<b>APPETIZING APPEAL </b> — Jim West expanded his pottery-making pastime to include several birdhouses for his yard in Slippery Rock Township. West styled the birdhouses after folk art “face jugs,” but does not yet know if their appearance will be too much for house-hunting birds to swallow.

Some birds build nests. Others occupy ready made homes — usually sometime between March and May.

According to Betsey Owens of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, local birdhouses most often attract the song sparrow, chickadee, house wren and Carolina wren. Other birds, like the bluebird, screech owl and martin, require more specialized housing.

To select a home, Owens said birds will often build dummy nests in multiple houses before making their final choice. The society can provide building specifications to help ensure success. Included are preferred hole size for various species; however, Owens said many birds will make use of a larger or smaller hole if the house is otherwise suitable. Owens offers these tips:

• Don't paint the inside of your bird house. Some paints could be toxic to birds. When painting the exterior, leave an unpainted area of at least an inch around the opening, since some birds might customize the house by pecking out a larger hole.

• Position your birdhouse to minimize swinging and swaying, with the hole facing away from wind.

• Deter predators by hanging the house on a limb too light to hold a cat. Baffle tree trunks in the case of resident snakes, which sometimes feed on eggs.

• Build a trap door into the bottom of your birdhouse for easy cleaning at the season's end. But don't remove your birdhouse too quickly: Most species lay multiple broods through the nesting season.

For more information or to purchase a premade house or supplies, visit the Audubon Society, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh, call 412-963-6100 or go to www.aswp.org.