Building
Bird Feeders
Almost any
container that can hold bird food and be placed in a safe
feeding area can serve as a feeder:
Half a grapefruit peel, an empty coconut shell, a mesh bag, a used
pie tin, or a combination of these odds and ends. Below you'll find
directions for building a milk carton feeder and hummingbird (nectar)
feeder, and tips on creating platform and suet feeders, and links
to more ambitious projects.
To
protect visiting birds from predators, do your best to locate feeders
near shrubs or trees where they can quickly find cover. Make sure
they're far enough off the ground to foil neighborhood cats. Other
important bird feeding health and safety
tips are available from the Point Reyes Bird Observatory.
Materials
-
Milk Carton Feeder: scissors, nail, milk or juice carton,
cord (or a coathanger if you have a way to cut it), 10- to 12-inch
twigs or chopsticks, birdseed
- Hummingbird
Feeder: Baby food or other small jar, string, hammer and large
nail, beet, sugar, saucepan
Milk
Carton Feeder
You
can try different variations on this feeder such as adding a roof
to provide protection from rain
and snow, painting it with camouflage colors and patterns, or making
it from a plastic milk container. Let students' imaginations and
growing knowledge of birds
guide their design options.
-
Prepare
carton. Wash the carton and allow it to dry completely. Staple or
tape the pour spout closed. Use the nail to make a hole in the top
edge of the carton. This is where you'll thread the string hanger.
-
Cut
feeding holes. Starting about 2 inches from the bottom of the
carton, cut a 2-1/2- to 3-inch-tall triangular section from
each corner.
-
Make
perches. Use the nail to make a hole to receive twigs or
chopsticks.
-
Fill
'er up! To stock your bird café with seeds, make a funnel
from a rolled piece of paper or cardboard, and pour in the seed.
Thread the string through the top hole, and hang your feeder. IIf
you use a coathanger, cut a section and bend it to create a hook
on both ends for hanging.)
 Hummingbird
Feeder
Hummingbirds do eat insects, but they are better known
for their nectar-sipping ways. The best source of carbohydrate-rich
nectar is flowers, but you can supplement it when blossoms are scarce
by making a feeder. Before launching the project, be
sure you can commit to cleaning the jar every few days and refilling
it with fresh "nectar." (If allowed to sit more than a
few days, nectar can ferment, and this is harmful to hummingbirds!)
-
To make nectar, bring
1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan, and add ¼ cup
of sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves
and
allow it to cool.
-
While
nectar is cooling, start working on the feeder. Remove the
lid from the jar. Place it on a flat surface, and with the
hammer and nail, make 3 to 4 small holes along one edge. Make
sure no sharp edges are exposed.
-
Pour
nectar into the jar until it is ¾ full. Screw on the cap,
and tie a long string around the neck of the jar with the
knotted end opposite the holes in the cap. Refrigerate the
remaining nectar for up to 2 weeks in a tightly-lidded container.
-
Hang the feeder from a branch, and nectar will lap up against
the holes, where hummingbirds can reach it with their slender
beaks and tongues.
- Paint or
attach bright "petals" to the jar lid
as an added attraction. To convert this design to an oriole feeder,
make the holes larger and use orange for your petal color.
Platform
Feeders
To protect ground-feeding birds such as juncoes and sparrows from
prowling predators, provide a raised surface. This could be a pie
tin hung with string or wire from a tree, or a simple wooden frame
covered with window screen and nailed to a post. An important feature
to build into your platform feeder is drainage: wet seeds grow mold,
which can be dangerous for birds. Once a week or so, hose down the
feeder to clean off any bird droppings, as they can spread disease
if they accumulate among the seed.
 Suet
and Peanut Butter Feeders
One reason to encourage birds in the garden is that they help out
with pest control by eating insects and worms. How can we help out
when this important source of protein and fat is scarce? You can buy
bags of mealworms at some supply outlets to fill feeders, bird fanciers
typically provide their backyard visitors with suet (beef fat) or
peanut butter. The easiest feeder for suet is a plastic mesh bag like
those that oranges or onions come in.
Suet
turns rancid during hot weather and can harm birds; until the weather
turns cool, it's best to fill feeders with commercially prepared suet
cakes. Otherwise, you can make
your own. For peanut butter lovers, simply slather a batch into
the crevices of a dry pinecone. Hang your protein packages within
view of a window, and watch the woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees
flock in! Here are some recipes
for gourmet protein-rich treats students might want to experiment
with.
Other
Feeders
If you're
interested in a more ambitious project, you can gather some tools
and build a rustic
log feeder or simple
wooden house-style feeder. If you have patience, you can grow
"feeders" in the form of sunflowers
and birdhouse
gourds.
For
more information on feeding birds, including suggestions for dealing
with unwanted visitors (cats, squirrels, and other rodents), cleaning
feeders, and feeding FAQs, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Web
site.
Favorite
Foods and Feeders
| Food |
Birds |
|
Black-oil
sunflower seeds
(The hands-down favorite for birds that use tube, platform,
and house feeders. You can also hang garden sunflower heads
on a fence in the fall.)
|
Many
types including chickadees, cardinals, grosbeaks, nuthatches,
doves, cardinals, titmice, sparrows, jays, house and purple finches,
redpolls, white-throated (and crowned) sparrows |
| Millet
(usually on platform feeders) |
Doves,
blackbirds, towhees, finches, sparrows, and others |
|
Thistle seed (also known as niger) |
finches |
| Suet |
Woodpeckers,
wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, kinglets, thrashers creepers,
cardinals, starlings, and others |
| Corn
(cracked) |
Juncos,
doves, house sparrows, bobwhite quail, and others |
| Unsalted
raw shelled peanuts |
Chickadees,
titmice, woodpeckers, cardinals, grackles, sparrows, thrushes,
and others |
|
Fruits: orange halves nailed to platform or branch
or small pieces of apples or other fruits on platform |
Orioles,
tanagers, mockingbirds, bluebirds, yellow-breased chats, and others |
| Feeder
Type |
Birds |
| Platform
feeder |
Juncos,
white-throated sparrows, towheees, doves, cardinals, jays, and
others |
| Tube
feeder |
Perching
birds such as titmice, chickadees, goldfinches, nuthatches,
pine siskins. If it has a broad platform, it will draw larger
birds such as cardinals, and house and purple finches
|
| House
feeder |
Chickadees,
finches, nuthatches, juncos, sparrows, titmice, and others |
| Thistle
feeder (can be a fabric or metal mesh tube or sock, or a tube
feeder with tiny holes for fine seed) |
Finches |
| Suet
feeder (You can buy one or make a hanging one from plastic mesh
bags that hold onions or oranges.) |
Woodpeckers,
wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, kinglets, thrashers creepers,
cardinals, starlings, and others |
| Nectar
feeders |
Hummingbirds
(sometimes tanagers, cardinals, orioles) |
Copyright©
2002 National Gardening Association
|
|
Contents
Pg.
1: Building Bird Feeders
Background
Introduction
and Materials
Milk
Carton Feeder
Hummingbird
Feeder
Platform,
Suet, and
Other Feeders
Favorite
Foods
and Feeders
Pg.
2: Curriculum Connections
Cultivating Keen
Observers
Avian Inquiries:
Focus on Food
Bird-Friendly
Schoolyard
Speaking
of Beaks
More
Clever Adaptations
Other
Bird-Inspired Activities
Pg.
3: Resources
Web Sites We Like
Bird
Books & Guide
Related
Articles
For
the Birds
Gardens
to Entice
Feathered Friends
Avian
Allure
|
