FOR THE BIRDS
... and the people too!
Ava Richards, Northern Cardinal, digital image, 2019
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Goldfinch House
Robbie, Victor, Evan, Ivy and Jillian
American Goldfinch
Scientific name: Spinus Tristis
The American Goldfinch, scientifically known as the Spinus Tristis, is a tiny, yellow bird that likes to reside in patches of thistles and weeds, roadsides, and open woods. Usually foraging in flocks, the bird nestles through leaves while looking for seeds –their favorites being dandelion and nyjer seeds- and insects to eat. Although they sometimes do eat insects, American Goldfinches are one of the most strictly vegetarian birds you commonly see. Their nests are often built high in a shrub, where multiple vertical branches join; usually shaded by clusters of leaves.
Architecture style
Our architecture is the Florida Southern College’s Danforth Chapel. It is a modern building built by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is in Lakeland, Florida in 1883 making it 136 years old. It was constructed out of tan-colored concrete and stained glass. Its front is all stained glass that looks like it goes inward like an optical illusion. The college also has some pillars that split into multiple bars at the bottom that go up. The roof has some wings that go out to the sides that we used in our model.
The Design Process
We started out with making a rough sketch of our birdhouse. The main difficulty was figuring out what to do with the overhanging sides. In the first sketch process we wrote multiple ideas down for what we thought would work. We then moved onto the building process. While one of us CADED our birdhouse in Inventor, the rest of us began working on building the first draft out of cardstock. We finished sketching out most of the pieces onto the cardstock, but halfway through we decided to move on to building it out of foam due to the overhang needing a stronger material. Once the foam model was made, we made alterations to the CADED model to further prepare it for laser cutting. After the CADED model was finished, a net was constructed in Adobe Illustrator. Then, once everything was in place, we laser cut our model into wood and then constructed it.
The Birdhouse
The birdhouse will hang from a tree by four hooks that are located on the four corners of the roof. The cleaning process will usually occur once a year; after the baby birds have left the nest and it is no longer in use.
Further cleaning will occur as needed. One side of the roof will open up for the process. There are dowels holding the roof closed for when cleaning is not happening.
Wild Again Animal Rescue Center
We decided to donate the birdhouse to the Wild Again Animal Rescue Center. This organization focuses on rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife and releasing them back into the wild as soon as possible. They also provide a home for animals that were neglected and mistreated in their previous home. We decided that this organization would be best because not only will it provide a home for wild birds, the birdhouse can also be used as a rehabilitation station for sick birds that are soon being released back into the wild.