• The tufted titmouse will make use of a birdhouse.Tufted Titmouse image by chas53 from Fotolia.com
  
  Multiple species of birds are what ornithologists call "secondary cavity nesters," making use of the holes that other birds, such as woodpeckers, excavate in trees and eventually abandon. These types of birds are often amenable to taking up residence within a birdhouse to raise their families. They range in size and they have differing habits regarding the homes provided for them by humans.
  
  

Tufted Titmouse

• The tufted titmouse is a small songbird that lives throughout the eastern half of the United States. This gray bird with a small crest on its head will occupy a birdhouse or nest box, lining it with things including hair that it actually removes from living creatures. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, the hair from animals such as cats, dogs, squirrels, raccoons, cows, mice, woodchucks and humans winds up in the birdhouse as lining. The titmouse is a year-round resident in its habitat and it is a very social bird, mingling with species such as kinglets, chickadees and nuthatches, especially in winter.
  
  

Purple Martin

• Purple martins flock to mulitple-roomed birdhouses.doves in dovecot image by javarman from Fotolia.com
  
  The purple martin is a species of swallow renowned for its use of birdhouses. These birds will nest together in “apartment complex”-style houses that feature multiple compartments. Long before white settlers arrived in America, American Indians hung out hollow dried-out gourds for the purple martin to nest in. The migratory martin often returns to the same area each year to make use of a familiar birdhouse. A single male will often attempt to defend not only his own compartment, but also many of his neighbors’ from potential invaders and threats. The purple martin in the East uses birdhouses almost without exception; those in the western states depend much more on finding empty cavities in trees.
  
  

House Wren

• The tiny house wren, rarely longer than five inches, is a frequent user of birdhouses. The house wren has a reputation for building its nest in some odd places, such as in old shoes or flowerpots, so it will gladly make its home for the breeding season in a house designed for it. The house wren, though, notes the “National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds,” has a habit of going about the area and destroying the eggs of other cavity nesters with its piercing bill. The male house wren, reports the Wild Bird Watching website, will arrive back from its winter haunts before the female, putting sticks into multiple suitable cavities, including birdhouses. The female then selects the site for her nest she deems the most appropriate when she arrives.
  
  

Wood Duck

• Very few North American ducks nest in cavities in trees, but the wood duck does so, a fact that makes it a candidate for birdhouses. The wood duck can make use of a nesting box as high as 50 feet up and will nest in those located right on the water or as far away from water as 1.2 miles. When these large birdhouses are quite near each other, the females sometimes simply lay their eggs in the most available nest, with as many as 40 wood duck eggs winding up in one house. When the ducklings hatch they quickly jump out of the birdhouse and begin their life in the wild, following their mother until they can take care of themselves.