Can someone help me on the right dimensions for an Eastern Bluebird house?

[Jamastiene]

I've seen several different sets of dimensions online. They all seem to agree on the 1-1/2 inch entry hole and the 4" x 4" floor space, but I keep getting different specifications for the height and roof pitch.

This is the basic style of house I plan on building:


I have (2) 4' cedar boards (untreated). They came from my step dad's cedar that died. So, they are rough cut and not closely planed.

Also I plan on making either the top or side hinged so I can clean out the old nests. I was hoping that someone, who has successfully attracted bluebirds to their houses, can tell me which is better to use for the hinged access, the top or the side?

I've built bird houses before and never tried to attract a certain type of bird. Since hearing the song of the bluebird, I want to try to attract them specifically.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

[japple]

1. Here are specifications from the North American Bluebird

Society website. http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/nestboxspecs.htm

We already have bluebirds on our land, but the houses we made were 20 years old. A relative made 3 for me using the specs from the above site. Note the suggestion to score the inner wood underneath the door hole so that the babies can climb up to the hole when it's time to fledge. My houses have pivoting side doors so we can clean them out and I think it works better than having them on top. I opened one of the houses sometime last fall in order to clean out the old nests, and scooped out a mother and 3 baby flying squirrels. The mother took off, but the newborn babies were lying on the ground squeeking. I just scooped them back up and put the whole nest back in the box and hoped for the best. I haven't had the courage to open the box again.

Good luck.

[semillama]

2. Bit of advice on placement

Put up two together. Tree swallows will also use bluebird boxes, so if you want bluebirds, make sure there's an extra box for them, since Tree Swallows seem to start nesting first.