Pretend you are a mother bird scoping out a new birdhouse for your soon-to-be new family. What do you look for that appeals to you? What makes a good bird home?
You look at the birdhouse from a distance. Is it in a good location? You don't want it to be in a tree because it is too easy for predators to climb up the tree and get to your future nest. You don't want it to be hanging over water, else if your babies fall out they may drown.
Next, you get up close to your potential birdhouse. What you want to see is a sloping roof with an overhang that will keep the rain out of the new home. Next you get to the front door to check out its size. You want it to be just large enough for you to squeeze through, but no larger. You don't want bigger birds or snakes to be able to get into your new abode.
You need to be able to jump down from the entrance way into the birdhouse. Because this means that your babies will need to be able to jump up to get to it - which they will only be able to do once they are old enough to fly.
Once inside the birdhouse, you take a look around. No fancy painting for you. You want unpainted interior walls. You are also on the lookout for any protruding nails or screws that could scratch or impale your babies. None of these, please. You breathe in deeply. Is the air fresh? You look for ventilation holes so that the air is always moving. And then you look down for drainage holes. If rain would get into your nest, then you want it to be able to drain out.
If the birdhouse meets all your criteria, then it is likely you will move in, with twigs and string and dried leaves to make a homey nest. If not, you'll move on until you find a suitable home.
Now, it is probably unlikely that a mother bird goes through all these steps in a logical order to choose a home, but her instincts guide her to find a nest based on her specific needs, many of which have been covered here.
You, as a caretaker, however, should try to see the world from a bird's eye view whenever you put up a new birdhouse, so that you choose both the birdhouse and the location of the birdhouse so that it is most suitable for your tenants.
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