Summer Project: Bird Feeder

Check out this little chickadee
settling down for a nice summer dinner!

You can make one of these quite easily.

Materials:

Small screw-eye

Old sodie-pop bottle

Two wooden spoons (or two sticks/dowels)

Wild birdseed

(the birds will come if you build it!)

Snack time for a chickadee!

A couple hours before you want to do this project, 

fill the bottle with water about half-way to the top 

and freeze it solidly.

Now . . . let the FUN begin!

Take a look at the top of the lid - that's a little "screw eye" that's been screwed into the lid and it has some twine threaded through to hang over a tree branch or  hook on your deck.  If it's hard to do, use a power drill with a VERY SMALL bit to get the hole started.  Screw the screw-eye in- feel the power! 

Put a spot of super-glue on metal piece on the inside/outside of the lid  after getting the screw-eye through just so the screw doesn't pull out. 

(Set this aside for now.)

Get the bottle of ice out of the freezer and work quickly now.

On the sides, two wooden spoons poke through

holes on opposite sides of the old plastic sodie-pop bottle.

Take note - in order for the birds to extract the seed, 

fashion the ONE hole big enough on ONE SIDE ONLY 

so the seeds gently dribble out onto the spoon.

Using a sharp knife (be CAREFUL, please!), 

score the plastic to make an X where the 

spoon handle will poke through.  

Re-score until you have hit ice.   

Opposite of this on the other side of the bottle, 

make another LARGER X for the spoon bowl.

IMPORTANT

Make holes a bit too SMALL so 

the spoon is well-fitted and snugly secured.

(We don't want the birdies to spin the spoon!)

Make sure to put the lower spoon 

as close to the bottom of the bottle

as possible to ensure that the seeds 

at the bottom are accessible, too.

Once you have four holes (2 sets),

let the ice melt OR 

set bottle in a sink full of HOT water.

After the bottle is empty,

gingerly shove the spoon handle through 

the largest hole first

clear through to the smaller other hole 

on the other side.

Repeat with the other spoon.

OPTIONAL

On the side opposite of the spoon bowl

--where the spoon handle pokes out--

make a very small hole 

(about a half-inch above the opening for the handle).

That hole should be about | | this wide
(really, THAT size)
~ a tiny rectangle ~

so the birds can retrieve the small seeds 

but they won't come pouring out.

Larger seeds (like sunflowers) 

will come out on the other side.

MAKE SURE THE BOTTLE IS COMPLETELY DRY - DRY - DRY!

and I mean, not even one drip of water on the inside

(the seed will get moldy and the birds will NOT eat it). 

 

Then use a funnel to pour in several cups of birdseed.

Screw on the lid and admire your handiwork.

You did it!

Now, clean up your mess, put away the tools and 

THEN

hang the feeder in a tree near a window.

. . . . .  < * )  tweet!  ( * >  . . . . .

A NOTE ABOUT BIRDSEED

Wild birdseed is the cheap stuff; 

it's okay to use if you don't have a lot of money to spend.

I buy the more expensive black-oil sunflower seed instead 

to attract CARDINALS and FINCHES.

However chickadees, juncos and sparrows will happily eat the cheaper stuff, (so will cardinals and finches if nothing else is available), so I mix the sunflower seeds with wild birdseed and everyone is happy.