Five Specifications and Five Constraints to Build a Bird House

For my project, I will be building a bird house in a suburban style. The bird house will have a moving front door, and a back panel that can be opened as well, so that the user can reach in and remove any nests at the end of the season. Additionally, I have decided to put fabric over the window so that light can still shine into the bird house, without there being a large hole where other unwanted animals could come in. In terms of the aesthetic style, I decided that I wanted to design the bird house like a suburban home, with a white picket fence and green walls, and a brown roof. I think a suburban bird house will look cute, and will look great in my parents back yard.

Since the bird house will be in my parents’ back yard, I wanted to design the bird house around a bird that can be found in their area. For that reason, the bird I chose was a Pygmy Nuthatch. As such;, the bird house is constrained by the hole size and the size of the bird house itself. The bird house will have a 1″ hole for the bird, and interior dimensions of 5.5″x5.5″ with a height of 8″. This will be ideal for the bird. Additionally, I would like to make this bird house in my dad’s shop, with his spare wood. For that reason, I am constrained by the wood he has, and the limited amount of time that I will have in his shop. A majority of his wood is 3/4″ thick, so I needed to change my drawings to reflect this thickness. Additionally, I will want to plan out my cuts beforehand so that I can make all of my cuts quickly and efficiently. Below is a CAD drawing of my bird house design, as well as the optimal layout of these pieces so that they will fit on the smallest board possible.

An additional constraint I face by using my dad’s workshop is that I am limited by the tools he has. Fortunately, he has a miter saw, table saw, electric sander, drill press, and many other tools that will make this job much easier to accomplish. All in all, I believe that my most difficult constraint will be accomplishing all of my work in the limited time I will have. I’ve realized that this project could take several hours to accomplish, where I originally expected it to take much less time. Fortunately, I will have several days in which I can drive down to their house to work on this project.

This project will ultimately be a success if I am able to get a bird to live in the bird house, and the bird house looks visually appealing as well. However, the bird house needs to have other functionality metrics in order to be a success. The moving components make up two of these specifications; both the front door and the back panel need to be able to swing open easily, but have a way to close securely when desired. For the back panel, I will have a hinge which connects the panel to the floor of the bird house, and a nail will be inserted into both pieces to keep it closed when the user is done removing old nests. Another specification will be the fence looking visually appealing; assembling so many small pieces will be a difficult task, and if the fence turns out looking nice, then it will transform the look of the entire bird house. Finally, having the bird house be rain-resistant is very important, as I would consider a bird house that is not resistant to rain to be a failure. For that reason, I will be using actual roofing material, which will keep rain out of the bird house.

These constraints and specifications have driven me toward the bird house design I currently have, and will continue to guide me as I begin constructing my bird house next week. By prioritizing these items, I believe my bird house will turn out great, and birds will be fighting over the new sweet house in the neighborhood!