How to Build Dove Bird Houses

Mourning doves (zenaida macroura), with their soft gray color, long pointed tail and perky expression, are common avian visitors to backyard bird feeders, city parks, open fields and suburban areas across the United States and southern Canada. Their "cooOOO-coo-coo-coo" song gives them their melancholy name. Unlike other songbirds, doves won't nest in traditional closed birdhouses and prefer a roofed platform on which to build their nests. This platform design is also popular with robins and barn swallows.

Things You'll Need

  • A 10-inch x 4-foot piece of redwood or cedar lumber, 1 inch thick, cut into the following shapes:
  • Back: 13 inches x 9.25 inches
  • Floor: 8 inches x 7 inches
  • Roof: 8 inches x 8.5 inches
  • Sides (two pieces): 8 inches tall on one side x 4.5 inches wide at the bottom x 6 inches tall on the other side x 6 inches wide at the top.
  • Hot glue gun (optional but handy)
  • #4 box nails
  • Hammer
  • Power saw or handsaw
  • Protractor
  • Sandpaper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure with the protractor an 18.2-degree bevel along one 8-inch edge of the roof piece and mark it with a pencil. Cut the bevel with a handsaw or power saw. Sand the edge.

    • 2

      Measure an 18.2-degree angle along the top (6-inch side opposite the 4.5-inch side) of a side piece. Cut the angle (the piece will lie flush with the roof) with the handsaw or power saw and sand smooth.

    • 3

      Repeat step 2 with the second side piece.

    • 4

      Hot-glue the 4.5-inch edge of a side piece to a 7-inch edge of the floor piece. The 90-degree angle of the side piece should be at the corner of the floor. Nail the side in place.

    • 5

      Repeat Step 4 with the remaining side piece on the other 7-inch edge of the floor. The side pieces now form walls on opposite sides of the floor. The front and back of the platform are currently open. Nail the second side piece to the floor.

    • 6

      Hot-glue the roof to the top edges of the sides. Make sure the 18.2-degree beveled edge of the roof is in line with the back edges of the sides, and creates a flat surface on which to attach the back piece in the next step. The roof will slope down over the front of the platform. Nail the roof into place.

    • 7

      Assemble the dove platform and the back piece. The platform currently has a floor, two walls on opposite sides and a roof slanting over the front. Lay the platform on its front so it faces down. Hot-glue around the back edges of the roof, sides and floor, then press the back piece to the platform. The back piece will extend a couple inches above the roof and below the floor of the platform. Nail the platform to the back piece, then set upright with the open front facing forward and the floor of the platform parallel to the ground.

    • 8

      Nail or screw the back of the birdhouse against a vertical surface, such as a tree trunk, under the eaves of a house or a barn wall, so doves can find it. The platform should be near trees or shrubbery to provide the doves with cover.