Updated at: 28-07-2022 - By: Jane Brody

If you must hang your birdhouse on a fence post, do so facing north to protect the inhabitants from the wind.

A birdhouse can be hung on a fence, but only from the fence post. Hook the wire or rope to the birdhouse’s left and right sides, then loop the excess over the top of a fence post. Wooden or wall-mounted versions are also possible. Make sure the birdhouse doesn’t sway by adding more hooks to hang it from.

Birds may not be drawn to a new birdhouse on a fence unless it is perched high in a tree among other branches.

Even so, you should take all precaution to avoid this possibility; birdhouses hung from the ceiling might swing or spin, so you should never let your guard down.

You can mount a birdhouse on a fence, but if the birds feel threatened, they will abandon it. This will prevent you from ever witnessing a successful nesting.

To avoid this, my preferred way for hanging a birdhouse is to put it up against the fence so that its back is flush with the post. This will keep the birdhouse stable at all times.

The typical placement of a birdhouse in a tree is near the trunk, where it may rest on the tree for support.

In the event that you insist on suspending your birdhouse completely from a fence post, we recommend using a wall bracket secured to the fence post alone. To prevent any wiggle room, multiple strands of rope or wire would need to be used for the hanging.

The birdhouse may be mounted on a fence using a DIY wooden bracket made from a length of cedar wood; the additional length can be utilized to raise the structure at least 6-8 feet off the ground.

Hang birdhouse flush against fence

Birdhouses On Fence Posts

Making ensuring the birdhouse is as sturdy as possible is the best way to hang it on a fence without endangering the birds inside.

Nesting birds aren’t likely to choose a birdhouse if they can see it swaying even slightly in the breeze.

When mounting a birdhouse on a fence post, stability is of the utmost importance; the structure must not swing or shift in any way that would disturb the birds.

The best way to put a birdhouse on a fence is so that it is flat against the fence. The birdhouse would be “flushed,” or pushed up against the post for stability.

Be sure to use screws or screws with hooks on the end to make two tie points on the birdhouse, positioning them on the left and right side panel so that the knots don’t become tangled up with each other.

The birdhouse can then rest more snugly against the fence post thanks to the support provided by the further-back hanging points.

If the hang points are placed at the top and bottom of the back, on opposing sides, the birdhouse will be safe for the birds living in it.

The birdhouse can be hung from the top of the fence post, or you can drill two holes on top of the post, three inches apart, to use as screw anchors.

Fix metal bracket

If you wish to attract birds to your yard, hang a birdhouse, but keep in mind that birds are unlikely to nest in a birdhouse if it is hanging from anything other than a tree branch.

A heavy-duty wrought-type metal wall bracket is all you need to give it a shot, though.

Wall brackets can support the weight of plant pots filled with soil, thus they should be able to support the weight of a birdhouse.

This metal bracket is not designed to handle top-heavy balanced objects, thus it can only be attached to the fence post.

Mount the metal wall bracket to the top of the post, keeping in mind that the birdhouse’s apex should be 6-8 feet above ground; just because the bracket is being mounted to a fence doesn’t mean the birdhouse should be mounted lower.

In order to hang the birdhouse from a metal bracket, a standard screw should be drilled into two opposite sides of the structure. This will ensure that the birdhouse remains precisely balanced while it is suspended.

As an alternative to permanently screwing the points to maintain the wire knot, sturdy duck tape might buy you some time to strike the ideal equilibrium.

Screws, preferably with hooks, should be drilled into the birdhouse’s sides, leaving a sizable loop that can be swung over the bracket’s hook.

These screw wire tie points need to be positioned on the top, opposite sides of the birdhouse, or else the wire will dig into the birdhouse.

An overhanging roof is an inevitable design feature of any birdhouse, but this need not be an issue for your hanging wire so long as it is sufficiently long.

Fashion DIY bracket

Birdhouses On Fence Posts-3

Is woodworking a skill you possess? No need to worry though, since mounting the birdhouse to a wall takes little more than a few minutes of your time and the help of a few simple tools.

Needed is a three-pieced length of cedar post measuring two inches square.

Assembling the bracket entails cutting the back piece into pieces no less than 2 feet long, which are then screwed onto the fence post to form the backing and retain the support joint.

You’ll need to cut a foot-long post to fit within the hole you’ll make at the top of this supporting post, forming an inverted ‘L’.

Wait to attach the support post to the fence post until after the entire structure has been built.

Next, you’ll need to cut a 6-inch-long post with 45-degree angles cut into both ends so that it can be screwed onto the L shape, providing support for the post that protrudes above and bears the birdhouse’s weight.

The DIY wooden bracket simply needs to be screwed to a fence post via the back panel now, and you may use up to three or four screw points to make sure it’s solid.

Just one metal screw hook, screwed in quite deeply to produce a sturdy hanging point, is what you need to screw onto the post’s uppermost surface, where it will hang for over a foot.

This do-it-yourself wooden hanging bracket should be painted to coordinate with the birdhouse, or stained to blend in with the fence.

Mount on fence POST only

The only acceptable locations to mount a birdhouse along a fence are on the few fence posts that punctuate the row.

There may be anywhere from one to six fence posts on your side of the yard; if so, you’ll need to hang the birdhouse from one of those posts using either the included wall bracket, a homemade bracket, or by positioning it so that its top is flush with the top of the post.

You should attach the birdhouse to the post because it is the most stable part of the fence.

There’s no doubt that fence panels can take a beating, but even when they don’t bend, they typically lack the depth necessary to securely screw on a bracket.

The depth provided by fence posts—or a stone fence post, if you prefer—is essential, and this is why fence posts continue to be the most important structural component of any fence.

For a birdhouse to be safely hung from a fence post, the post needs to be at least 6 feet in height.

In that scenario, it’s no big deal, because I had proposed a workaround.

In the section where I explained how to build a wooden bracket to attach a birdhouse to a fence post on your own, one caveat: be sure the supporting post can go far enough into the ground to accommodate the length of your fence. This extra length will allow you to hang the birdhouse from a greater height.

Drill two hang points

Birdhouses On Fence Posts-2

A birdhouse’s stability is crucial if you want birds to move in, but it can be challenging to maintain when hanging.

Birds won’t nest in a birdhouse if it moves around.

The first step is to locate fixed spots on the birdhouse to which you may attach the wire or rope in order to keep it in place.

The screws should be partially screwed into the side panels on either the left or right side of the birdhouse, ideally in the center.

If you lean the birdhouse too far backwards or forwards, the structure will be skewed.

Don’t go ahead and screw in the anchors until you’ve verified that the birdhouse is hanging absolutely level at both of these spots.

Another option, and one that I personally endorse, is to make four-screw points.

On both sides of the birdhouse, you will need to drill holes for screws, but this time in the birdhouse’s peak. To hang something from the hook on the bracket or screw above, you’ll need to loop two separate wires or ropes around the screws.

This approach will only hold if the birdhouse is hung from the center point of a wall or a do-it-yourself bracket and not if the birdhouse is pushed up against a fence post.

Everything makes sense now that you can easily hang any of them by hooking just one or two of the loops over the appropriate bracket or screw.

Use metal wire to hang

How you attach a birdhouse to a fence is a matter of personal preference, but you should give top consideration to using a sturdy and trustworthy material.

I would suggest using a length of galvanized steel wire, but any rope that can resist the elements for extended periods of time will do.

A pair of wire cutters or pliers will be required to make the necessary incisions, but the thin yet sturdy wire can be safely used to hang birdhouses thanks to being knotted. The wire can be wound around the birdhouse’s screws for added security if it’s long enough.

To hang anything, you’ll need a piece of steel wire.

If a knot needs to be tied, you’ll have to use the wire just like you would rope. Tightening the knot to its maximum potential requires gloves and possibly pliers to hold the rope steady.

Using exterior-grade steel wire on a birdhouse is a breeze because of the wire’s durability and resilience.

Eventually, some rust may appear, but that’s not cause for alarm. If you have access to WD-40 and a wire brush, you can use these to get rid of rust.

No one or thing can cut through steel wire, but if you don’t secure each end of the wire to the birdhouse as well as you can, the wire will unravel.

Summary

Since fence posts are the strongest and most sturdy parts of a fence, this is how a birdhouse is typically hung in a yard.

If you want to hang a birdhouse from this post, the best option is to allow it to extend past the top of the post. Otherwise, you can hang it by threading a screw into the top of the post and hooking it over the rope or wire.

That would accomplish your goal of pressing the birdhouse up against the fence post.

Hooks should be screwed into the back of the birdhouse on both the left and right side panels.

There’s no need to go to such lengths to hang a birdhouse when you can buy a bracket designed for plant pots instead. Going this route would necessitate additional hanging points to keep the birdhouse from swinging erratically when exposed to wind.

A wooden bracket, extended if necessary to provide the 6-8 feet in height required to hang most birdhouses, can be made to better blend in with the post.

The birdhouse can be balanced while hanging if screws are drilled into the left and right sides of the central top.

If you want to be absolutely sure that it won’t fall over or swing around while it’s hanging, you should drill screws into the upper left and right panels.

Steel wire is ideal for hanging a birdhouse, although sturdy rope would do in a pinch.

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