If you're an avid bird watcher you'll have plenty to watch when you make your own bird feeders and string them in your favorite tree. Tips and instructions included.
One example is a regular plastic bowl. A medium size allows several birds to feed at once. Choose a bowl that isn't too deep but is wide. Wear a glove and heat a nail by holding it with a pair of pliers over a burner. Push the nail easily through four sides of the bowl leaving the same amount of space between each. Use two equal size pieces of twine or cord to hang the feeder from the tree limb. Put the end of the twine through the hole from outside to inside. Tie a knot to secure the rope. Throw the other end over the limb and thread it through the bowl and tie. Do the same to the second rope and fill partially with bird feed.
Do something similar with foil pie pans. Poke a hole in four sides of the pan around the top rim. String the rope in the same way as the bowl feeder, fill with food and hang. Many cookie sheets already have a hole in the ends for hanging. String cookie sheets by these holes then place another rope under the pan and tie into the tree. Fill with bird seed.
Wallpapering troughs make one of the most unique bird feeders ever. They are plastic and long but not very deep. The troughs can be purchased at a home improvements store and are very inexpensive. Poke holes in the ends and at chosen spots around the sides. Hang from the tree and cover the bottom in seeds.
Make a bird feeder with no tray that will attract lots of birds. Tie a thin string around the top of a giant pretzel stick. Cover the pretzel completely and thickly with peanut butter. Roll the pretzel in bird seed and hang from a tree. Give the birds a place to stand while they eat by arranging the pretzel sticks on a pie pan or a plate. Simply cris-cross the rope underneath the plate and glue in place. Now tie the plate into the tree and lay out the pretzels.
You can make hanging feeders out of just about anything that will hold seed. Platters, cups, large clam shells, lids, and even tuna cans make quick bird feeders. Paint the feeders or leave them as is - the bird won't care.
To keep the food from getting wet hang a lid, pie pan or cookie sheet over the feeder. Tie the cover in a separate tree limb about a foot above the actual feeder. Put tiny pin holes in the bottom of bowls, troughs and pie pans to allow for drainage of any water that does accumulate. For homemade feeders that are more difficult to drain, like a cookie sheet, dump the old seed out occasionally and fill it with fresh.
The feeders don't necessarily have to be hung from a tree. The wallpaper trough, for instance, can be weighted with rocks then filled with seed and placed on a deck.
