A year ago, Freddie Lee Carter needed something more to do with his time.

So looking out across his front yard, the 54-year-old Tallulah native decided he’d make accommodations for the little creatures visiting his home.

&#8220Birds and squirrels use them, and they fight over the food,” Carter said. &#8220I’ve got them in a lot of trees.”

He’s talking about birdhouses – a bunch of them.

&#8220I started this as a hobby about a year ago. I’m disabled, just sitting around the house with nothing to do. So I started building birdhouses with no blueprints. All of them are different.”

Some are big and tall; others are short and small. They’re painted in a combination of colors – black, yellow, red, blue and green – and are made of wood, sticks and outdoor carpet. Each has several holes, separate compartments, for birds, particularly purple martins.

&#8220People were telling me about purple martins and how they live in separate houses,” Carter said. &#8220As you can see, each little hole has carpet throughout. Each has its own little compartment.”

Purple martins are the largest member of the swallow family in North America, measuring 7 1/2 inches long and weighing 1.9 ounces, according to the Purple Martin Conservation Association. They spend the non-breeding season in Brazil before migrating to North America to nest. East of the Rockies, they are dependent on human-supplied housing.

Carter said he had Purple Martins in mind when he began building the birdhouses.

They &#8220like them. I found out they like their own little spaces,” he said. &#8220Listening to them is quite relaxing.”

Carter’s larger birdhouses usually take three or four days to build, he said. To start, he cuts a small piece of wood and builds the rest of the house around it.

And for the past three weeks, he’s put his work on display and for sale on Vicksburg roadsides.

&#8220But I haven’t been (farther east) than here,” Carter said. &#8220I’m just trying to make some money on the side to pay for my medication.”

In 1974, Carter began working on an oil pipeline in Alaska. He remained there 28 years before moving back home to Tallulah because of injuries and illness.

&#8220I hurt a disc in my neck and got sick, and they pushed for me to get out of the cold weather,” he said. &#8220I probably still would have been working had I not gotten hurt.”

Carter also sells his birdhouses from home, at 315 Davis St. in Tallulah. He can be reached at 318-235-2075.