Sun Flower Bird House

I was sitting out in the backyard with my 5yr old son, explaining that I wanted to build a birdhouse for the contest. He said, "Dad, birds don't build houses, they build nests!" Really couldn't argue with that. But after a little explaining, I asked him what type of birdhouse I should build. He said it should look like something that birds like. Just as he was saying this a goldfinch flew across the yard and alighted on a sunflower. My son got all excited, turned to me and said "I know, Dad…" Well I thought, if a bird had the wherewithal to design and build a house, why wouldn't they build one modeled on one of their favorite flowers?

The stalk and body are Chestnut, the face is Black Walnut, the petals and seeds are Elm, and the leaves are Maple. All wood was reclaimed locally. Most of it was shop scrap, including the body, which is a bowl I turned to 1/8" on the side, but got overzealous with on the bottom. There are 28 pedals and 142 seeds (I would have made more seeds but I thought the number sufficient to achieve the swirl effect (Sunflower seeds grow out from the center in a Fibonacci sequence), without covering the Black Walnut completely. "House" dimensions are 8"x4"; Pedals are ~20" from tip to tip. Face is attached with brass screws so that it can be removed for cleanout.