What type of Birds are you trying to attract? 

(put your mouse on a birdhouse to see what type they attract; click on the bird to go directly to the birdhouses) 

BlueBird Houses	Eastern Bluebirds are very popular in Upstate NY along with many other Northeasternstates. You will not normally find them in villages or very populated areas unless you have a large open back yard. Their bird houses are best mounted on a post and facing an open field that may have some shrubs and/or a few trees. Their favorite food is live meal worms. Their bills are not made for cracking seed but will dine at the suet feeder and eat berries. Their nesting box will have a 1 1/2" hole and have at least a floor space of 4" x 5" mounted 4 to 6 ft off the ground. Bluebirds are very territorial and should be at least 50ft away from any other nesting boxes. Tree Swallows often vi for the same territory.
Wren Houses	House Wrens live in all of North America and the Carolina Wrens are very popular from Mid to Eastern USA. They both require a 1 1/4 inch hole in their nesting house. They are a very sociable bird. The male will sing for weeks trying to attract a female to the house he's picked out for them. Ours comes back from the end of April until mid May to the wren house we have on a grape vine post just 5 foot from the edge of our deck, facing our house. The whole family puts on quite a show the entire time they are nesting. Truly a JOY! They nest through July. Their house should be at least 6 ft off the ground and a floor space of 4"x4", but they can squeeze in to a smaller space.
Chickadee Houses	Black-capped Chickadees are the most common chickadee in the US. They will take a hole from 1 1/8th inch to 1 1/4 inch. They need approximately a 4" x 4" floor and like to have the hole 6-7 inches above the floor. It is recommended that you put some wood shavings in the bottom of the house when you set it out or after you clean it out each year. The hole size is nearly the same for wrens so in order to keep wrens out you should set the Chickadee house further in to the woods. The heigth of the house should be 4- 10ft above the ground.
Nut Hatch Houses	The Red Breasted Nut Hatch and White Breasted Nut Hatch both frequent most all of the US. The Nut Hatch likes its house to be attached to a tree. Their hole size should be 1 1/8th inch to 1 1/4 inch, the same as a chickadee or wren. Putting up a Nut Hatch house doesn't mean that is the only bird that may nest in it. They like to nest in the woods which will make it difficult to watch this bird. Floor space should be 4" x 4" and they prefer an A-Frame type house. This shape makes it very difficult to put in a clean out door. Many of the wren or chickadee houses will dupe as a Nut Hatch House and they have clean out doors.
Tree Swallow Houses	Tree Swallow travel in the Northern US and Canada. My husband loves watching these swallows swoop directly in and out of the several houses we have on our property. We do have trouble between the Tree Swallows and the Bluebirds. They like their houses in the same sort of open area on a post and they take the same size hole of 1 1/2 inch. These houses need to be put over 50 foot apart from each other or trouble will brew. Although they take the same size hole, the Tree Swallow has a very long straight tail and is much more comfortable in a longer house. The specs call for a 5 inch to 8 inch length in a Tree Swallow House giving lots of room for their tails so their heads don't stick out the hole while they are nesting. The width should be at least 4 inches and inside height of 6 inches. They should be mounted on a post facing an open field. They eat mosquitos and insects so near a source of water is nice but not necessary.
Sparrow Houses	House Sparrows, we have a plenty! They take a 1 1/2inch hole which is the same as the Bluebird and Tree Swallow. My husband has to be vigelant at pulling out the sparrow nests in our Bluebird and Tree Swallow houses early in the Spring. BUT if you want the sparrows, that's great! They will nest in both rural areas and in villages. So if you just fall in love with one of my houses that has an 1 1/2" hole and you live in a village you can still house a Sparrow in it. They will force themselves in to any house with at least 3"x 4" floor space with the hole at any height. Their house can be from 5 Foot above the ground up. Most birds will not live together in one house but if a sparrow likes the area and there's more than one hole it is possible for more than one family to house in a multi dwelling house. Houses I have on-line to link to Sparrow Houses:
Finch Houses	The Gold Finch and House Finch are very fussy about their Nesting House. Floor space must equate to 6" x 6"'s and the 2 inch hole needs to be 4" above the hole at the most. I get the same exclaimation each time I show customers a Finch House. "Why does such a tiny bird have to have such a large hole?" My response is usually, "When you ask one, would you tell me." These also should be put on a post in your yard or near buildings, just not near the feeders. They will nest in the village or in a rural area.
Robin Houses	American Robin's are not fussy about their nest site. So many customers tell me the same thing "They nest over the porch light." Usually it is under the protection of a porch roof or an eave. This serves as protection from their largest preditor, the Hawk. The Robin will nest on a narrow window sill so their nest boxes don't have to be elaborate. A shelf 6" wide and 8" long with a little roof. You can hang them on the back side of a shed or even a house. Just don't put them out in full view of passing hawks or as soon as the eggs hatch they will be picked off one by one. Keep them protected.
Cardinal Nest Boxes	Cardinals will NOT nest in a house. They only require a box. Floor should be at least 7" x 8". A little larger is OK. Back of the house can be 4" high with drilled holes so you can attach to a tree. ( They love the evergreen trees so if you can get in there put it at least 8 ft above the ground and settle it on a branch or 2) The front peice of the nesting box only needs to be 2 - 3" high, so the babies won't just fall out. The Cardinal LOVES sunflower seeds so sprinkle a few in the box when you set it in the tree.
Downy Woodpecker Houses	The Downey Woodpecker will hang around all winter in the North. The suet cake is especially for them. A house for the Downey Woodpecker needs to be very natural looking. No bright colors and a gaurd needs to go over a 1.25 inch hole so they don't make it bigger themselves. You know, that's what they do! The house can be mounted on a tree and needs to be 12 - 20 ft high off the ground in a wooded clearing or on woods edge. Floor space is 4" x 4" and hole height 9" - 12" above the floor.
Hairy Woodpecker Houses	This kind of house ends up being too heavy to ship but you can contact me to do a special order. The Hairy Woodpecker stays arount the Northeast during the winter and is frequently seen at the suet feeder. Floor space is 6" x 6". The hole is 1.5 inches around and needs to be 9 - 12 inches above the floor. The house needs to be very drab colored or plain. A gaurd needs to be placed around the hole so that the woodpecker does not make his own hole larger and opens it to a habitat to chipmunks and squirrels. Mount the nest box 10 to 20 ft off the ground on a tree at woods edge or a clearing within the woods.
Mourning Dove Houses	I use recycled wood which makes one of these houses too heavy to ship. You can contact me for a special order. The Mourning Doves need a floor space in their nest box of at least 8" x 8" and up to 10" x 12". The opening should be a rectangle approximately 3 to 4" wide by 4 to 5" high. A ledge on the front makes it easier for landing. House heigth is 8 to 10" and mounted 5 - 8 Ft off the ground. You can put the nest house on a post with semi protection below a tree or a shed. You can also mount the house on the side of a shed under an eave.
Purple Martin Houses	A Purple Martin House needs to have several apartments which makes them too heavy to ship. I made one that was 37lbs! They like to habitat together. If you are near water, thats a plus because the martins eat mosquitos and flying insects, but water is not absolutely necessary. Each apartment must be 6" x 6" and plenty of ventilation. I make them by order. Holes are 2 to 2.5 inches for each apartment 1.5 - 2" above the floor. They also love to sun themselves so I add a shelf under each hole. The hardest part is mounting a large house like this 12 - 15 ft above the ground. It also needs to be cleaned out. I have seen break away poles on line made so you can mount them high but break down for cleaning and they are a lot less expensive then I thought they would be.

Cross My Heart is located in Wallace, NY. This unique shop is nestled in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of the state. With it's abundant natural resources and beauty, this area is home to many migratory and permanent resident birds. Diane Rivers has found a creative, unique and environmentally friendly way of providing homes to these beautiful creatures.

100birdhouses.com and TheBirdHouseLady.net are the online homes of Cross My Heart.  On this site you will see specialty, hand-built  birdhouses that are packaged for delivery to your home.  If you want to browse through our products, please click "Online Store"above.

It is important to remember that these houses are not mass produced, nor are they put together cheaply.  Some of our materials are over 150 years old and still holding strong!  A character and strength only found through reclaimed materials.  

These birdhouses are also quite heavy in construction.  To minimize shipping obstacles, we have chosen to use FedEx for our shipping purposes.  Welcome to our store, please feel free to look around, contact us, or sign up for an account to receive email updates of new products (We are adding products every few days).