You can get several other pre-built homes for your feathered friends, some of them are building with plaster, ceramic, plastic and metal. But amongst them, wood is nearly the best alternative to mimic their habitat. There are type of birds that has specific needs and placement. There are single types or group birds that can also affect the needs and design of your ideal bird house. It is also one way of preventing bigger animals from playing and eating the birds inside. In addition, the roof can prevent moisture from seeping inside the bird house. This serves the same purpose as the walls that you need to have in the bird house. 3. Space. If you have more than one bird deck house in your house or garden, keep them some feet apart from each other. Bird houses that are made of metal can be effective if you want to place it inside the house. Unlike woods, it does not invite termites and other insects that fed on woods. Be sure to ask some bird experts for suggestions of materials to use for your bird house. 4. Attractive designs. It is said that how you design your bird house will make it attractive or unattractive to birds. There would definitely some discolorations or stains in the gourds. However, this is just normal so don't worry about the stains. 3. Allow the gourds to dry once cleaned. 4. Choose only the dried gourds that have the appropriate measurement for the bird house. The ideal gourds should have a diameter of 9 to15 inches. Get your camera and start taking pictures of bird houses around you. Even if you are not the best photographer around, you can come up with some good shots to compile into an album that you can be proud of. If you check out some works of photo journalist, you will come upon some pictures of bird and bird houses. Another thing is that there are some birds that are territorial, so the bird's nest should really be protected. Generally, each bird house must be at least 25 feet away from each other. For some birds, like bluebirds should be 300 feet apart. Meanwhile, purple martins prefer to reside together with other bird colonies and so they should be in apartment houses.