We have a number of black capped mountain chickadees we've taken under our wing (pun intended.) They're fun to watch and help to manage our local ecosphere. I got the idea from this article and re-designed the model to trim filament usage and speed up printing. I normally print with a .6 nozzle on OPXL5H, but I found for this design the .4 nozzle reduced filament requirements by 15%.
Notes
- I used Polymaker PETG as it is UV resistant and weathers well
- I split the original design into 2 objects as I was running low on filament, so printed back panel green and main house silver. You'll want to print them as one combined model and choose to use one or two colors.
- I used filament colors I had on hand (small rolls, hence varying colors) and I don't know much about chickadee color preferences
- Printed on OPXL5H, input shaper, .4 nozzles, .25 structural, 10% gyroid infill, etc.
- I printed the cleanout panel with .6 nozzles as I was nearly out of green and I already had black loaded. YMMV
- I used 3mm x 10mm hex pan head screws for the pivot joint on the cleanout panel
- I chose to use a 2mm steel wire for the cleanout panel securing holes, but you can also use screws. I have shaky hands and always drop stuff like that.
- I'll be adding some sort of ‘rough surface’ to the entry side of the inside wall to give nestlings something to climb on.
This from the article: “Mount your chickadee house from 5' to 15' off the ground on the side of a tree in an area that receives both sunshine and shade”.
You can get nesting material here.
RandSchlemiel
