Making Handmade Bird Feeders

Garland

• Dried foods, such as popcorn, raisins and dates make a tasty treat for the birds. Use a large sewing needle and fishing line to string up the dried food choices into an edible garland. Alternatively, use fresh cranberries instead of dried fruits. Hang the garland strands around trees and bushes or wrap them around porch railings. Once the birds eat all the food off the fishing line, take it down and create a new edible garland.

Coffee Can

• Turn a clean coffee can or any large can with a plastic lid into a handmade bird feeder. Create an entrance in the plastic lid using a utility knife. Add a bird perch by punching a hole through the lid and inserting a dowel rod. To hang the feeder, place two eye screws in the side of the can and feed twine through the screws. Either hang the completed feeder as is or paint it with acrylic paints to add your personal flair.

Milk Jugs

• Using milk jugs is another way to recycle household products into a bird feeder. After thoroughly cleaning the milk jug, cut a hole in one side using a utility knife. Tie a piece twine around the neck of the milk jug and hang it from a tree outside.

PVC Feeder

• Use PVC piping to create a tube-style bird feeder. A PVC cap placed at the top and bottom of the PVC pipe act as end caps. Drill holes in one of the sides of the feeder using a hole cutter attachment. Inserting an eye screw into the PVC pipe on either end below the end caps allows you to hang the feeder horizontally. Attach garden chain to the eye screws and hang the feeder from two garden posts.

Gourd Feeders

• Kettle gourds come in a number of shapes and sizes. These gourds, once dried, lend themselves to a natural looking birdfeeder. To make your own, cut a hole in the side of the gourd large enough for birds. Add a hole below the first to hold a dowel rod perch. Hang the gourd using twine fed through two small holes made in the neck of the gourd. Place small drainage holes in the bottom of the gourd to allow moisture to escape.

Hummingbird Feeder

• Hummingbirds drink nectar instead of eating birdseed like other birds. Use a plastic sports drink bottle and the lid from a mayonnaise jar lid make your own hummingbird feeder. Drill several holes in the lid of the sports drink bottle and glue it into the mayonnaise bottle so that liquid from the sports drink bottle flows into the mayonnaise jar lid. Use eye screws drilled into the bottom of the bottle to hang the feeder.