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Designer Birdhouses - 20 Upscale Homes for Sophisticated Birds
by Richard T. Banks
Lark Books
ISBN 978-1-57990-834-8
Published January 2008 - Softcover - 128 pages - $17.95

A free house right in your natural habitat!  What could be better?  Architect Richard T. Banks designs these beautiful birdhouses which he says anyone can build, and that "you don't need a workshop filled with expensive power tools" to get the job done.  However, he goes on to say you could use these tools: handsaw, backsaw, miter box, circular saw, electric jigsaw, table saw, bandsaw, scroll saw, hand drill or drill press and their bits, clamps, bench hooks, screws and screwdrivers, nails, hammers, nail guns, glues, fillers and caulks, sandpaper and sanding blocks, and paints and finishes.  Sounds like an awful lot of stuff to have on hand - even a combination of tools for that matter.  This is before you have your safety gear and lumber!  Banks starts by making a basic box around which you can build your own choice of designs.  You can let your artistic side run rampant and come up with any number of shapes, sizes, and colors.  I doubt the birds would care much about the asthetics.  I like the idea of birdhouses but cannot see myself actually making one other than perhaps nailing four pieces of wood together with an opening, as much as I adore birdwatching and feeding them in my backyard.  Building one is far too complicated, but I would assemble one or two if they came in kit form and you just had to glue or nail them together.  I do like the look of the houses featured on pages 44 and 47 - just adorable.  I also like the stencil finish on page 75 and the roosting box (a great idea for winter) on page 106.
Visit Banks's website.
Conclusion - Great projects for the carpenter in your home.  Let me know if ever they become available in kit form!