DIY bird feeder craft. How to make a bird feeder with your own hands? Log, drill and chisel - a universal set

Winter time is a serious test for birds. Every day it becomes more and more difficult to find food. Take care of the birds - hang a feeder made with your own hands from the simplest materials at hand, which we usually throw in a landfill. We have selected photos and original ideas for making feeders that do not require special skills or complex drawings.

Having accustomed the birds to the feeder, you will be able to observe the entertaining avian bustle and the secret life of birds.

Some of them defend their rights in fights with relatives, others enter into competition with other species, but without exception, all of them carefully look around so as not to miss the attack of a small hawk, which is very interested in visitors to the feeder.

A simple bird feeder will bring great benefits to birds

Materials for making a feeder can be very diverse, but there are some general design rules:

• the feeder should, first of all, be convenient for the birds; there should be no difficulty in removing food;
• The roof and sides will help protect the food from snow, rain and wind. Exposure to moisture can cause food to deteriorate and become moldy, which means it will turn into poison for birds;
• It is desirable that the material from which the feeder will be made be resistant to moisture, otherwise such a design will not last long and a new one will need to be made;

The feeder must be safe: have no sharp sides and be located high enough above the ground

• walls and corners should not be sharp or prickly;
• feeders for small birds are made small in size so that larger and more aggressive species do not encroach on their food;
• It is better to place feeders on tree branches or attach them to the walls of outbuildings at a height of about one and a half meters, so that cats do not offend the birds, and it is convenient to sprinkle food on your feathered friends.

Advice. Birds get used to a permanent feeding place and are ready to travel many kilometers to the feeder. Therefore, feeding must be constant, otherwise the birds may die.

Plywood bird feeder

You can buy a feeder in a hypermarket, or you can make it yourself in a few hours. A plywood feeder can be made open, with a flat or gable roof, and a bunker compartment can be provided if you cannot constantly monitor the amount of feed in the feeder. Of course, you will need drawings, fortunately, there are plenty of them on the Internet with ready-made dimensions of parts for cutting. Choose a design that you like, the drawing will make the work easier and guarantee that in the end you will get exactly what is shown in the photo.

Lightweight and durable feeder made from plywood sheets

When choosing a design for a future feeder, consider the bird population in your region. Jays, pigeons and magpies can eat all the food, leaving little titmice hungry. To prevent this from happening, make the size of the feeder openings such that large birds cannot reach the feed.

So, you will need a hammer, an electric jigsaw, nails of a suitable length, water-based glue, sandpaper, plywood, 20 x 20 mm timber. Let's look at a simple feeder.

Ideas and drawings of a bird feeder made of wood

Wooden feeders are attractive because they last a long time and keep their shape well - this is due to the properties and reliability of wood. To make such a feeder you will need at least minimal skills in working with tools and a drawing. The board for production should be 18 - 20 mm thick. Let's consider the option of making a feeder, which you can do yourself or take a photo as a basis for a drawing. We will need a beam measuring 4.5 x 2 cm for the racks, a square of plywood 25 x 25 cm for the bottom, two pieces measuring 35 x 22 cm for the roof, nails, screws and glue.

Feeder made of wooden beams

Such a feeder can be installed permanently on a dug-in post or drill two holes in the ridge, screw in a screw with a hook and hang it on a wire. Several birds can fly up to the feeder at the same time, the food is protected from the wind by the sides and roof, the feathered friends of the garden will love such a cozy dining room.

Finished wooden feeder

If you have a gazebo on your site, hang a simple feeder there without a roof. It is enough to make a side and a bottom. If you want to paint the feeder or open it with varnish, then use water-based compounds so as not to harm the birds.

Advice. To prevent the wood from splitting, you need to make the tip of the nail blunt, and drill a hole for the screw before screwing it in.

Making a feeder out of cardboard (suitable for children)

One of the simplest feeders. The cardboard version is interesting because it can be made in a place with children and at the same time have a great time with them. This would be a great craft for kindergarten or elementary school. There is a lot of room for creativity here. Cardboard is an excellent option; it is only afraid of direct water. But if you want to play it safe and make the feeder more resistant to moisture, then you can glue the external elements of the feeder with wide tape, especially its upper and lower parts. In a forest or park, such a feeder can easily last all winter and part of spring.

Collage of a cardboard feeder. Photo livemaster.ru/topic/179659-delaem-kormushku-iz-kartona

The set of tools and materials is minimal, and if you don’t have something from this list, you can always find a replacement. So we will need these materials and tools:

• A couple of sheets of cardboard (A4 format or more);
• Ruler;
• Scotch tape (for structural reliability);
• Stationery knife;
• A rope or piece of nylon rope to hang the feeder;
• Pencil or felt-tip pen;
• Cardboard glue or glue gun;
• Hole puncher.

If such a feeder is going to take the prize as the best craft in your kindergarten, then you will have to work a little in terms of external design. Here our cardboard will give a head start to any Tetra-Pak (this is a milk or juice carton), you can beautifully draw on it and decorate it in every possible way. Undoubtedly, the prize from kindergarten will be yours!

Pumpkin feeder

But here, as they say, words are unnecessary - everything is visible in the photo collage. I would like to add that such a feeder looks very attractive and unusual and will be a real decoration of your garden, this is due to the shape of the feeder and its color, which looks great against the background of white snow.

This option is also suitable for making with children. And such a beautiful, bright craft will definitely not go unnoticed in kindergarten.

Bird feeder from a box (package) Tetra Pak) from juice or milk

You can make a feeder from a milk carton or a tetra pack of juice, like this. Even a child can do this. For this you will need:

• clean juice box;
• a piece of nylon rope or wire to hang the feeder;
• adhesive plaster;
• marker;
• scissors or stationery knife.

Milk carton bird feeder

First of all, mark and cut holes on opposite sides of the tetra pack. To make it convenient for the birds to take food and fly out. We cover the bottom side of the window with adhesive tape for the convenience and safety of the birds. We poke a hole under the holes with scissors and insert the cardboard rolled up into a tube, which is left over from cutting the holes above. In the bent corners we make small holes for wire or rope. And we tie it to a branch.

The feeder can be attached to a tree trunk. Such a feeder will not sway in the wind. To do this, feeding slots are made not on opposite sides of the bag, but on adjacent ones. On the opposite side we fix the wire in the slot and screw it to the tree.

Horizontal feeder made of tetro pack

You can make a feeder out of two juice bags. We cut the first package along the narrow sides, leaving the top uncut. From the second tetra pack we cut off the third part and cut a hole on the front side of the bag - this will be the feeding board or the bottom of the feeder. We combine the bottom with the first package so that we get a triangle. The parts can be connected with glue, wrapped with tape, or by piercing the bottom of the sides and inserting straws for cocktails.

Bird feeder made from plastic bottles 1.5 - 2 liters

Let's look at some variations of making a do-it-yourself feeder made from plastic containers.

Option #1. The simplest feeder

Symmetrically, on both sides of the bottle we cut out two holes: round, square, rectangular or in the form of an arch. There should be bridges between the holes. If you make a slot in the form of an inverted letter “P” and bend the plate upward, you will get a rain canopy. You can stick an adhesive plaster or fabric tape to the bottom edge of the hole - the edges will not be sharp and the birds will sit comfortably. We make symmetrical holes in the lower part and insert a stick - the result is a feeder with a perch.

A simple feeder made from a plastic bottle

You can attach such a dining room for birds to a tree by wrapping the jumper with tape, rope or other suitable material, as seen in the photo. If you make a hole in the bottle cap and insert the ends of the twine, and then tie them in a knot, you will get a loop that can be thrown over the branches of garden trees.

Be sure to make the edges of the plastic feeder safe - cover the cut areas with electrical tape

Option #2. Bunker feeder.

This design is rational to use because the feed can be poured in for several days. As the birds eat it, the food will automatically be added to the feeding area itself.

Hopper feeder made from plastic bottles

You will need two bottles of the same volume. We mark one bottle with a marker before cutting. We make holes at the bottom, as in feeder No. 1, and remove the top third of the bottle. We make two symmetrical holes at the top - a ribbon or twine will later be tied to them for hanging the feeder. In the second bottle we cut several holes at the narrowest part - food will pour out of them. Do not make large holes right away; it is better to expand them later. We pour food into the bottle, tighten the cap and insert the bottle into the first bottle, cut by a third.

Option #3. Feeder with spoon

We make a hole in the cork and insert twine for hanging. Then we make two holes symmetrically the size of the spoon. We cut a hole in the bottle above the bowl-shaped deep part of the spoon, slightly widening it so that the birds can take the food. Fill the feeder and hang it up.

Feeder with spoon

Advice. Using a hot needle or small nail, make several holes in the bottom of the feeder to drain moisture that gets inside.

Bird feeder made from a plastic bottle 5 liters

Probably in every home there is an empty five-liter plastic water bottle. Making a feeder in one evening to feed birds in winter from this material is very simple. Such a container will hold much more food than a smaller plastic bottle, as can be seen in the photo. Several holes will allow several birds to feed comfortably at once.

Feeder made from a five-liter plastic bottle

This is a very simple and quick option, invite your children or other family members to take part in the manufacturing process: find a ribbon or wire to tie the finished feeder to a tree branch, prepare a treat for the birds. Prepare a clean bottle, a sharp knife, pruning shears or a utility knife.

We cut the hole based on how we plan to secure the container to the tree:

• horizontally - cut a wide hole from the bottom of the bottle and the same from the neck;
• vertically - at a height of 5-7 cm from the bottom of the container, cut several square holes or three rectangular ones.

Materials needed to make a feeder

It is convenient to tie the bottle by the neck to a branch with wire or twine. If the feeder is made in a horizontal version, then use a knife to make two holes on the wall through which you pass the twine for tying. To prevent the feeder from swaying in the wind, place a quarter of a brick on the bottom to weigh it down, and load a treat on top.

You can also build a bunker feeder from a five-liter bottle. To do this you will need a five-liter bottle and two 1.5-liter bottles, a marker, a stationery knife and a rope.

You can place the feeder under the roof to make the birds more comfortable

With a little ingenuity, you can use the simplest plastic bottles to create unusual dining rooms for birds that will decorate your area.

Shoebox bird feeder

Everything is simple here. Take a thick shoe box with a lid. We make a round hole in the lid. The hole needs to be moved slightly from the center to the bottom edge of the box (a little different in the photo), this is necessary so that the birds can reach the food, which will lie at the bottom of the box.

We make a small hole in the top of the box and insert a tourniquet or rope through it. We tie an old pencil or stick to the end of this rope. We will then tie the other end of the rope to the branch of the tree on which we plan to hang the feeder. Then you can wrap the box with wrapping paper, but this is for aesthetic purposes, you don’t have to do this.

We make a roof out of ordinary cardboard and put it on glue. Next, we glue the lid to the box itself with tape, as in Figure 3, 4, and also thread a rope through the lid.

At the moment when we hang the finished feeder on a tree, the roof may come unstuck from the box, but this is not scary, it won’t be able to get away anywhere, because it will be held in place by a rope.

And in the picture below is an even simpler version of a shoebox feeder. But there is no need to explain anything here, everything is already visible in the photo. The entire box is simply wrapped with tape, which, by the way, is very practical. And in our opinion, it turned out to be original and unusual.

Cardboard bird feeder

To make a bird canteen with your own hands, the simplest material will do, which is stored in abundance on the balconies of most families: boxes of electrical goods, cardboard packaging of food products. Choose thicker cardboard with a laminated coating; laminate will slightly increase the service life of the feeder. Although, as written above, you can use wide tape for these purposes. The advantage of this design is that there is already a bottom, walls and roof of the future feeder, which needs to be slightly modified by cutting square or rectangular holes on the sides.

Even a schoolchild can make a cozy feeder from a mailbox with his own hands

You will need a nylon cord, scissors or a stationery knife and tape. Since cardboard is a very short-lived material and is afraid of moisture, a finished feeder wrapped with tape will last until the next season. Having cut the side holes and secured the cord, you can hang the feeder and fill it with treats for the birds, which will not keep you waiting long. Place sand or some pebbles at the bottom so that the structure does not sway too much in the wind.

If you cover a cardboard feeder with paints, it will last longer.

You can do it a little differently. We glue the lid of the box perpendicularly so that the lid serves as a stern stand, and the second part of the box serves as a side and a roof. We glue the structure with tape. We make two hooks from wire: we bend a piece of wire in half and pierce the “ceiling” of the feeder with the ends, twist it and bend it from the inside. By connecting the hooks, you can hang the feeder on a branch. As you can see in the photo. Now pour in the food and wait for the guests.

Window bird feeder (with suction cups)

Such feeders are a very interesting option for the general development of children, and adults too :). The feeder is attached to the window, or rather to the glass, using suction cups. Usually such feeders are also made transparent in order to fully enjoy watching the birds. If you have suction cups, you can make such a feeder yourself, for example, from the same plastic bottle, but you must agree that it will still not be as aesthetically pleasing as the ready-made version from the store. Children will probably start taking pictures of all this, and photos with yellowed, cloudy bottles will, to put it mildly, not be so hot. The purchased options look very nice.

Feeders hung on the property of a private house are not only support for birds in the cold winter, but also a beautiful decoration for the yard. Of course, when you hear the word feeder, your memory brings to mind a nondescript wooden structure, completely different from a decorative element. However, you can make an original feeder that is both comfortable for birds and pleasing to the eye.

• The structure must perform its functions, and not just hang on a branch. Therefore, when creating it, you need to take into account several important nuances.
• Consider what birds live in your area.
• The structure must be suitable for the size of the animal. An excessively small feeder is inconvenient, but an excessively large one has its disadvantages. Other species of birds can take food from a large tit feeder.
• The food must be suitable.
• Place inside those types of food that are suitable for the birds that come to your garden. The food should be easy to get out; if the grains are large, the holes must be made large enough.
• When decorating the product, you should not use too bright colors.
• These animals see many more colors than humans. If the design is of overly saturated shades, the bird may avoid it, since it does not look like natural shades. It is better if its color imitates the plants that are usually seen on your site.
• The roof and sides are important for food safety.
• If snow and rain fall on it, mold may form that is dangerous to the health of the birds.
• The material of the product must be strong and moisture resistant.
• The better the material is selected, the longer the feeder will please the owners of the site and their feathered guests.
• For the safety of your little children, you should not leave sharp edges on the structure.
• The product should hang high so that birds do not become prey for cats.

Easy ways to make a feeder

Below are several options on how to easily make a bird feeder.

Coconut feeder

• This option is suitable for small animals.
• The contents are pulled out of the coconut, leaving only the shell.
• Make one or more holes in the sides of the shell.
• Attach a rope with which the structure will be attached to the branch.
• Add grain and the feeder is ready.

Mesh feeder for fruits

Supermarkets often sell tangerines or apples in nets. This item will be useful for creating a feeder. Difficulties arise with placing food in it. Regular grains fall out of the mesh easily.

It is better to place peanuts or shelled walnuts in such a mesh feeder. It is advisable to place a roof made of a piece of plywood, board or plastic over the mesh.

Plastic construction

A bird feeder made from a plastic bottle is very easy to make. You just need to cut holes in the bottle and attach it to a branch, tying a wire to the neck. Using the same method, you can make a feeder from a cardboard juice or milk bag.

Wooden product

Small wooden sticks and boards are glued to each other with waterproof glue. The structure should have a bottom, sides at the edges, a roof and 4 vertical sticks holding the top and bottom together.

Vertical fastenings can be replaced with strong ropes. If you can’t fasten with glue, small screws or nails will do.

More complex designs

The ideas for decorative bird feeders are not much different from the simple options described above. Any of the listed methods is taken as a basis and decorated with elements suitable for accessories in the garden.

You can cut out and decorate elegant elements in the form of flowers or abstract decorations from plastic. Additional perches will look nice in a large wooden feeder.

To add functionality, you can attach a container with a small hole inside the structure. When the food runs out, the next portion of treats will pour out from the reserves.

Photos of bird feeders and visual instructions on how to improve them can inspire you to come up with some interesting ideas. There are many drawings on the Internet that indicate down to the centimeter the exact parameters for creating products with your own hands. They will help a creative person make a unique and useful decoration for the yard.

Photos of bird feeders

How nice it is to enjoy the sounds of nature and listen to the lively chirping of the bird family in your countryside. To attract these little helpers to your site, who destroy all kinds of pests, you should prepare a small “gift” for them - a feeder. Winter is a real test for birds. Under a layer of snow, it is quite difficult for them to find food to maintain vitality. The feeder will become a salvation for birds in the winter months, when they are forced to escape not only from frost, but also from hunger. There are many options for how to make a feeder with your own hands, allowing you to make original designs from scrap materials.

What do you need to remember when making any feeder?

The range of ready-made feeders is quite wide. But it’s still much more interesting to use your imagination and build an original and cute structure from unnecessary scrap materials. In addition, you can involve the whole family in a useful and exciting activity.

Regardless of what design the product will have, and what will act as the material of manufacture, a good bird feeder should have:

• A roof that allows you to protect food from precipitation. Food wetted by snow or rain quickly becomes unfit for consumption.
• A wide opening that allows the bird to easily enter and exit the feeder.
• The material is resistant to high humidity and temperature changes, the use of which will allow you to create a feeder that is ready to serve for more than one season.

Thus, you are not limited only to wooden building materials; in fact, the feeder can be made from anything.

An outdoor bird feeder can be made from wood, a juice or dairy carton, a plastic bottle, or any unnecessary box

Making a classic wooden feeder

Wooden bird feeders in the form of miniature houses are made from boards and moisture-resistant plywood. The presented option refers to a type of bunker feeder in which food is supplied to the bird’s “dining room” in portions, which makes it much easier for the owner to look after the birds.

Construction details are cut from boards 20cm wide and plywood 16mm thick

The given drawing of a bird feeder, made in exact proportions, will make it easier to manufacture the side walls of the structure

Instead of moisture-resistant plywood, you can use plexiglass, for fastening which grooves 4 mm deep should be cut into the side walls using a milling machine. The optimal size of the side wall made of plexiglass will be 160x260 mm. You can also use screws to secure the side panels to the end of the walls.

To connect the parts of a wooden bird feeder, you can use either wooden edges and glue, or ordinary self-tapping screws. The corners of the product must be sanded. To arrange the perch, a round bar (el. 8) is used, which is attached to the edges of the side in drilled 10 mm holes.

Now you can attach the roof. To do this, the left half of the roof is firmly fixed to the side walls. The right half of the roof and the ridge are separately fastened together. Only after this, with the help of furniture hinges, both halves of the roof are assembled into a single structure. The gap formed in the assembled product between the plexiglass and the bottom of the structure allows you to regulate the feed supply: one refill of the feeder can last for 2-3 weeks. The transparency of the plexiglass makes it easy to monitor the amount of food for the birds.

The beautiful and functional design is almost ready. As a finishing touch, the product can be coated with a layer of drying oil or painted.

Other original ideas

There are many variations in the manufacture of hanging “dining rooms” for birds. The most common and easiest to create option for building a feeder is from a plastic bottle or juice carton.

It is preferable to use containers with a volume of at least 1-2 liters, which will allow not only small sparrows and titmice, but pigeons and other relatively large birds to visit the feeders and treat themselves to “goodies.”

Holes are cut in the upper part of the package for threading fishing line or lace. The length of the fastener should be 25-40 cm. On both sides of the container, using scissors or a knife, two spacious entrances are made opposite each other, allowing the birds to unhinderedly enjoy their meal. It takes no more than 15-20 minutes to make a simple design. The finished product is easily secured with a cord in a convenient place near the house and filled with your favorite bird treats.

Here are some more examples of original designs:

With a little imagination, you can use the most ordinary bottles to create original bird feeders that will become a real decoration of your site

Easy-to-make and easy-to-maintain variations of bunker feeders

When thinking about how to build a bird feeder, you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel.” It is enough to recall examples of arranging functional structures familiar from childhood and, showing a little imagination, create an interesting hanging “dining room” that will delight the family with an attractive appearance and the feathered guests with delicious treats.

A beautiful and cute structure - a bird feeder, as if you are returning to your childhood years, looking at it, there are so many sentimental moments associated with this product.
Skillful hands and a piece of plywood will help us assemble this structure in order to enjoy ourselves and benefit the birds.

Making a feeder

What do you need first?

However, a bird feeder made of plywood cannot be assembled with memories alone.
First of all, we need tools, simple ones, but without them work is almost impossible:

• Jigsaw. Fortunately, with the advent of small and portable tools, there is no longer a need to cut with hacksaws or a regular saw.
• Screwdriver. We will use screws, not nails. A wood screw holds parts of a structure together much more firmly.
• Corner. Without this simple computational tool, it is almost impossible to properly cut parts at an angle of exactly 90 degrees.
• Roulette.

Let's fantasize about the project

Advice!
The only condition that we will always have to observe when working with plywood outdoors is that it easily absorbs moisture and becomes deformed.
It is good to treat the parts of the feeder several times with a waterproofing compound, and start collecting only after everything is completely saturated and dry.

If we have solved the moisture problem, we can start preparing the material.

Preparing the material

Before making a bird feeder from plywood, we need to prepare parts of the future structure and, in fact, the material itself.
As we said above, the main thing is to solve the moisture issue, then we calmly select any remnants of plywood and install a feeder from them.

Assembling the structure

Let's look at a simple example, step-by-step assembly:

• First we prepare the bottom. This may be a piece of plywood material with a large cross-section - this is our base. The result should be a blank 40 x 40 centimeters.
• To prevent our food from spilling out, we build sides. First, we install two sides 40 cm long. These can be simple bars with a cross-section of 30-40 mm; it is good that the bars are rectangular in cross-section and not square.
• We select screws for them. Considering that our bar is 30 mm thick and the bottom is at least 15 mm, the self-tapping screw should be no longer than 45 mm; at least, a do-it-yourself plywood feeder should be not only beautiful, but also durable!
• We screw in self-tapping screws in the corners and 2 more pieces every 10 cm. We screw them in from the outside of the bottom so that they go right through the plywood and enter the block. Ideally, the head of the screw should be recessed into the plywood.
• Now we insert the cross bars. Ours turns out to be somewhat shorter, depending on the thickness of the longitudinal slats. It would be best to accurately measure the distance and cut according to size.
  We can screw these bars in the same way, through the base, and in addition, we can fasten the bars together with self-tapping screws, which can be long ones.

Next we prepare the support for the roof.
The instructions here are still simple and require basic steps:

• We prepare four bars for the roof. We determine the height as desired, the main thing is that the birds can freely fly into the feeder and feed, so our height will be from 10 to 15 cm.
• We cut down our unique “columns” on one side at an angle of 45 degrees, just under the roof.

Important!
We have already said that the plywood needs to be treated with a waterproofing material, and we do the same with the bars.
Just don’t treat the material with an antiseptic, it’s chemical after all, and birds often wipe their beaks on the wood of the feeder.

• We fasten the supports with self-tapping screws through the bottom of the feeder, and you can also put them on wood glue, plus screw one screw through the sides.
• We construct a fence. We measure 6-8 cm from the edge of the platform, and stick it parallel to the base of the cloaks. This is done so that the plywood bird feeder does not become a gathering place for large birds.
• The fence is attached to both sides of the feeder, and we simply screw it onto one self-tapping screw at the joint.

Advice!
If appearance is really important, then you can use wood putty.
We carefully process the joints with it, and we get an almost solid feeder, with no visible seams at all!

Roof

Our roof will consist of two pieces of plywood sheet, only of different sizes.
We assemble it as follows:

• We measure the width 2-4 cm larger than the size of the platform. Let's say for us it will be 43 cm.
• Our length is also slightly larger than the size of the platform, however, it is not the same on both sides.
• We make one part of the roof 5 mm smaller.
• Now we screw a 43 cm long block to the smaller side; we can install it all with our own hands with incredible ease.
• We apply the second part of the roof to the end of the first part, and screw three or four self-tapping screws to the block. The roof is ready.

We are installing the roof; we had supports ready for it with sawed-off ends. We fasten everything in the same way with self-tapping screws and wood glue.
Near our skate we drill two holes for a clothes cord, for example, and we have a ready-made structure for hanging the feeder on a tree or pole. (see also article)

Conclusion

We looked at how to make a feeder from plywood of the simplest type. Let this be the first “swallow”, and it will be followed by more complex platforms, maybe with plastic elements, for example. (see also article)
In any case, for working together with a child, assembling such a structure is an excellent and useful solution. And in the video presented in this article you will find additional information on this topic.

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