I tend to select medium and larger LEGO sets for building. On occasion though, a smaller set has the right ingredients to catch my eye. Although I looked at this set in the store several times, it wasn’t until about 3 months after it came out that my wife bought it for me and it was mine to build. I was anxious to put it together and see what fun elements this set would have.
LEGO set #31143 is a very cute, nicely sized setup of a birdhouse with five colorful birds. This Creator 3 in 1 set can also be built as a beehive with a honeycomb and bees or as a park bench with a hedgehog and a squirrel. These “3 in 1” sets often tempt me to buy three of them because I would like to have all three builds complete and together at the same time.
Piecing together the first three birds was fun even though they were repetitive in how they went together. Their different primary and accent colors represent different shading and coloring of feathers that real birds have. I am not a birder nor very familiar with bird species, but I’m pretty sure the first three are a sparrow, a blue bird and a cardinal. These are pretty common in North America and I see them all fairly often. The pieces and designs to put the birds together were all simple, yet effective. The feet, wings and tail move a moderate amount. This allows different poses and positioning which I always enjoy doing with my displayed sets.
In reality, these species probably don’t socialize all that often, however I like to think that this birdhouse is a hangout where this flock gets together after a day of hunting and gathering for their families. They discuss the events of the day, the neighborhood cats and dogs they out maneuvered, and where the best supplies are for building a nest.
As I built the birdhouse stand, I had to take extra care in getting the perches facing the right direction. I put at least one in backwards and had to fix it before going too far. This stand feels sturdy and has interlocking feet to give it good stability. The free swinging food tray however, was connected a little loosely. Putting studs in there to represent birdseed made me nervous with how easy it would be to bump that and spread seed around. It does represent a real feeding tray pretty well though. I have watched birds on similar feeders while they throw the seed on the ground for some reason.
The house that sits on top and the remaining two birds are built from the second bag of LEGO pieces. It includes a small nest inside. At first, I didn’t realize what I was building and was pleasantly surprised when two eggs – one half hatched – were added to the little nest. How fun! The half hatched bird has a green head. I know feather colors can change from newborn to adult, but I like to think these hatchlings belong to the green finch that is built at the end.
The roof is again a simple element, but is functional. I found that the hinge was a bit tricky to assemble. One green and one yellow finch are built last and round out the feathered five friends. I like the many different perches that they can sit on. I put one or two of them on the roof so they can survey who is coming and going easily.
I took this set outside to get the photos I wanted for this review. It really fits well with a backyard setting and it was fun pretending the birds were in a natural habitat. But regardless of where it is displayed, the colorful birds on their perches will brighten up any room.