How to make a bird feeder: simple models
In winter, the main task for birds is to search for food, because the snow cover and frost deprive them of the slightest chance of finding something edible. Helping the birds to survive is quite within the power of man. All you need to do is take and hang feeders in the garden and periodically add tasty grains there. At the same time, it is not necessary to spend money and buy, because you can make simple but convenient structures from improvised means, which are always in the closet or shed. What you need to pay attention to and how to do bird feeder?
General operating principles
Almost anything can be used to make a feeder: plastic and even glass bottles, tetrapacks, boards, plywood ... It all depends on the level of skill. However, there are some principles that must be adhered to in order for the design to be practical, namely:
- Birds should be comfortable getting food.
- Care should be taken to avoid sharp and jagged corners and protrusions.
- It is advisable to provide for the protection of the grains from rain and snow in the form of sides and a roof, otherwise it will quickly deteriorate.
- If possible, it is also better to make a feeder from a material that is resistant to moisture - so it will sag for more than one season.
- The size of the feeder directly depends on the size of the birds themselves. For small birds, the feeder should be small, otherwise larger individuals will deprive them of food.
And one more nuance - the feeder should be fixed at a height so that the cats do not get it, but it was also convenient to add food. It is advisable to decide on the place right away and not change it, annually outweighing the feeder. The birds quickly remember where they can have a hearty meal, and flock there from afar.
How to make a bird feeder fast and easy?
The craftsmen of the plane and chisels construct real masterpieces from wood: houses with a porch, openwork gazebos and multi-level palaces. However, it is quite possible to do without pretentious models and make ordinary, but no less practical feeders. For instance, bottle feeders or a piece of netting and a pair of saucers from flowerpots.
Plastic container feeder
The simplest version of the feeder, which even a child can handle, and most importantly, it will turn out to be durable. In a regular plastic bottle with a capacity of 2 or 1.5 liters, cut an oval hole on one side. It should be above the bottom so that the food does not spill out. In the upper part of the neck, make holes and stretch a wire through them, with which to fix the feeder on the tree. You can simply wrap it around the neck. And if you take a 5 liter bottle and cut two holes in it on opposite sides, several birds will be able to peck the grains at once.
So that the cut edges do not prick the paws, they can be carefully pasted over with electrical tape.
Mesh feeder
For coarse food such as sunflower seeds, you can quickly assemble a feeder from a net and two identical saucers from flower pots... The net must be twisted into a roll and fixed, while the diameter of the roll must be less than the inner diameter of the plates.
The saucers will serve as the roof and bottom of the feeder. To fix them, holes should be made in the center. Pass a pin through them, at the same time inserting a roll of mesh into the middle. It, in turn, is secured to the outer part of the saucers with nuts. Another option, a simpler one, is to take a thick wire, and bend its ends across the holes.