Original do-it-yourself feeder for the kindergarten. How to make a DIY bird feeder: A look at some of the best designs. teapot for brewing

12.03.2020

Each of us has seen at least one bird feeder in our life, basically in our subconsciousness an ordinary small house of a plain appearance with some kind of food pops up.

Now let's think about what else you can make a cozy bird house with your own hands? In fact, there are a huge number of options for choosing a material. These can be pieces of plywood or cut out plastic bottles, or juice containers are also used as an option. You can only be limited by your imagination.

A good bird feeder can feed our little birds, but will also blend in perfectly with your home. The main thing is to add food over time, as the number of flying guests will gradually increase, and with the advent of warm weather, the birds will delight your eye with their presence.

Your only problem will be the process of assembling the feeder, but the result of the work done will pleasantly surprise you.

So, let's take a closer look at how to make an ordinary bird feeder on your own. It is quite possible to make this type of feeder from 17 mm wood - this thickness should be enough. Of course, it is possible to replace the material with moisture-resistant plywood, well, this is already up to your taste.

All that is needed for manufacturing can be taken from a board 25 cm wide and 220 cm long. Make the side walls using the drawings - they indicate the required dimensions.

To install the glass, you can use a milling machine, cutting out several grooves of about 3-4 mm, or use screws to fix the side walls to the ends of the side panels. However, if you resort to the second option, the dimensions of the glass will need to be increased to approximately 16x26 cm.

You can also leave out the plexiglass, but then you will need to add food to the “insatiable birds” constantly. Fasten the components with screws or glue. Be sure to sand the edges of the parts so as not to injure the birds.

The round plank will be used as a perch. For its installation, it is necessary to drill small holes in the edges of the sides - just 10 mm is enough. The right side of the roof and the ridge are connected separately from the other half of the roof, which must be fastened very firmly to the side walls.

Connecting both sides of the cover, take ordinary furniture hinges. After assembly, be sure to paint the feeder and treat with drying oil for wood. When done, open the lid and pour required amount stern.

Due to the presence of a gap between the plexiglass and the bottom, the food will spill out gradually. Also transparent will make it possible to monitor the availability of food, which will be very convenient.

We make a feeder from cardboard boxes

We can make such a feeder from under a box of juice, milk and any other cardboard packaging of sufficient size. If it doesn’t occur to you what your product will look like or if there are difficulties, just enter a request on the Internet for a photo of a bird feeder, there is plenty of material, so you will find a sample for yourself.

So, let's move on to practice. Take a clerical knife and on the front side cut out the necessary hole in your opinion, but enough so that the bird can easily climb inside.

On the underside of the future feeder, make a hole for a perch by attaching thicker cardboard or a perch there. To taste, it can decorate it in any color or in some other way make it attractive to birds.

How to make a simple plastic bottle feeder

Take a bottle and cut two exits from different sides, the shape can be any, but do not cut out the square completely, as you can make a rain cap out of it by simply bending it outward upwards. In places where the plastic was cut, you need to glue the adhesive tape so that the bird does not suffer from sharp ends.

We make two more holes a little lower and insert a stick there, so the birds can sit there and enjoy the food. The last thing you have to do is hang the feeder on the tree with a string.

If you cut the bottle in a vertical position, then you can hang it by the neck, if horizontally, make two more holes on top and insert the rope. That's all.

Good do-it-yourself bird feeder made of pumpkin

The procedure for making a pumpkin feeder is nothing complicated. It is enough to have only a desire and, of course, the pumpkin itself! First of all, take a knife and cut a round hole in the middle of the pumpkin, and another one symmetrically in the back.

Then you will have to get all the contents, you will decide for yourself how to deal with it. In order to have as much light as possible in the feeder, and just to decorate it, you can make additional windows. Cut a small hole and insert toothpicks crosswise.

At the bottom of the pumpkin, you need to make a perch - for this, you just make two holes just below the entrance and insert a stick there, it will serve as a perch. If you are not too lazy, you can decorate the feeder with any decorations to attract the attention of birds. You can hang such a dining room by the tail of a pumpkin, and you can also use a regular rope.

In conclusion, it is worth highlighting that making a feeder is very simple, and most importantly interesting. The rubbish that we want to throw away very often can be reused in this way, one feeder in winter can save dozens of bird lives, and besides, such a decoration will be an excellent decoration for your backyard farm.

Photo of bird feeders

Birds living in wild nature needs protection and care. It is especially difficult for them during the winter: when it is cold outside, it is so hard to find shelter and food.

That is why caring people try to feed our younger "brothers" as much as possible. One of the ways that will not only help the birds, but also decorate your garden, is a feeder made from improvised materials.

In this article, we have collected some of the most available options- focusing on descriptions and photographs, using already unnecessary items (plastic bottles or old dishes), you can easily equip a place where flocks of birds will gather.

Material selection

After evaluating the resources you have to create a feeder, you can choose an idea to your liking. However, it is worth remembering that not only its appearance depends on the configuration, but also practical characteristics such as stability.

That is why a good feeder must meet the following requirements:

Wear resistance and durability. Preference should be given to wood or plastic that can withstand weather conditions without getting wet from rain and snow, without collapsing under gusts of wind.

In addition, the birds themselves are often the cause of damage to the feeder - in search of crumbs, their beaks and claws scratch and tear fragile materials.

Proper size. Remember that if you cut a small feeder, for example, from a tetrapack, then large birds they will not be able to feast on it, and the small ones will start fights for a place and shake out food on the ground.

No sharp edges, "pulling out" carnations, etc. Birds are very delicate creatures, their feather protection and skin on their legs cannot prevent cuts from sharp objects, so make sure that your feeder is not dangerous for them, especially if it is made of glass, plastic or knocked together from planks!

Location and installation

Choosing the right place is extremely important!

Choosing the most suitable position in terms of landscape design, evaluate:

Accessibility for birds. Perhaps the feeder will be closed from them by thick branches, or, conversely, too open, and then, with a strong wind, the birds simply will not be able to get close to it.

Difficulty for cats. These animals are excellent hunters, especially those who live in villages and holiday villages. They are stronger, faster and more agile than their domestic counterparts, and therefore, sneaking up to the feeder, they can cause great damage to the bird community.

Ideas for creating a do-it-yourself feeder

There are a huge number of different types of feeders - it all depends on your imagination and the materials available.

We will try to consider both the simplest and the most original ideas.

House made of wood or plywood

Despite the apparent complexity, such a design can well be assembled with unnecessary boards, pieces of wood, glazing bead, plywood and, of course, special glue or nails.

Note!

The basis should be a heavy flat plank. For the manufacture of walls and roofs, you may need a drawing, however, it is quite possible to get by with an eye.

A wooden feeder, depending on how much attention you pay to it, can become not only a place for feeding birds, but also an elegant decoration of your garden.

Plastic bottle feeder

This type of feeder is very easy to make and is great if you decide to involve children in the process of creating. You need to cut one or two holes in the bottle in such a way that it is possible not only to pour the food, but also access to it is not difficult.

Of course, you should try to make the cut edges come out neat and not too sharp (in addition, it is advisable to glue them with tape).

If you are using a small bottle (1.5-2 liters), then you can do it in two ways: cut a square or rectangular hole in the bottle, or prefer a U-shape so that you can bend a piece of plastic and make a visor.

In the event that you decide to use a large bottle (5-6 liters, in which drinking water), you can make a large side cut. So it will be possible not only to fill up more food, but also give the birds room to maneuver.

Note!

In order to prevent the wind from ruffling a light bottle, it is worth putting a stone or a brick fragment on the bottom. This also applies to the next type of feeder.

Tetrapack bird feeder

In order to make a bird feeder, you can also use juice or wine boxes.

To do this, follow the same technology as in the previous case: mark the place of the cut, cut it out in shape, glue tape (or adhesive tape) on the underside of the opening, then make holes for a strong rope in the upper part of the tetra pak. It remains to hang the feeder in the place of your choice.

Shoe box feeder

The cardboard from which the shoe box is made cannot be considered a durable material, but it is sufficiently resistant to moisture, and if it is cold outside, such a feeder can hang until spring.

The manufacturing technology of the feeder, as in previous cases, is also very simple: make four to six holes for the rope, cut on the sides and put a weight on the bottom - for stability.

Note!

Other options

The above options are extremely popular - such feeders can be found in any country house. If you want to make a unique feeder with your own hands, you should take unusual materials, for example, old tableware: a cup and a saucer.

In the autumn, you can cut a product from a pumpkin or zucchini; in winter, halves of an orange peeled from the pulp are suitable for this. Such feeders will surprise your neighbors and will undoubtedly decorate the garden!

DIY bird feeder photo

We present to your attention several options for interesting bird feeders made. It turns out that the feeder can be easily made from ordinary plastic bottles, all kinds of boxes, wood - there would be a desire. This article will try to awaken this desire in you, thanks to which many birds will be able to comfortably survive the winter.

To begin with, let's take a look at a great many different feeders made from a variety of materials. This will help you decide on the image, choose the option that suits you.

from plastic bottle and glass jar

Indeed, with the help of wood, the feeder can be given any look: you can build a mini-castle, you can put an ordinary “dining room” on racks, you can decorate the feeder with intricate carvings, etc. as far as your imagination allows and there are the necessary building materials.

It is very good when children are involved in making - they immediately develop such character traits as caring for their neighbor, love for animals, responsibility, they show an interest in crafting, creating something!

Whatever you make your feeder out of, it is important to know the basic (and mandatory) elements of the feeder:

1. Your feeder must be with a roof - so the food will remain dry and not covered with snow, and it will be easy and simple for the bird to enjoy your treat;
2. Be sure to make the opening of the feeder wide enough, the birds are very shy, especially afraid of enclosed spaces. What if several hungry flyers arrive at once in your “bird dining room” for lunch? It is important to take care of this option;
3. When choosing a material for the feeder, be guided by its strength and moisture resistance: the denser and more moisture-resistant the source material, the longer your feeder will last;
4. The feeder very often turns out to be too light, therefore it reacts to every gust of wind, while grains and crumbs crumble and the birds remain hungry. To cope with this problem, you need to slightly weight the feeder. To do this, lay a piece of plywood, linoleum on its bottom (strictly according to the size of the bottom).

Now you will learn how you can independently make a similar feeder from all kinds of cereals.

This feeder looks great and, at the same time, perfectly copes with its functions! Tree branchesdecorated with similar "decorations" give your garden an aesthetic and exclusive view. So let's get started!

We will need:

All kinds of grains, crumbs, seeds - all raw, as fried ones will only harm small flyers;
Egg;
Oatmeal;
Honey;
Gelatin;
Flour;
Pencil;
Thick cardboard;
Scissors;
Dense kapron thread.

1. Using a pencil and a regular sheet of paper, draw the shape of the future feeder. Hearts, stars, triangles, circles, squares will look beautiful - any geometric figures;
2. Cut out a paper blank with scissors and attach it to thick cardboard. Circle with a pencil and carefully cut along the contour;
3. Take care of preparing bird food in advance. Pick up unroasted and unsalted grains, all kinds of bread crumbs;
4. Using a needle and a dense nylon thread, make a hole in the cardboard base and thread the thread into it - with its help this “delicacy” will be attached to a tree branch;
5. In order for the grains and crumbs to stick together and attach well to the cardboard base, start preparing natural glue:

2 tbsp. tablespoons of oatmeal (in no case oatmeal);
1 egg;
1 teaspoon of flowing honey;
Flour.

All ingredients are thoroughly mixed in a bowl and left for 30 minutes. for swelling.

6. We apply the prepared adhesive mass to the base;
7. In another container, thoroughly mix all our grains;
8. We dip and roll in the resulting crumb-grain mixture our base coated with “glue”;
9. Ready grain feeders must be put in the refrigerator for several hours - the mass should solidify well and acquire the necessary strength;
10. Hang such delicious “treats” on the branches of trees and watch from afar the feast of birds that have flown in to treat themselves and feast!

Dissolve one sachet of gelatin in warm water;
Pour all kinds of grains into the still warm solution;
Prepare ordinary cookie cutters, put a thread in them and fill with the resulting grain mixture;
Send the molds with the contents to the refrigerator to thicken;
Delicious toys are ready, you can safely hang them on the branches of trees!

Another "quick" option is to get a few old cups, or take ordinary plastic cups, fill to the top with the prepared mixture (on any basis from the proposed ones). After the mixture thickens in the refrigerator, tie the feeder to a tree branch with a ribbon! The quick version is just as good!

Dining room for birds can successfully serve as an ordinary cardboard box! However, it is advisable to pick up boxes covered with a special protective layer, laminate - this way the life of your feeder will increase significantly!

Juice boxes are ideal (they are covered with a special moisture-proof layer both inside and outside), from small appliances, medium boxes from postal parcels, bright candy boxes. Even shoeboxes will do a great job with the functions of the feeder!

Candy box bird feeder

You will need:
Candy box (3 pcs.)
Two medium nylon twine or two shoelaces.

Insert one edge of the box into the other so that you get a triangle of three candy boxes connected to each other, as shown in the picture:

Pass the cord through the roof of the feeder, with the second cord securely attach your feeder to the tree.

candy box feeder

The feeder is ready, it remains only to fill in delicious grains and crumbs!

Even a child will cope with the manufacture of such a feeder (by the way, do not forget to involve children in this entertaining activity).

You will need:
Juice or milk box;
Long lace;
Knife or scissors.

Take an appropriately sized box and, using scissors or a knife, carefully cut a hole in the side of the box.

Through the top edge of the box, right in the middle, thread the string and fasten the “freshly prepared” feeder to the branch.

Hurry up and fill in the bird food - they have already discovered a new bird feeder and are eagerly waiting for your treat!

If you want to make a large enough feeder. To fit a whole flock of birds in it - take an ordinary postal parcel box! Glue the top carefully with adhesive tape, cut wide holes in the side moans, fix it on a tree - you're done! See what happened:

That's where there is a soul to turn around! There are a lot of plastic bottles of various shapes and colors around! There is a huge opportunity to show your creativity, invention, originality!

Let's take a closer look at the idea of turning an ordinary plastic water bottle into a bird feeder.

We will need:

Knife or scissors;
Plastic bottle with a capacity of 5-6 liters;
Wire;
Bird food.

1. Using a knife or sharp scissors, carefully (so as not to cut yourself) cut a wide hole in a plastic bottle, located slightly above the bottom of the bottle (2-3 cm will be enough);

2. You can make several windows, one on each side.
3. Wrap the neck of the bottle with a strong wire and fasten the other end of the wire to a tree branch;
4. Lay plywood or a piece of linoleum on the bottom of the feeder, with their help we will make our feeder heavier and it will not sway and turn over with every breath of the breeze;
5. Pour in bird food and wait for your invited "guests"!

Plastic bottle feeder with spoons

Let's say that you want to make a small compact plastic feeder, then take a 1.5-2 liter plastic bottle!

You will need the following materials:
1.5-2 liter plastic bottle;
Wire;
Sharp knife or scissors;
Two wooden spoons for coasters;
Bird food.

Step-by-step instruction:
1. Take a plastic bottle with a capacity of 2 liters, measure 15 cm from the bottom of the bottle with a ruler and make a through hole for a wooden spoon at this height in the very center of the bottle;
2. Rise even higher (approximately to the middle of the bottle) and make another through hole for the second spoon. Only at a different angle (perpendicular to existing holes);
3. Insert through the spoon bottle;
4. Enlarge the hole on the wide side of the spoon - the grains will spill out and it will be convenient for the birds to peck them;
5. Pour the bird food into the bottle;
6. Tie the neck of the bottle with wire and attach it securely to the branches of the tree.
The feeder is ready! In a few minutes, birds wishing to treat themselves will visit it.

Another option for a plastic bottle feeder, more simplified:

We use the same materials as for the feeder with spoons. But now we don’t need spoons, but instead prepare electrical tape.

So, in a two-liter bottle we cut a large hole at a height of 5-7 cm from the bottom of the bottle. In order to make it convenient for the birds to sit on the cut edges of the bottle, we paste over the cuts with electrical tape or tape (your choice). We wrap the wire around the neck of the bottle and fasten it to a tree branch. Pour food - you're done!

DIY wooden bird feeder

We have already considered quite a lot of different options for bird feeders, made from all kinds of improvised means and even waste. It will not be right at all if a reliable and durable wooden feeder is left without attention - these are the feeders that hung on the trees in our childhood. It was them who were taught to make us at labor lessons by our Trudoviks!

Recall the manufacturing technology and - for business!

First, let's get creative and draw a little! Armed with a piece of paper and a pencil, draw the feeder you plan to make. Seeing it on paper. Estimate the dimensions of the future bird "dining room". Only after that you can start making the feeder.

As an option - use the ready-made drawings, which are presented at the very beginning of this article. The dimensions are already indicated there, the contours are clearly outlined - you can safely proceed to the next events.

To make a wooden feeder, you will definitely need the following tools:
1. Hacksaw;
2. Hammer;
3. Nails.
Prepare the following materials in advance:
Plywood of the right size;
Bars 2x2 cm;
Thin wooden board for the base of the feeder.

We go strictly by size! Dimensions are shown on the drawing.

1. From thin wooden board(solid) cut out a rectangular base of the desired size;
2. Now go to the plywood sheet and cut out a rectangle of the same size as the base - this plywood sheet will serve as the roof of your feeder;
3. We cut the bar into four parts, and one pair of bars should be 3 cm shorter than the first pair. Thanks to this design, the water will flow smoothly over the roof of the feeder and not stagnate on it - the roof will last much longer!
4. We retreat 1-1.5 cm from each edge of the feeder and nail the racks, first to the base of the feeder. And then we nail the roof to the racks. The front struts should be shorter than the rear;
5. We nail a wire or a strong nylon cord to the middle of the roof and fix the feeder on the tree.
All! The work is done, we pour the food, and admire the fun bird feast! Don't forget to take pictures - the memory will last a lifetime. There will be something to show to the grandchildren and what to make together with them!
In no case do we paint the feeder with paint or varnish - the birds do not tolerate such smells and will not visit the painted feeder with their presence!

What food is good for birds, and what, on the contrary, can harm them?
Feeding birds is a laudable occupation, but it is worth knowing that not all food is suitable for birds to eat! One food can provoke a disease of a gullible and hungry flyer, another can lead to the death of a bird, but the third one will definitely help a bird survive in a cold and hungry press and live until the long-awaited spring!

So, what can not be given to birds for food:

Crumbs from fresh white bread;
Crumbs from rye bread;
Skins of bananas and all kinds of citrus fruits;
Cream pies, cakes;
Crisps;
Roasted and salted seeds;
Cereals;
Nuts.

What can and should be treated to birds:

Raw seeds;
Buckwheat, millet, oats, millet;
Crumbs and small pieces of stale white bread;
Dried and cut into pieces fruits (dried fruits);
Titmouse are very fond of small cubes of unsalted lard;
For red-sided bullfinches, put mountain ash, viburnum in the feeder.

A few more photos of the original feeders:

Thanks to your attention and care in the winter period, there will be a real chance for more birds to survive, which, in turn, will definitely thank you later with their songs and "sanitary and health" work in your garden!

Watch also the video: Do-it-yourself bunker bird feeder in 10 minutes.

Scientists now unequivocally agree that there are no harmful birds at all. Even from such impudent crooks as gray crows and cormorants, as it turned out, there is still much more benefit than harm. Documented attacks by bearded eagles and lambs against climbers were caused by climbers approaching their nests; a brood is a brood, it must be protected. The second thing experts agree on is that in winter, a bird feeder is needed in residential areas. Many of the smaller and most useful of them do not make regular flights, but undertake feeding migrations in winter. Near human habitation, fodder lands are kept in abundance longer than in the wild, and when the real cold breaks out with starvation, there will no longer be enough strength for the flight: there will be nothing to profit on the way.

If you characterize the bird in one word, then it will be - movement. Birds, on the offensive adverse conditions falling into hibernation or otherwise saving their own energy resources, there is not and cannot be: adaptation of the body to flight requires high speed metabolism. If the bird is hungry and/or cold, it becomes more and more anxious, looking for something nutritious to peck at. She does not weaken at the same time until she falls, numb, at the feet of a passerby. Take it to the veterinarians - they may come out. But it’s better, after spending a little work, to build a feeder for the winter with your own hands; almost any household waste or scraps will do for this.

Gardeners, gardeners and summer residents who visit their site in winter will also benefit greatly: even granivorous birds, sparrows, for example, feed insects on the brood. In the spring, just in time for the hatching of the chicks, pests wake up and become more active. If you make a bird feeder in the fall and feed a useful community on the site, see Fig., Much less will be needed for plant protection products. Bird feeders, let it be known to the reader, can be made attractive to some species of birds and not very convenient to others, from which they are less useful. How exactly - this is the focus of this article. Not to the detriment, hopefully, of other aspects of the issue, such as materials, cheaper or completely free, design, etc.

What to be a feeder?

Let's start with a feeder project. Just imagine, because you don’t need to draw it up on paper and roam around the offices with serious uncles and corrosive aunts. But, firstly, you need to know where and why the winter bird canteen will be: in the city, outside the city, for temporary feeding in the very cold, or for permanent attraction of useful helpers. Secondly, who will we feed? Who to skip ahead, and who unobtrusively ask to wait? For example, if others are having a hard time, sparrows, crows, and doves will certainly be killed. They have long become accustomed to humans and will find something to profit from in the most ferocious starvation, and in the country or on the estate there will be more sense from other birds.

Having decided on the "circle of the desired clientele", we will choose the design of the feeder. Birds not only do not eat all the same things, they also take food in different ways: from the ground or a vast, solid, even support, from thick branches, twigs and tree trunks, clinging to them with their claws, from swaying thin twigs and blades of grass; the design of the feeder should provide the advantage of access to the feed for the desired guests. We do not mean birds that take food from the summer, they are all migratory. After that, we will choose the material for the feeder, preferably free, and it will be clear from it how to make it. Such is approximately the PPR (plan for the production of works).

Who will be fed?

As already mentioned, sparrows, pigeons and, especially, crows, must be dared from the feeder. What kind of birds are desirable on it? Of course, wintering in the area. They can be divided into 2 categories: the first - nomadic. They have no specific wintering grounds; where there is enough food, it is good even in winter. At the feeder they will be the most frequent guests. The second ones are obligatory, i.e. obligatory wintering at their permanent feeding stations (areas). Only extreme circumstances can drive them to the feeder: a particularly severe winter, etc. In the Central zone of the Russian Federation and in the south of Siberia, in addition to the ubiquitous stubborn sparrows, the birds depicted in rice fly to the feeder; the list with the names is below it.

nuthatch;
pika;
small spotted woodpecker;
crossbill;
jay;
nutcracker or walnut;
bullfinch;
waxwing;
common grosbeak;
goldfinch;
yellowhammer;
greenfinch;
great tit;
blue titmouse;
crested tit;
Muscovite titmouse;
long-tailed tit;
titmouse.

The first trinity are obligate wintering insectivorous birds. Nuthatch and pika get insects from bark cracks and wood passages with specially adapted beaks. Woodpeckers are known to push their way to prey. At the feeder, you can almost certainly expect only a small spotted woodpecker: it can already be said to have become quite accustomed to people, and with a lack of animal food, it is able to feed on hard seeds. Other woodpeckers (black or yellow, large motley, green, golden or Syrian) will not fly to the feeder for anything, and if a nuthatch and / or pika appeared there, then this winter the birds are generally bad, and high-calorie food with animal fats should be given and proteins; which one - more on that later. All these birds take food by clinging to a support.

Crossbills also overwinter obligately, but feed by husking the seeds of conifers. of cones, these are the most specialized of the shelling birds, and their beak has turned into something like tongs. Even crossbills hatch chicks in the middle of winter, when there are plenty of upturned cones. Taking food from a branch or clinging to a support, in general, they don’t care, as long as it’s not from the ground. Jay with nutcracker are also huskers, but not so skillful. Kedrovka, by the way, can be seen not only in the north; sometimes she undertakes long-distance fodder migrations, during which she reaches Spain.

All shelling birds are very useful for the forest, because. contribute to the spread of trees: the crossbill loses a lot of them, restoring the existing forest, and the jay with the nutcracker arrange storehouses of seeds that are not fully used, or even completely forgotten. Thus, the forest spreads. Forestry specialists are confident that without nutcrackers, maintaining stocks of Siberian pine (Siberian cedar) would be impossible. In addition, jays with nutcrackers destroy a lot of wintering harmful insects.

You can bring shelling birds to the site, but they need a special type of home-made feeders, see below. Peeler feeders are also sold ready-made, but there is nothing in them that you could not do yourself. For crossbills, in case of a bad harvest of cones, they will also fit, however, having fed, they will fly back to the forest.

Note: just in case, let us remind you: insectivorous forest birds and stubblers fly to people for food in the most extreme case, and then they definitely need to be offered nutritious high-calorie food. Along the way, they will thoroughly clean the garden-garden from wintering harmful trifles.

Bullfinch, waxwing, grosbeak and goldfinch are considered predominantly frugivorous birds. This is not a mistake, this is not about flesh, but about juicy fruits and berries. Their bones in the digestive tract of these birds, as a rule, are not digested, but the germination of seeds after such treatment increases. That is, frugivorous birds contribute to the spread of berry bushes and trees. However, frugivorous birds feed chicks with insects, but for now / when there is no harvest, they themselves do not disdain them. Actually, frugivorous birds of middle latitudes can be considered bird-like omnivores, because. Animal feed makes up a large proportion of their diet. Goldfinch in general can consume more insects than vegetable feed. In the extermination of wintering pests, they complement insectivorous and stubblers, because. they, as a rule, do not take prey completely open and motionless, for example. pupae.

It is advisable to introduce frugivorous birds to the site, but with caution. A good bait will be pieces of soft juicy plant food placed on the roof of the feeder: apple cores with seeds, pumpkin, cucumber. However, before putting the bait, you need to take a closer look at those who are eating: if a grosbeak is seen among them, it is better to refuse to bait. In the spring, he pecks out swelling buds and in some places has become a real scourge of gardens and orchards. Later, the grosbeak more than compensates for the damage by destroying huge numbers of May bugs and cabbage caterpillars, but still it is not necessary to promote its excessive reproduction.

Note: sometimes it is advised, as a winter vitamin supplement, to put twigs in the feeder that have stood at home in the water until the buds swell. It is not necessary, like any other seedlings, and even absolutely useful tits, they can learn to “bear oak”. The best vitamin food for birds in winter is apple and pear cores with seeds, fibrous pumpkin core with seeds, viburnum brushes, mountain ash, elderberries, dried rose hips, cherries (can be made from compote) and grape seeds. Read more about feeds below.

Fruit-eating birds take food from the ground and clinging to a support, so that the feeder for them can be anything, except for a swinging suspension, see below. They are stronger and stronger than sparrows, but not so impudent, so tits are not competitors if there is enough food. Most often there are carduelis on the feeder; they are close to becoming obligate hibernating human symbionts. Here it is useful to remember Saint-Exupery: "We are responsible for those whom we have tamed."

Siskins, buntings and greenfinches are granivorous birds. Grass seedlings have nothing to fear from them: they prefer the seeds of wild herbs. The chicks are fed with insects. Food is taken from the ground and from a swinging twig / blade of grass. They are friends with tits, but sparrows need to be discouraged from their feeder: granivorous small, not very strong and non-aggressive birds.

Note: the author is deeply convinced that the old song about the chizhik-pyzhik, who drank vodka on the Fontanka, was composed not only as a mockery of the cadets of some of the elite cadet corps, who wore yellow and black uniforms. In nature, the siskin really does look somewhat drowsy-haughty, like a novice drunk-major who has just grabbed (tipped, grunted, missed, rolled, chilled, overturned, etc., etc.) a stopar or two, see fig. on right. That does not prevent him from being bird-like careful and prudent.

Finally, a swarm of tit birds that only steal wheat from the house that Jack built. In fact, insects are an indispensable and significant part of their diet, and of various sizes. If the great and crested tits are able to cope with locusts, then the long-tailed titmouse is not averse to pecking at aphids with spider mites. The tits have become quite accustomed to people, you don’t need to bring them in, they will fly by themselves. Top dressing in ordinary winter should be given vegetable dry, and in severe frost - highly nutritious, like other insectivores. Then, having missed the winter on the dry land, the titmouse in the spring will take on pests, not allowing them to stretch their mandibles properly, and thus immediately there will be no time for germination with crops. And whoever survives in this beak slaughter will no longer be able to cause significant harm to the crop. Tits can take food from the thinnest twigs fluttered by the wind; they have only one evolutionary step left to learn to take food from the summer. This facilitates the creation of specialized titmouse canteens.

What about sparrows?

Sparrows are useful no less than other granivorous, but they are impudent, sneaky, keep in flocks. And the usual bird feeder, unlike crows and pigeons, is quite suitable for them in size. Sparrows take food mainly from the ground, but they are not afraid from branches either. Therefore, they are able to eat other birds, when feeding is a matter of life and death for them, while the chirping rascals themselves, in the meantime, could somehow hold out somehow. So it is advisable to arrange a winter bird feeder in such a way that sparrows fly to it only if the wind is walking in the goiter.

Here you can use their caution and manner to avoid danger. If you have noticed, the sparrows are running away, starting from a place steeply upwards. Therefore, a feeder with low entrances (windows for birds to feed) and a steep roof with large overhangs is unattractive for sparrows: in order to escape from there, you must first flutter to the side, and this is not sparrow-like. An “anti-robin” feeder can be made according to the pattern of a chicken feeder, the diagram in fig. Let's look at other options next.

Types of feeders

When choosing the type of feeder, in addition to the species composition of the guests, you need to keep in mind the following:

Birds are guided mainly by sight; their hearing is rather weak, and the sense of smell, one might say, is none. Therefore, the food must be visible from afar.
Food must be protected from wind blowing, snowing and eating away by unwanted visitors like squirrels or chipmunks.
It is also advisable to avoid spilling food on the ground, so as not to give "beacons" to small predators. By the way, the most dangerous of them are not cats, domestic and wild, but much more cunning, ferocious and bloodthirsty ferrets, weasels and ermines. There are a lot of them near housing, but they are very good at staying out of sight.
Feeders for temporary feeding in winter are best hung up, so they will attract sparrows less.
Stationary feeders for grafting birds to the site must be placed on poles with protection from predators, see below. Birds flying to feed will recognize the site as their own if they find food on a sufficiently large, even, stable area.

Based on all of the above, and let's see which winter bird feeders are better in which case. Their main types are shown in Fig.:

1 - feeder-suspension. Just food on a string or in a mesh case. A typical blue bird feeder in case of extreme cold. Of other birds, forest insectivores, except for woodpeckers, can visit it. Top dressing - "antifreeze" for tits - just a piece of unsalted fat, pos. 1 next. rice. A more nutritious option, also designed for shellers, is a ball of seed mix (see below), held together with hardened visceral fat (lard) or peanut butter in a vegetable net, pos. 2. However, it is not necessary to pour the feed mass into plastic cups or beautiful shapes and freeze (pos. 6.7), it is difficult for birds to cling and calories from feeding may not compensate for the energy consumption for maintaining themselves by fluttering wings. A ball from the finished mass must be sculpted by hand in the cold; the fat solidifies quickly, and the ball can be hung up immediately.

A hanging feeder can be made for certain types of birds. For example, great tits willingly peck at garlands of dried berries (especially rose hips) or peanut pods, pos. 3, 4. But the blue tit is very fond of swinging, and the balls for them need to be hung on the thinnest and most elastic twigs, or even designed in an original way in the form of mobile sculptures, or mobiles, pos. 5. Great tits will also fly there, but they do not fight with blue titmouse.

For shelling birds, bullfinches and waxwings, hanging top dressing from a cone will be good; for visibility, it’s good to supplement it with a bunch of viburnum or mountain ash, pos. 1 on the next fig.:

If there is no fruiting cone, any disheveled one will do: it is doused with peanut butter (pos. 2), solid food is stuffed between the scales (pos. 3), and hung up. Bird lovers and animal photographers, hanging cone baits since the summer, manage to make even crossbills their regular guests.

A hanging feeder for any birds that feed from a swinging support can be whipped up out of paper. In fact, paper is not a material for winter feeders: it sags, pecks. But the spool from the roll toilet paper, smeared with the same peanut butter and sprinkled with seeds (see the figure on the right), is able to save more than one feathered poor fellow right before our eyes, and you can make such a feeder in just 5 minutes. The colored tails below are not a whim, they are visible to birds from afar and attract their attention. It is better to make tails red and / or green: for birds, red is berries, and where there is greenery in winter, there is food.

2 - platform. The advantage is that the food is clearly visible. Disadvantages: the snow falls asleep, the wind inflates, a lot of it wakes up down, the sparrows are at home on it.

3 - house. The feed is protected from snow; by choosing the roof structure, the feeder-house can be made windproof and anti-sparrow. But there is still a lot of food waking up, and only birds that are used to feeding will come to dine. Foresters, reaching for housing in an extreme situation, may simply not see what is there, and crash down dead in two steps. A feeder house with a sloping roof can also be whipped up out of the box, as shown in fig. on right. If circumstances allow, then it is advisable to soak the box with three to five times diluted PVA (it is still useful for cardboard feeders), and glue the supports from sticks / twigs. Then the building will be enough for more than one winter. This feeder is nailed to the tree.

Note: the platform feeder can be turned into a house and back as needed (weather, etc.), by attaching a removable roof made of thin hard plastic, see fig. left. PET from cut bottles, sewn with fishing line or stapled with a stapler is well suited, but thin polycarbonate will also work. In the latter case, it is necessary to nail slats with grooves from the sides of the site and push and pull the roof into them.

The feeder house with a shed roof is also convenient for fairly large and strong birds: pigeons, waxwings, jays, nutcrackers. All of them do not mind feeding in a row, so a dining house for them needs to be made with a perch. Material - any suitable, incl. and processed cardboard as a substitute for wood, see below. The feeder for these birds should be larger than for small birds; for approximate dimensions see fig. on right. It is tempting to build a similar one in a quick way from shoe box, on the inset in the same place, but this one will not last long: strong active birds will tear and peck at weak material for feeding or two.

4 - bunker. Optimal in all respects, including antisparrow. The fact is that sparrows are flocking birds. If the flock does not fit on the feeding area, 1-2 sparrows will not “run into” oatmeal with chickadees either: they will eat in a strange company, but in turn and respecting decency.

Homemade bunker feeders are different designs, see fig. In the center - a special one for tits and small spotted woodpeckers (hard narrow area, see below). She and the one on the right are anti-sparrow. Modern materials allow the production of such an effective feeder as a bunker in 5 minutes. How is clear from Fig. on right.

Materials - PET bottle, plastic plate, nylon thread, superglue. Tools - scissors, knife, gypsy needle. And this feeder will last more than one winter.

5.6 - tray. The food is not visible well, so these are feeders for familiar and familiar birds. What is better to do in front of the notch, the landing area or the perch-six, depends on the type of feeding; which is more convenient for whom, we will see further in the course of the presentation. They are divided into designs with free access to food (5 in the figure at the beginning of the section) and its automatic supply to the nutrient tray (6 in the same place). The latter are even better than bunkers: the feed practically does not wake up. We will deal with them in more detail later. A pan feeder can be designed to accommodate only one or a few bird species (6), but this requires serious knowledge of ornithology, appropriate tools and skills; specialized tray feeders are commercially available in a fairly wide range.

Note: if the canteen is planned to be publicly accessible, the food in it can be made clearly visible by making the hopper completely or partially transparent from plastic.

7 - specialized feeder-huller for birds of the appropriate type of food. The feed is held in place by a metal mesh. It can be combined with a tray and thus become combined.

Materials and designs

Plastic

The most popular plastic feeders today. There are several reasons: empty, useless plastic containers have nowhere to go, transparent plastic allows you to make food visible from afar, working with plastic is easy, not garbage and can be done at home without special tools. Plastics are durable, racks, bird feeders from them will last for more than one year and can be made of any type.

If you will make a house feeder out of plastic, pos. 1 in Fig., please note that the roof must be matte and generally opaque. Wild birds, of course, are smarter than tame canaries and parrots, but when they see a creeping cat (or, say, the shine of an objective lens), they can hit a transparent one with a fright.

Good small plastic feeders are obtained from toys that have served their purpose: cubes, etc. They are made from polyethylene, so the only reliable way to glue, for example, a roof is instant cyanoacrylate glue (superglue). Feeders are clearly visible, all birds are curious to some extent, so there are no problems with the visibility of food. Round holes in polyethylene are easily cut with a ballerina compass with two needles. Homemade in pos. 2 for complete bird happiness, only perches are missing: polyethylene is slippery.

At pos. 3 and 4 already purchased plastic feeders. Just for your information: the house at pos. 3 costs 180 rubles, and a transparent "firm" in pos. 4 - three times more. But the same feeder can be glued together from scraps of polycarbonate and provided, if you really want a window, with suction cups for bathroom shelves.

Feeders from unusable plastic containers deserve special consideration, see fig. below. Very well thought out design on pos. 1. A wide tray provides good visibility of the feed, and in combination with a perch, it allows all birds to feed. The large capacity of the tray and the corresponding supply of food in it do not require the frequent approach of the breadwinners, which is less frightening for the birds. The trough-shaped form of the tray ensures minimal spillage of feed. The wing hatches bent upwards give an anti-sparrow effect; the platform formed by them on top allows you to put juicy vitamin top dressing.

Feeders on pos. 2 and 3 are focused on tits, goldfinches and granivorous. The main thing in them is a properly arranged dispenser tray, see below. Feeders are simpler for the same tribe, pos. 4 and 5, you can hang if the sparrows are not very annoying. At pos. 4, a container from computer disks went, this is more for a trifle like a siskin, and a food point from a bucket of sour cream (pos. 5) will also feed bullfinches with waxwings.

Feeders from used containers from liquid products can also be attributed to plastic. Milk and kefir bags, however, are cardboard, but they are laminated with a film on both sides, so they will last the winter. Well, bottles and eggplants, they are made of PET. Small milk-juice bags make excellent feeders for tits, goldfinches, granivorous, you just need to insert a perch stick, pos. 1 next. rice. For the same birds, if baklaga is involved, you need to cut openings in the vessel about 6x8 cm, each from 3 sides, not reaching 3-4 cm to the bottom, and bend the valves outward, pos. 2.

If instead of shaky valves, a hard wooden circle is screwed to the bottom of the dishes, then you can count on the visits of the small motley woodpecker. He won’t sit on a blue valve: what kind of woodpecker will he be if he doesn’t grab a tree with his claws?

From large packages, public canteens are obtained, then the openings need to be cut out more so that the food can be seen from afar. In the case when the feeder is suspended in free space, it is also necessary to pierce it with a perch, pos. 4. When placed in a bush as perches for tits, its branches are enough, pos. 5, and sparrows will be uncomfortable here.

Baklaga and tray ...

How to make a feeder from a plastic eggplant and a 0.25-0.5 liter bottle is shown in fig. on right. The hook at the bottom is optional, hanging food can be hung on it, see above. However, for other types of feeders, the bottle dispenser tray may be too large. In this case, it can be glued from cardboard or several layers of paper impregnated with diluted PVA, see next. rice.:

The yellow arrows show the paths of food movement. To make him wake up less, the inner end of the perch stick should reach the rear edge of the tray; Of course, you can pierce the vessel through them. The arrows in the center of the circle give the scale horizontally and vertically, i.e. the letok will be 6 cm in diameter, this is enough for birds no larger than the great tit.

... and a package house

From 2 bags of juice, a good blue-tit house feeder is obtained, see fig. on right. The whole structure is fastened with tubes-straws from the same juice, their protruding ends will be perches. So that the perches do not bend (the corrugation of the straw remains outside), it is advisable to insert thin twigs into the tubes; can be broken off right there on the spot.

Wood

Wooden feeders are good for their durability: impregnated with drying oil, water-polymer emulsion or its substitute in the form of diluted PVA and painted, they serve for years. Therefore, wooden feeders are most often made stationary. Of course, for their manufacture, you will also need a carpentry tool with a separate workplace.

The traditional design of a wooden feeder is a house. A view of the simplest home-made wooden feeder with dimensions is shown in fig. left. However, firstly, such a feeder does not protect the food from weathering, because. the space under the flat roof is blown through. Secondly, by seemingly slightly changing the configuration and proportions of parts, it is possible to specialize the feeder quite strongly. For example, pos. 1 in fig. below is public. Pos. 2 will attract shelling birds: landing on slats protruding to the side and pulling seeds through the crate will give a complete illusion of the usual feeding process. Pos. 3 and 4 - with a weakened blowing of food and a noticeable anti-sparrow effect, for small and larger birds, respectively. Pos. 5 - almost windproof and fundamentally anti-sparrow: a sparrow that has retained common sense will fly into this only in the most extreme case.

Winter hanging wooden feeders are more convenient and easier to make from plywood and bars of about 30x30 or 30x40 mm. Here you can do without lumber at all by gluing PVA bars from strips of the same plywood. However, stationary feeders on poles will be more durable from solid wood, tk. outdoor plywood, except for expensive waterproof birch, after a season or two begins to delaminate with any impregnation.

For an example in fig. above - a drawing of a country, landscape gardening or forest feeder for all types of birds. A tin tray on a pole not only keeps predators out, but also serves as a sparrow dining room. The lifting liner (it slides freely on the pole) makes cleaning easier and allows birds of one species to feed from their recess while leaving others to others. On a pole under the roof, you can hang nets or cones with food for stubblers, and hanging food for tits can be hung at the corners of the site. Roof for ease of maintenance is removable, on hooks.

wooden special

A hanging analogue of such a feeder, as it is now customary to express it, with a simplified functionality, is shown in fig. on right. The diameter of the floor platforms is about 500 mm. The ledges on the middle platform are convenient for birds looking at the food before starting to eat. In this case, the upper platform is intended for sparrows: these troublemakers will scatter food anyway, so you can do without a side, although it will not hurt.

On fig. below - wooden feeders, bunker and tray, which can be turned into combined, suitable for stubblers. The fact is that in these designs, to improve the visibility of the feed, the bunkers are made with glazed windows. Replacing the glass with a steel mesh with a mesh of about 5x5 mm will enable the stubblers to pull out the seeds while the rest are pecking from the trays or from the site.

How to do without a tree

Wooden feeders look better than plastic homemade ones, they are easier to adapt to the needs of both the bird and the owner. But what to do if there is no woodworking tool or you don’t want to start carpentry in the house with its sawdust and shavings?

A feeder that is not inferior to a wooden one in terms of convenience, appearance and able to last at least 3-4 seasons, can be made from corrugated cardboard from packaging boxes that have become unnecessary. Of course, it will take more time, but all you need from the tool is a pencil, a ruler, a square, a sharp knife, scissors, an awl, PVA glue and a brush for it. The technology is similar to the manufacture of cardboard shelves:

For each part, 2-5 pieces are cut out, depending on the required thickness, of blanks-layers of the same size, but with an internal corrugation oriented alternately along and across, see fig. on right;
Each face is impregnated on one side and the other with a water-polymer emulsion. It is not sold in small packaging, but its full-fledged replacement is PVA diluted with water three to five times. This work must be done on a plastic sheet;
A day later (if the plates were dried at room temperature), the part is glued with PVA in the same order: corrugation along / corrugation across, see the same figure;
The part is dried on a film, while it is also covered with a film on top and pressed down with several books, covering evenly its entire area;
The feeder is assembled on the same PVA glue;
After drying, the end connections are reinforced with studs from toothpicks or pointed matches without heads: the holes for the studs are pricked with an awl from top to bottom, a drop of glue is introduced into each and the stud is immediately pressed in;
Open ends are sealed with strips of plain cardboard or thick paper soaked in diluted PVA;
After 3-4 days of drying, the product can be painted, varnished, openings can be made with plastic, mesh can be attached, etc.

Original feeders

Anyone who undertook to make, wants to do something of their own, unusual and unique. Unusual feeders can be divided into original ones according to the execution technique or some functional features and simply beautiful, designer. One to the other, of course, is not a hindrance in any way, if only the hands were in place.

The first few, say, technical-functional, are shown in Fig.:

Pos. 1 - special for cultivators, frugivorous and large granivorous. The cob is put on a nail driven through the bottom. It should be noted here that corn should be hard, fodder or oilseed varieties, with smaller grains. Table sugar will harm the birds: there is too much starch and sugar in its grains.

Pos. It does not require 2 comments: over the summer, ice cream sticks have been accumulated, then - PVA, strings, and that's it. If you make a hearth on each side, then 4 siskins or chickadees will be able to feed at once. Pos. 3 woven from paper tubes. The work is difficult and laborious, especially when you consider that they need to be well protected from deoxidation. However, judging by the fact that as many as 3 great tits feed in such a small area and another one is waiting in line, the birds really like this creation.

Finally, pos. 4, from a can. Here it would not hurt to lay a perch from a stick in the braid instead of a slippery cold piece of iron. The manufacturing technology completely allows this: the bank is tied with a rope in the same way that sailors, riggers, or, say, high-altitude fitters, put a mark on the end of the cable, see fig. on right.

If we take decorative feeders, then there are no restrictions on design: bright colors of birds do not scare away, they can easily distinguish a painted cat from a living one, and even peck the image in revenge; Let's just give a few examples in Fig.:

According to the execution technique, it is better to avoid varnished and shiny surfaces, as in pos. 1. It is more difficult for claws to catch on smooth, grains dodge from the beak, and glare cuts sensitive bird eyes.

Pumpkin feeders for wild birds do not fit into any classification, but for birds it is a real paradise: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins with microelements - all in one and in sufficient quantity for all. Plus, a strong and at the same time supple support under the claws. It is not necessary to make something like a house out of a pumpkin or cut a scarecrow face on it, as in the figure: it is enough to remove a piece of skin from one side to the pulp, and even before spring only the peel will remain from the pumpkin. Perhaps suitable for entertaining crafts.

What to feed wild birds?

It remains to decide what kind of bird food to put in the feeder. The best food for all wintering birds is the seeds of wild grasses, especially burdock. Songbird lovers and ornithologists have been collecting turnip seed since the summer or buying it at pet stores. Further, in order of preference by birds and benefits to them:

Note: if there is an opportunity to buy in a pet store, the so-called. canary seed or grain mix budgerigars, this is just what any of the birds on the feeder needs.

Wheat, rye and bread from them should be avoided: the bird's body is not adapted to process excess starch. Black bread is especially dangerous: it causes inflammation of the goiter, which often leads to the death of the bird. Perfectly dry crumbs of white bread can be given to pigeons and fruit-eating birds. The same applies to all cereals that swell strongly during cooking: barley (barley), rice, buckwheat. With corn, as mentioned above, you need to be careful. In general, it must be borne in mind that wild birds fewer chickens with ducks, and their digestion is unusual for homemade food.

Note: the peel of citrus and tropical fruits - bananas, mangoes, avocados, mangosteens, sapodillas, etc. is a deadly poison for our birds. It's about sugars.

Of the vitamin dressings, the best, as already mentioned, are brushes and bunches of wild berries. In addition to the mentioned mountain ash, viburnum, elderberry, barberry, currant, chokeberry, juniper are willingly pecked. In the southern regions - cotoneaster, berries of "wild grapes" (cissus), boxwood. Bones of table grapes, cherries and cherries from compote, melon and watermelon seeds (not pulp!), cores of apples and pears with seeds, grated raw carrots are also an excellent vitamin top dressing. Whole fruits should not be given: having fed on them, even the most principled tit will not resist the temptation to peck at them in the summer in the garden.

An important component of the bird's diet is mineral supplements and solid inclusions that grind food in the stomach. The most important mineral is calcium. Its source at the feeder is finely crushed eggshells. It must be given without fail if you want the winter eaters to nest right there in the spring. Even birds, like domestic chickens, need sand. It needs to be sprinkled little by little, always river rounded and the smallest.

Fun in the end

So, a certain young man with an active-destructive mindset heard in the winter that black bread and banana peels are deadly for birds. He immediately set to work: he was not too lazy and put together a feeder, dried and finely ground banana peels. Then he forked out for a loaf of "Borodinsky" for 40 rubles. at the then price, crumbled it too. He mixed everything, hung up the feeder, poured bird poison into it.

The next morning, he went, anticipating the "task", to see how many of them were lying dead with swollen goiters. It turned out - not a single one, the food was not touched. Before the unlucky terrorist had time to decide what he should think about this, flocks fell from the surrounding trees and showered Grisha with “business cards”. Separate "cards" merged into a continuous blanket, and a bunch formed on the head. Since then, the poor fellow carefully and cautiously bypasses even flocks of sparrows on the pavement.

Winter is on the way, it is harder for poor birds to get their own food every day. Let's help them, at the same time teach our children kindness and mercy, care for our smaller brothers. Grateful birds in return will delight you with unpretentious but cheerful songs, as well as sketches from their bird life. If you put a video camera next to the feeder, you can eventually get an exclusive story in the style of "In the Animal World" and show it at school in the lesson of the world or biology. In general, in this article we decided to talk about what should be a bird feeder that you make with your own hands. We will offer a description and a photo.

Making a simple do-it-yourself feeder

First of all, inspect the intended material, from which you plan to make a feeder, and estimate your capabilities. Also consider some design requirements:

Remember, it should be comfortable for the birds, as well as for pouring and removing food.
She must have protection from wind and precipitation, the wind can simply bring food out, and precipitation can cause food to freeze or mold, which is also inconvenient for the birds.
The material from which the feeder is made must be moisture resistant, so that it would not have to be repaired or remade several times during the winter.
It should not have sharp edges and corners, so as not to injure the birds.
If it is supposed to feed small birds, then the feeder should also be made small so that large and aggressive birds do not rob it and scare away small birds.
It is better to place your feeder on tree branches or fix it on the walls of a house or household. buildings, not lower than one and a half meters from the ground, so that the cats do not get there, and it is convenient for you to replenish food supplies.

plywood option.

Of course, you can buy it ready-made in the hypermarket. But to make it yourself, and even together with the children - what could be better if the sons help you, and the daughters look with different eyes at such a handmade father! Moreover, there are no difficulties here. It can be made closed, open, with a gable roof. On the Internet, you can easily find any drawings with ready-made sizes and patterns. Choose any!

For small birds, it is necessary to take into account the dimensions of the structure, so that it would not even occur to the big voracious crows to poke their heads there, they will simply be very uncomfortable there.

So, prepare a jigsaw, a hammer, suitable cloves, sandpaper, water-based glue, plywood, a 20X20 cm bar for work. Let's start with the simplest option.
We make the bottom 25X25 cm, and the roof is larger so that the water flows past without getting inside. We mark the rest of the details according to the patterns on plywood.
With sandpaper, be sure to sand the sawn edges properly so that there is no burr left.
We cut the bar into 4 racks 25 - 30 cm long.
If you plan to make the roof flat under a slope, then make 2 bars out of 4 shorter by a couple of cm, and under a slope.
We first glue all the connecting places with glue, and then we fasten them with carnations. We attach racks to the bottom, and sides to them.
We fix the roof with self-tapping screws on top of the racks.
Now it remains to fix the feeder in the chosen place, and fill the treat there.

Variants of a wooden feeder.

This is a more durable material. If you have the skills to work with wood and tools for its processing, feel free to get down to business. A board for work will need a thickness of 18 - 20 cm, in addition, prepare a bar 4.5X2 cm, a square piece of plywood 25X25 cm (the bottom of the feeder), and for the roof 2 pieces of 35X22 cm each, as well as self-tapping screws, glue and cloves.

Homemade - a feeder from a milk bag / box.

Here we are talking about how to make a bird feeder. The next option is the most elementary. He is tough even for a child. We take:

Clean package / box of juice or milk.
Wire or rope made of nylon for hanging.
Marker.
Adhesive plaster.
Stationery knife or scissors.

First, we outline and cut holes for birds on opposite sides. We protect the cut edges with adhesive tape so that the birds do not cripple. We pierce holes under the holes and insert the trimmings rolled up from the bird holes there, and above the holes we make holes for wire or rope for hanging. We fasten our feeder to a branch.

It can also be attached to a tree, but then it is necessary to make holes not from opposite sides, but from close ones, to facilitate the approach of birds.

There is a variant of the feeder of two packages, it turns out to be triangular in shape. We cut off the first package by 2/3 and cut out the front side at the bottom, this will be the bottom. And we cut the second package from the bottom along the narrow sides, but do not touch the top. Now we combine both parts and fix them with glue or tape.

Feeders are also obtained from 1.5 - 2 liter bottles.

Option 1. Cut holes on opposite sides of the bottle freeform. When cutting holes in the shape of the letter P, you can bend up the unfinished part, you get a canopy from the rain. Be sure to glue an adhesive plaster or tape from below to the cuts from damage to the bird's paws. You can make holes in the bottom and insert sticks, this will be a perch.

It can be attached to a tree and hung on the branches, if you tie a rope in the holes in the lid on the inside to make a loop that must be thrown over the branches.

Option 2. The feeder is a bunker. The most summer option if you visit there only on weekends. Then it will not be necessary to monitor the replenishment of food every day, he himself will fall asleep gradually as he eats.

To do this, take a couple of identical bottles. We make holes near the bottom of one bottle. Remove the top part. At the top we cut a symmetrical pair of holes for further hanging. At the second bottle, we make several holes at the neck, a supply of food will pour in there. You should not make large holes right away, then expand them as needed. Now we fall asleep actually, feed, insert into the first cut bottle.

Option 3. Feeder with spoons. We make holes in the lid and insert a rope in the form of a loop there. Next, we make symmetrical holes for spoons. On the side of the cup, we make a larger hole, so that there would be the possibility of spilling the food. It remains to fill the feeder and hang.

In the bottom of any bottle feeder, it is advisable to make several small holes in size with a red-hot needle or nail to remove moisture.

Bird feeder of five liter bottle.

Bird feeders can be created not only from wood. For you, we offer products that were created from other available materials. The feeder looks very interesting. for birds from a plastic bottle. Spending one evening and feeding birds all winter is not a useful activity for a rainy autumn evening! There is a five-litre bottle in every house, and a considerable number of birds can easily get enough of such a container. The main thing is to make more holes.

The whole family can take part in the manufacturing process, you need to prepare a pruner, bottle, knife, wire or rope to attach to a tree.

First, we decide how the feeder will be attached to the tree, after that we mark the future holes.

If it is placed vertically, then we retreat 5-7 cm from the bottom and make several square or triangular holes.

If it is horizontal, then we cut wide holes in the neck and in the bottom of the bottle.

Wire or twine will perfectly secure the feeder to the tree. In order to prevent the wind from swaying it, you can put a quarter of a brick on the bottom, and already pour food on top.

Such a large bottle can also be adapted as a bunker option. Then, in addition to the 5-liter, you will need 2 1.5-liter bottles, a marker, a knife and a rope.

We mark holes for birds on a 5-liter bottle, a couple, and one more for a one and a half liter bottle.
We make the hole for the bottle P - shaped, bend the visor up, and seal the cuts with adhesive tape.
At a one and a half liter bottles, we make holes at the points of contact with the bottom of five liters and a little higher, for spilling food to the bottom as needed.
We cut a hole in the lid of a five-liter bottle so that the neck of a one and a half liter bottle would peek out from there.
From the second one and a half liters we cut off the neck in the form of a funnel, and put it in the protruding neck of the first 1.5 liters.
Everything is ready, it remains to fix the bird's dining room on the tree.

An excellent feeder will turn out from a shoe box.

A shoe box or similar in size, can be laminated, made of thick cardboard, suitable for making a feeder. Everything is already there - the roof, the bottom, the walls, the minimum work remains - to cut the necessary holes and attach to the tree. Here you need a clerical knife, a marker and tape with a cord. In the absence of lamination, tape will help protect the feeder from the weather. The bottom must be weighted with sand or pebbles, so that it does not sway with the wind, and after pouring food, hang it on a tree.

There is another option - we fix the lid with adhesive tape perpendicular to the inside of the box, the lid will actually be a table with food, and the box will be both a roof and a side. We make a hook from the wire, and piercing the top of the feeder, we hang it to the chosen place. It remains to pour food and arm yourself with a camera or video camera!