Bamboo Birdhouses - The Styles and Uses of Bamboo Bird Houses

Wood is one of the most common building materials for birdhouses. Birds are of course used to wood as the base material for their natural habitats, so it's not much of a transition to a wood birdhouse. With ecology at the forefront of many of our outdoor activities and decorations, people are paying more attention to the materials they use in products, and many people want to emphasize sustainable products in their purchases. Bamboo is considered by many to be one of the more eco-friendly wood like products out there, so it is becoming a favorite building material in many applications. For example it's not uncommon to see bamboo flooring and bamboo kitchen cabinets, and it's become popular for other kitchen items like portable carts as well.

It's important that the local governments and producers take advantage of the advantages of bamboo, because like any crop it can be grown without regard to the ecological impact. But bamboo can be regenerated quickly and easily, primarily because bamboo is a member of the grass family, and is a very fast growing plant. It grows natively in many parts of the world, and the different varieties of bamboo provide different colorations and finishes.

Typically bamboo bird houses are smaller in size, and the hole in them is sized for smaller birds as well. They are usually built and sited to attract wrens, chickadees, and sometimes they attract small woodpeckers. Most commercially built bamboo houses fall into this size range. For birds this size, a feature to look for is a removable floor, which allows for easy cleaning every year or so.

There are a number of different types of bamboo birdhouses to choose from.

Nesting Bags - While not 100 percent bamboo, nesting bags are one of the simpler and inexpensive birdhouses, and there are often trimmed in bamboo.

Simple Huts - Fashioned to look like a tropical hut, these single unit houses are a favorite. There are also huts that look like traditional oriental designs.

Multi Story Houses - Using the bamboo to fashion a house that looks like a log cabin birdhouse, these are somewhat more complicated, with a little more interior room as well. A slightly different take on this theme is an L shaped house. There are quite a number of log cabin birdhouses as it's a popular theme.

This gives you an idea of the types and styles of commercially available bamboo bird houses. Use them to start your own design, or pick up a commercially available birdhouse for your backyard!