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Creating a Homemade Birdfeeder
by David Pierce

Description: Easy bird feeders kids can make from common household items.

Making a homemade bird feeder can be thrilling for the old and young alike, as there are so many different types of materials that are useful for fashioning a homemade bird feeder. Our family has enjoyed the art of creating homemade bird feeders as not only is it a creative activity for the children but also a chance for them to get an up closer look at the wild birds that make their homes in the outdoors. To be quite honest for me, the enjoyment that shows on the faces of children is just as thrilling as being able to feed the birds and watch them closely through our windows.

Making your own homemade bird feeders are both economically and environmentally rewarding as well. Sure, it is nice to have store bought bird feeders, however, there is something much more personally rewarding in the use of many household items that we use everyday, such as egg cartons and old toilet paper and paper towel rolls or even the use of empty plastic drink bottles and coffee cans. Anyone can use his or her creativity to fashion a homemade bird feeder. Children seem to be especially enchanted by making their own bird feeder.

If you take a look around your house, you will be able to find several things that can be use for feeding the birds outside. For instance, you can take a bagel and cover it in honey then roll it in birdseed, then tie a string through the hole of the bagel and hang it from a lower limb of a tree. Or you can use an empty egg carton and take the top lid completely off, then poke holes in all four corners so you can tie string through them for hanging, then simply fill the egg pockets with birdseed and hang outside.

You can also use stale bread, by using cookie cutters to cut out images, then poke a hole through the bread, insert and tie a string through the hole and hang them from the tree limbs. On the other hand, maybe you have an empty paper towel of toilet paper roll that you would like to use. Simply insert a long piece of string through the paper roll, making sure that there is enough string to go all the way through and enough to hang. Then simply lay out some wax paper to catch any mess and smear honey on the paper roll then sprinkle your birdseed onto it. Remember that small birdseed will more than likely stay on this type of homemade bird feeder and that larger seeds are more apt to fall onto the ground. Always keep in mind that honey is fatal to hummingbirds so do not use it when feeding these birds, also corn meal or lard should be added to peanut butter to keep the birds from choking on it.

Some ideas for bird feed are:

1. Unsalted and unbuttered popcorn
2. Raisins
3. Blueberries and other fruits
4. Sunflower seed
5. Shelled plain peanuts
6. Cracked corn
7. Mealworms
8. Pine cones with honey and seeds

Many people have found these as well as many other types of in home items to use while fashioning their own homemade bird feeders, as they have found great joy in making something themselves while also doing a good deed for the birds they feed.

David Pierce is owner of The Best Bird Feeders, a website aimed at those who love watching and feeding these fascinating animals.

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