love its simple shape and the beautiful, weathered shapes, textures and colours of the driftwood. And it makes me think of Hobbit houses, for some reason.
And how about a DIY project to finish with? I couldn’t resist this fabulous, make your own Mid-Century Birdhouse (heck, I’d love to live in a house like this). There are step by step instructions on how to build it on www.curbly.com, plus the impressive and funny video below. Lucky, lucky birds!
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