Once you have a Birdhouse you will find that squirrels, raccoons and cats find there way to your backyard and their eyes are on your decorative birdhouses.  Therefore features and location of your birdhouse becomes very important.

Your birdhouse should have a birdhouse entrance size about the size of the species of birds which you want to attract to your birdhouse. If the birdhouse entrance size is too big, you will attract bigger predators like cats that may attack the birds inside the birdhouse and will harm young baby birds or bird eggs. (See Chart for sizes by bird)

Birds do not use the perches and do not need them to get in and out of the birdhouse. On the contrary, perches may be used by predators to get to the birds in the birdhouse. They can hop onto the perch and in result; have access to the interiors of the birdhouse.  If you have an existing birdhouse that has perches on them, you may remove them to make your birdhouses safer to visiting birds.

A large overhanging roof (2-5") on a birdhouse will help deter cats from reaching into the box to remove eggs, nestlings and adults. A sharply slanted roof may make it less comfortable for cats to perch on top of a box

When choosing a birdhouse keep in mind that some birds avoid bright colors because it makes them a target to predators.

 

Don’t mount your birdhouses on branches of trees. The problem with this type of mounting is that cats or raccoons can climb the tree and have access to the birdhouse. An alternative to this method is to place your wooden birdhouses on wood, metal or PVC

poles with the floor at least 6 feet off the ground or use a telescoping birdhouse pole, with the box 8-10 feet above the ground. You can thoroughly grease (and re-grease when needed) a metal mounting pole. You can also add hot pepper sauce to the grease (an additional deterrent as the cat will lick it off its paws.)

Birdhouse should preferably be located away from places where the predator can climb on and jump onto the birdhouse.  That includes a good distance from bushes and shrubs where cats can hide and pounce from.

Keep the birdhouse away from bird feeders. Rather than investing in decorative bird feeders, invest in squirrel proof bird feeders as the later will prove much more beneficial in the long run.