Beginner.. how and when on the bird houses?

I have been feeding birds all winter as I do every year in the bushes where they hide, I have a block feeder the woodpecker loves, and thistle that usually won't see a bird until the finches in march. a few blue jays stayed this year and female cardinals still are around (blue jays eat in the back yard cardinals eat in the front) sparrows, chicadees, a woodpecker - i have to find out what kind he is beautiful.. more morning doves than I care to count that disappear along with the crows in april.

the question: we have had bird houses out in the front yard trees, decoration more than anything. we have three. squirrels knocked two down and they stayed like little houses in a flower bed. We would like to hang them and have hopes for residents. they are general hand made over the counter type. pile trees, ceder, maple, a garage, a post, wood fence, and a wood swing are available, we built a pond for year round water. When do they need to be up by (i am on the shoreline under a major migration way
-joe-

Hi Joe, Sounds like you live in a great area. My sister has a hanging wren nestbox (I think it might be similar to a gourd) right on her porch within just a few feet of some nice tall bushes. Carolina Wrens nest in it every year. She lives near the shore too.
It would be best if you could get your nest box up soon so birds could check it out and make a decision before they nest.
The best situation would be for them to be on a baffled pole so squirrels/raccoons etc wouldn't be able get at them but if you can't do that than just try to make sure there is cover nearby like bushes.
Your property sound's wonderful for birds. Please keep us updated.

The "how" usually depends on the species of bird your trying to attract. The "when" is anytime.

Hi again Joe, Here is a good site that can give you more information on all sorts of things pertaining to nest boxes for birds. Menu on the left.

Hope this helps. http://www.sialis.org/

looks like just get them up and work out details later.. after some reading, I was slightly suprised to learn they should be in an open area, not next to cover, like trees, bushes etc... a place like that is more difficult to find other than in my veggie gardens. all our trees are perches for one bird or another. our yard sizes are near an acre, the neighbors on all sides have feeders and wren houses. a bird wonderland.

Sounds great! Good Luck!

i'll let you know how it goes.. all I have is a cell phone camera, so I can't get real good picks, but thank you for the likk, i will pick up a bluebird house asap.
-joe-

The Audubon Society publishes a great book called:

Audubon Society Guide To Attracting Birds

Your local library might have it if you don't want to purchase it. My husband and I got lots of great ideas from that book and used the diagrams to make our own bird houses. But if you decide to buy houses, just make sure that you can easily open them for cleaning (or maybe even monitoring!). Some actually come with hinged tops or sides but at a minimum, there should be some screws in it so that you can open it up in between nests.

Good luck....it is so much fun to host bird families!!