Please please don't re-use empty cans for any reason. Nearly all cans nowadays have a toxic plastic material called Bisphenol A (BPA) inside them to keep the metal can from affecting the taste of the food. Unfortunately the BPA is the same as has been used to make baby bottles and many other hard plastic water bottles.
BPA has been linked to breast cancer and early puberty in women and when they tested very low doses on mice and rats they found the same plus diabetes, enlarged prostate and prostate cells prone to cancerous changes among the many health problems it can cause. The food that is in these cans is also contaminated by the BPA. Google BPA or check out Wikipedia's BPA page and it will make you not want to eat anything in cans anymore, period.
Of course the chemical companies all say that the fears are unjustified just because a few rats and mice get sick doesn't mean anything. Sound like Big Tobacco some 20-30 years ago, huh? When the can is heated by the sun it could release up to 50 times more BPA than normally released into the area inside the can. I'm sure a baby bird (not to mention the momma bird) is at least as sensitive as a rat or a mouse and wouldn't want to be responsible for harming any creature with our chemical waste more than is already being done in our dump sites and polluted waterways.
Please don't use tin cans or any other metal to make bird houses, unless they're just for decorative purposes. I read recently that many baby birds die from suffocation and literally "bake" to death inside metal bird houses. The metal heats up in the sun and becomes incredibly hot - both inside temperature and to the touch. Wood or other non-conductive porous materials are best and safest for the birds :-)
Measure your can and cut 2 squares about a inch bigger out of wood and 2 more the length of the can with a little overhang. When you put the sides and top together the bottom point should be longer than the can.You must drill bird size hole in one end so the bird can get in. You drill a small hole in each bottom end and slip a dowel under the can.This way you can make any size can into a bird house. I hope you can figure out my directions, it is much easier than it sounds.
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