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A curious Tufted Titmouse peeks into the arch of the doorway. Is it too late for the open house?

Impeccable timing, actually. The snacks��were just served: a smattering of delicious black sunflower seed, bought in bulk. It’s the kind of bounty��that draws a crowd . . . one with feathers, wings, and a steady toe grip. After the titmouse, a White-breasted Nuthatch stops by. Later in the day, a family��of American Goldfinches troops in.

The visits are brisk and business-like, but Jada Fitch is satisfied. Such guests��were��exactly what she'd hoped for��when she first attached��the homemade,��dollhouse-like��bird feeder��to the window of her��house��in Portland, Maine.��Fitch, a wildlife artist and children's book illustrator by trade, has been an avid birder for years. Over time the two passions became intertwined: In college, she tried to draw every bird species in North America in alphabetical order (she got up to Chuck-will’s-widow��before life took over). More recently, she’s collaborated with the Maine ̽����ѡ Society and other local nature organizations, such as��the Eastern Trail Alliance and Wild Seed Project, ��“i�Դڴdz��ܰ�������.”��

Fitch first came up with the concept of tiny, furnished bird feeders��in 2015 while taking a creative break during a longer drawing assignment. It took her a weekend to put it all together.

“I had the idea to make a little diorama to put in my window for the birds to land in,��so I could get some close-up pictures,”��Fitch says. “Both of my feeders are directly in front of my desk, so I see them come and go all day.”��

The construction process for the first house��was simple: Fitch took a cardboard box, measured the interior “walls,” and cut paper accessories to size for��gluing��down��after��the paint job��dried. She carved��out a door and windows, and attached a little porch on the front of the structure to act as a perch. She then added the��interior décor: painted throw rugs,��framed “portraits” of bird family members, and��cardboard couches and armchairs, creating a whimsical��living room in the process. Lastly��and most importantly, she scattered seed across the furniture and��floor and Duct taped��the house to her window.

The end result resembled a scene out of a Wes Anderson movie—or , which often feature adventurous animals living in human-like spaces. All she had to do now was sit back, camera ready, and wait for her new visitors. The early birds were skeptical, she says,��but their misgivings helped her perfect her design.��“The first few [individuals] that came into the house wouldn’t come all the way in,”��Fitch says. “They’d just sort of poke their head in and peck at feed. I think that was partially due to the rectangular door. When I made the ‘hobbit house’ with the round door, they seemed to go in a lot more willingly.”��

Once the wing traffic picked up, Fitch started posting regular updates on and . Her primary guests were species native to Maine: Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, and American Goldfinches.

As her online��following grew, she experimented with��themes, including a and another��she dubbed��“,” which��was dedicated to the��state bird of Maine, the��Black-capped Chickadee.��

Soon, people were asking about adding Fitch’s creations to their own backyards. With help from her husband, Fitch designed a series of feeders called��“Home Tweet Home,” a mini, bird-friendly version of the house the couple lives in, and put it up for purchase . The easy-to-assemble kits sold out in just four hours.

But��fans wanted more.��To meet the high demand, the artist is now��working on a second line of��“Home Tweet Home” kits��priced at $12. “My husband and I are making them as fast as we can,” Fitch says. They plan to stock 80��of the fully furnished sets on the website, plus��in Maine ̽����ѡ shops and��local outfitters, by��spring.��

Because the first “Home Tweet Homes”��were made out of��recycled cardboard, they couldn't be permanently��left outside��in the elements.��The latest version will be waterproof, Fitch��says, and should be impermeable to rain and snow. The primary material is coroplast, a nontoxic, corrugated plastic that’s often used for lawn campaign signs. The watercolors she’s using are also safe for wildlife.

Fitch’s early focus groups led her to make some��architectural changes as well. “I put a few more perches on the outside and made the overhang—the lip—a little bit bigger so I could fit some more feed on there,” she says.��After all, it’s the tasty��food, not the tasteful décor,��that��keeps the birds coming back for more.