Make a bird feeder
Bring nature to your doorstep by keeping wild birds fed with a home-made bird feeder. A feeder can be great fun in getting to know different bird species and watching how they behave.
You’ll need:
- A recycled clean plastic bottle (clean with boiling water)
- Two sticks wider than the bottle to use as perches
- A pin
- Scissors
- String
- Bird seed
- Remove the cap from a clean plastic bottle. Use the pin to puncture several small drainage holes in the base of the bottle.
- Use the pin to make two level holes on opposite sides of the bottle, near to the base. Use the scissors to widen them slightly.
- Push a stick through the holes. There should be around 5 centimetres of stick left outside the bottle on each side for the perches.
- Slightly above each perch, use the scissors to cut a feeding hole the size of a 5p coin.
- Use the pin to make two holes in the neck of the bottle, on opposite sides and level with each other. Widen these with scissors.
- Thread the string through the holes, then fill the bottle with a bird food and replace the bottle cap. You may need to make a funnel with a sheet of paper to make filling the bottle easier.
- Find a sheltered location outside to hang your feeder watch from a distance or indoors for birds to begin landing on your feeder. It may take a few days before this begins to happen.
Warning: just make sure there are no sharp bits of plastic by the holes.