The Gourd Houses

By Eilene Lyon

Some years ago, a next door neighbor gifted me four hollow gourds she’d grown and asked me to make birdhouses out of them. I said I would, then left them lying around the garage for a very long time. I did finally get around to the project, though!

I viewed several YouTube videos for instructions. One of them pointed out that the drilling and cleaning of the gourd should be done outdoors, and a mask is a good idea, because they can contain microbial contaminants. Well, that sure made me wonder about the guy demonstrating all this in his kitchen, with his child nearby–no masks. I went outdoors.

I did some light sanding on the outside of the gourds to clean them up a bit, but how they look doesn’t really matter if you plan to paint them, as I did. The entry hole size can vary, based on the species of bird you wish to attract, but 1.25″ (3.18 cm) is a good average size.

After that, I drilled four drainage holes in the bottom and a double hole near the top of the neck to place the hanging wire through. I put a white primer coat on all four gourds and a wild camouflage pattern on the bottom, with the idea of making them more “invisible” to potential predators looking up from the ground.

I then painted designs with acrylic paints and sprayed with a waterproof lacquer. Unfortunately, that last step did not prevent the paint from flaking off after time in the elements, and in one case, with bird activity. I’ve decided that the birds don’t mind flaky paint, so neither do I!

The first year I put one out, it had no takers. Last year I put two out and a house wren took a liking to one. I observed from my kitchen window as he diligently brought twigs to the entry hole and dropped them over and over while trying to stuff them inside. He was a bit late in the season and never attracted a mate, but he sure got in his singing practice!

When I took them down for the winter, I was surprised to see that little wren had managed to nearly fill the entire gourd with twigs! I guess he wasn’t as clumsy as I took him to be. He certainly persisted.

I’ve put three gourds out this year. I’ll be waiting to see if any nesting birds produce chicks from them. The last gourd (the tan one near the top) is still waiting for me to paint a design of whimsical feathers. It’s the largest of the four, perhaps too spacious for a wren?