How To Make A Simple & Easy Bird Feeder

Bird feeders come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. My dad made wood bird feeders for all of my kids last year for Christmas. Actually he gave them all the cut out parts and hardware for a bird feeder -kind of like a homemade "kit". Then one wintry post-Christmas afternoon he spent time with the kids in his wood shop teaching them how to assemble the kits into a finished bird feeder. The kids loved this and couldn't wait to hang them up when they got home. Even in the winter there are still hungry birds who love a full bird feeder!

This fall my boys really wanted to make a bird feeder but due to their age and my limited woodworking skills I had to find a way to make a bird feeder that didn't involve power tools. I was contemplating what to use as a bird feeder while taking out the recycling bin and I noticed two empty plastic juice containers and decided right then and there that these would make great bird feeders!

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please read my Disclaimer page.

Simple & Easy Bird Feeder Tutorial

Materials needed to make our recycled bird feeders:

plastic juice container (cleaned out and dry)
bamboo skewer (break off pointy tip)
twine or yarn (about 30 inches long)
scissors
power drill (or large nail & hammer)
sharpie marker
xacto knife or utility knife
bird seed
tape


Instructions on how to make a simple recycled bird feeder:

Lay the empty plastic container on it's side and mark a spot about one inch up from the bottom with your sharpie marker. Drill a hole through the marked spot. Flip the container over and on the opposite side drill another hole. This is where you will slide the bamboo skewer through the container as a perch for birds to land when at the feeder.

find here at Walmart

(Note - if you don't have a power drill or aren't comfortable using one you can use a large nail and hammer to make holes in the container)

Next, starting at the hole you just drilled measure 1 inch up and place a mark. With an xacto knife cut a small 2 inch circle through the container. This is the spot where birds can get the food out of the feeder.

Grab your drill and from the top of the container measure down 2 inches and drill holes on both sides of the container. Feed the yarn or twine through each hole and tie the ends securely together. Use this to hang your feeder up once it is filled with seed.

find it at Walmart

Lastly slide the bamboo skewer perch through the two holes at the bottom of the container. Wrap a small piece of tape around both sides of the skewer close to the container to ensure that the skewers do not slide out of the container.

Fill your bird feeder with seeds up to the bottom of the feeding hole. If you fill the feeder fuller than this the seeds will just fall out. Place the juice container cap on your feeder and go hang it outside!

found at Walmart

Since I like to make our projects "school friendly" I'm always looking for a way to incorporate our crafts and projects into what we are learning. This project fit right in with my son's science lessons on bird identification and behavior so I created a fun bird observation form for him to fill out as he watches birds visit his bird feeder. Here is the bird observation record printable I created that I thought you might find useful. Click the link to open the document.

Free Printable - Bird Feeder Observation Record!

click to open

I'd love to hear about any cool birds you see! What is your favorite kind of bird? Snap a picture of your feeder and share with me in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.

My kids are having a blast watching for birds at our new feeders. It took a few days for the birds to find the feeders and start visiting them regularly but now we have quite the crowd of birds eating at our feeders. Oh, and we have a squirrel who is doing his best to find a way to get to the new feeders too. He is such a funny creature to watch too.


Here are some of the supplies I used with my kids to make our bird feeders:

find on Amazon

find on Amazon

find on Amazon