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Make Your Own Feeders:
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ONION SACK SUET FEEDER
- Unbend a wire coat hanger to make a hanger for this feeder. Bend the other end into
a smaller hook.
- Fill a mesh onion sack with suet (the hard white fat from the edge of meat). Tie a
firm knot in the top of the sack. Push the small hook through the sack under the knot.
- Use the large hook to hang this suet bag feeder on a tree branch where animals such
as dogs and raccoons can't reach it.
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DETERGENT BOTTLE FEEDER
- Trace the outline of a mustard jar lid on both sides of a clean detergent bottle.
Ask a grown-up to help you cut out the circles.
- Use a paper punch or thick nail to make holes for a perch. Put a stick through the
holes.
- Use the upper part of a coat hanger to hang the bottle. Cut and bend the hanger top
as a stirrup. Poke two nail holes in the neck of the bottle and push the ends of the wire into them.
- Punch or drill small holes in the bottom of the bottle so rainwater can drain out.
- Hang your feeder, fill it with birdseed, and get ready to watch!
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Hey--look at all the easy ways you can invite birds to snatch a snack. Summer's a great
time to feed them. You'll like seeing the birds, and they'll like the treats! (Be sure to get an adult's help.)
HAPPY WATCHING--and please keep your feeders clean!
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TREATS FOR GROUND FEEDERS
Put these on a board on the ground, a tree stump, or a small table:
Fruit scraps, seeds, and crumbs
Mealworms from a pet shop, served in a plastic container lid
Jelly in a shallow can or plastic tub
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CORNY CAKES
Melt a pound of lard over low heat
Stir in about 5 cups of cornmeal
Put mixture into a cake pan, cool it in the fridge, then cut it into chunks
Hang a chunk or two in a mesh bag and store the other chunks in the freezer
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DRIPPY WATER
Besides food, birds need water -- and dripping water makes them curious!
Poke a tiny pinhole in the corner of a one-gallon milk jug
Fill jug with water
Hang it so it drips into a filled bird bath, shallow dish, or pie pan
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FEEDER HANG-UPS
Grapefruit rind (hanging by strings) filled with raisins, orange pieces, and other
fruit. (You can also nail half an orange or apple to a tree.)
Hanging feeder filled with black sunflower seeds
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SWEET SLURPS FOR HUMMERS
Boil 4 cups of water, add a cup of sugar. Stir till dissolved, let cool
Fill a hummingbird feeder with the sugar water, store extra in fridge
Wash feeder every few days
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PLANT THIS VISIT-ME-GARDEN
Colorful flowers such as zinnias, cosmos, phlox, and scarlet salvias to attract the
insects eaten by many birds
Native berry bushes and trees
Sunflowers, because the birds love the seeds
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