Birds are our smaller friends who delight us with their chirping and singing. And any garden in the presence of birds seems to come to life, filled with new life. Besides birds help to protect the summer cottage from attacks of various insects in the summer. And in winter, when they have almost no food, the task of a person is to help the birds survive the frost by feeding them. A good attitude towards birds will pay off handsomely. for birds with their own hands is done quickly, without unnecessary manipulation, it will not only become a source of food for birds, but it will also be able to decorate any area.

Feeders for winged birds were made by many while studying at school, and someone, together with their parents, managed to make far from one feeder while still visiting Kindergarten. At that time, tasks for making feeders were given at school in order to instill in the child a desire to work and take care of our smaller brothers.

Now, in most cases, feeders in the adjoining areas are located in order to lure birds for permanent residence in the garden or to take care of them in winter period. There are a great many variations of feeders, but do not forget that if a person pursues a good goal, he must make sure that the feeder is not just beautiful, but comfortable and attractive to birds.

So what should it be like so that birds from all over the area flock to peck at delicious delicacies?

1. The feeder should not be bright. Do not forget that birds are inhabitants of the wild, in which bright colors often indicate the danger of an insect or animal. So it is unlikely that birds will fly to nuclear flower feeders. The best option is the color of the wood.
2. The place for feeding should be equipped with small sides so that the food does not fall out of it during the wind and at the moment when the bird lands on the feeder and shakes it.

   

3. It is important to make sure that the sides and other elements of the feeder are not sharp and do not pose a danger to birds.
4. The best thing, so that the feeder has a small roof- then the food lying in it will not get wet in the rain, and it will not be covered with snow.
5. It is recommended to place the feeder where cats and other predators cannot reach it.. Then the birds will happily fly to it. If the place carries danger, then it is unlikely that it will be possible to lure the birds.

   

6. All openings in the walls of the feeder must be spacious so as not to create the effect of an enclosed space. Otherwise, the birds will be uncomfortable.
7. It is best to make a feeding place that will withstand various weather conditions and will not collapse after the first season.
8. Feed in the feeder should be clearly visible- Birds use their eyesight more than their other senses when looking for food.

   

Advice! In order to make the structure heavier and protect it from swinging in the wind, you can place pebbles in it, but so that they do not end up in food.

Which is better: homemade or from the store?

You can make a place for birds to eat on your own, but the shops now sell ready-made designs and products that you can simply purchase and hang in your garden or outside the window. Of course, then a lot of time is saved, but it’s better to make the feeder yourself or order from the masters. Only in this case, you can be sure that the feeder is made of materials that are safe for flying inhabitants of nature and will perform its function correctly.

On a note! Undoubtedly, you need to pay attention to the design of the feeder, but if this is not just a decorative decoration of the garden, then, first of all, you should pay attention to its functionality.

It is also important to understand that a good feeder, but made in production or by craftsmen, will cost a lot of money. So it’s worth considering what to do - save money and do everything yourself, or still spend money and buy a ready-made version.

Provided that a feeding place can actually be made quickly and easily enough, the DIY option remains the best. The main thing is to decide and decide what and how to make a feeder, how and where it will hang, and also take into account the availability of skills in the manufacture of various products. You should not take on a complex project without proper experience, it is easier to choose the simplest option. Fortunately, there are many types of feeders.

Table. Types of feeders.

On a note! The design can be made simply from feed, combining the grains into a single lump with the help of various nutrients and hanging such a “gingerbread” in a conspicuous place. Suitable for small birds that will peck out grain from the feeder, catching on it with their claws.

What can you make a feeder out of?

You can make a feeder yourself from the most different items and materials, ranging from an ordinary board to a plastic bottle or even a tetrapack box. Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it is necessary to choose what the food base will be made of, based on the presence of certain skills in working with different tool, the availability of free time, funds, as well as the goals of creating a place for eating.

Wooden feeders

The best option for creating a bird feeding area was and remains a natural, untreated tree. Such a design will be closest to nature, and its neutral color and smell will not scare birds away from food. It is ideal if the natural bark is preserved on the boards. So when choosing a material, you can stop at saw cuts of birch, pine, etc. You can even make a feeder from branches!

Wooden feeder - the best option

But in order to make a wooden, even the simplest feeder, you will need certain skills and tools for working with wood.

Advice! You should not decorate a wooden feeder with various bright objects, but you can decorate it with natural material, for example, by masking the roof with twigs, cones, leaves.

How to make a tree feeder?

Consider how you can make the simplest feeder from wooden materials. To do this, you need to buy wooden blocks, a small piece of fiberboard, a furniture stapler, a saw, drawing supplies and a tape measure.

Step 1. From a sheet of fiberboard you need to cut a square or rectangle. You should apply a drawing of a square or rectangle of the appropriate size on a sheet of fiberboard, and then cut off the excess with a saw.

Step 2 Now you need to make the sides for the pallet. It is necessary to cut out two pieces of the same length from the bar, equal to the side of the square or the long side of the rectangle, as well as two shorter pieces, which will be equal to the width of the square or the narrow side of the rectangle, minus the thickness of the bar.

Step 3 The sides need to be attached to the bottom of the feeder, which was previously made from fiberboard. The easiest way to do this is with a stapler.

Step 4 Now you need to make 4 supports for the roof of the feeder, all from the same bar. They must be the same height.

Step 6 The upper parts of the supports standing on one side must be connected with crossbars cut from the same bar. You should also make saw cuts on them at an angle of 45 degrees.

Step 7 Next is made. It is required to connect two sheets of fiberboard at an angle of 90 degrees. The connection is made using a small "ridge" bar with a length equal to the length of the slope. It is worth remembering that the roof should hang a little over the tray of the feeder, which means that the slopes should be made taking this factor into account.

Step 8 Next, the roof must be fixed on the racks for it using the same stapler or nails. The junction of two slopes can be glued using any material that does not allow water to pass through. The feeder is ready. If desired, it can be stolen with cones and branches.

Advice! While fixing the sides on the bottom of the feeder, they can be additionally smeared with PVA glue to ensure the connection not only due to the stapler staples, but also due to glue.

Feeders with sides are most loved by shelling birds, and for the rest, you can make a feeder without sides. The main thing is that the side is not too high.

Similar designs can be made from plywood, refusing to use fiberboard. In this case, the feeder will be more reliable and durable.

Video - Wooden feeder

Simple hanging feeders

These are very simple feeders, they can be easily and simply made in just a few minutes. They are a delicacy placed on a braid or in a case and hung on a tree. Often, according to this principle, pieces of fat for tits are fixed on the trees. You can also make balls from seeds. To hold the grains together, you can use peanut butter or interior fat. And such feeders just need to be fixed on a braid somewhere in a place noticeable to birds. To attract attention, you can try to tie a sprig of mountain ash to such a feeder. You need to form balls on the street so that they immediately freeze in the cold.

Advice! It is best to make pendants in the shape of a ball, and not in some beautiful and exotic shape. It is the ball that is the most convenient option for birds.

Making a fat feeder

Let's see how you can make a simple structure for placing fat, for the manufacture of which you will need twine, wire and a regular hoop - an accessory for embroiderers.

Step 1. In the store you need to buy ordinary plastic hoops. They need to be separated into two halves, but in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe castle, the hoop should remain connected.

Step 2 In the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe castle, you need to wrap the hoop with wire on both sides.

Step 3 On the other hand, where the hoop is separated, you need to make a wire jumper and wrap it with a “tail” from the wire to about the middle.

Step 4 The rest of the wire must be twisted and formed into a hook at an angle of 90 degrees, which is directed inside the hoop. Fat will be planted on it.

Step 6 After that, the hoop and wire must be wrapped with ordinary twine. The feeder is ready. It remains to place it in the right place in the garden and put a delicacy for the birds on the pin.

Making a feeder from a plastic bottle

Of course, you can simply cut a hole in the wall of a plastic bottle and hang it on a tree, filling it with grain. But you can contrive and make the feeder a little more complicated. To do this, you will need pallets for flowers of different diameters and a plastic bottle of about 1.5 liters. A strong rope will also come in handy.

Step 1. In one of the pallets (which is smaller), you need to make a hole of the same diameter as the neck of the bottle. You can cut it both with a knife and with a special crown put on a drill.

Step 2 Next, you need to remove the cap from the plastic bottle and screw the bottle itself into the tray with the neck, and screw the cork onto the neck from below. But for now, the structure can be temporarily disassembled. A small hole should be cut in the side of the bottle so that the food can spill out of it and be available to birds.

Step 3 Cut off the bottom of the bottle with a sharp knife.

Step 4 Now on the pallet - both on the first and on the second - you need to mark and drill holes for the rope. First you need to make holes on the smaller one, and then, applying it to the larger one, mark it and also drill holes.

Step 5 The final assembly is underway. The bottle must be screwed to the bottom tray.

Step 6 It is required to cut six pieces of rope of the same length. The rope is better to take dense and thick enough. You can also use a synthetic version.

Step 7 Now on each rope you need to tie a knot at the same distance from the edge.

Step 8 It is required to thread the ropes into the holes on the small pallet so that the short tails of the ropes are at the bottom.

Step 9 The second pallet will become a makeshift roof for the feeder. Now you need to thread the ropes into the holes of the second pallet.

Step 10 The ropes must be well tensioned. You should get the same design as in the picture.

Step 11 Now it is required from below and above from the remains of the rope to form "tails". On the top side, do not forget to make a loop for hanging.

Step 12 It remains only to fill the feeder with seeds and fix it on tree branches using a hanging loop.

Video - Large plastic bottle feeder

Video - Glass bottle hopper feeder

You can make bird feeders from any material. In haste, a feeding place can be built even from cardboard, but such a feeder will not last long. If you want to decorate the garden with beautiful and durable feeding places for birds, then it is better to spend your time and make a tree feeder.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. With sandpaper, be sure to sand the sawn edges properly so that there is no burr left.
4. We cut the bar into 4 racks 25 - 30 cm long.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. We fix the roof with self-tapping screws on top of the racks.
8. 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 (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. On opposite sides of the bottle, cut out holes of arbitrary shape. 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 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 from a 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 U - 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 perpendicularly inside 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!

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 tools at hand, which we usually throw in a landfill.

How to make a bird feeder with your own hands?

The magnificence of the surrounding world cannot be imagined without the fervent trills and chirping of birds. Birds fill nature with life and harmony. Even a small garden will delight the heart and eyes if birds are lured there. Having accustomed the birds to the feeder, you will be able to observe the entertaining turmoil of birds and the secret life of birds. Some of them defend their rights in a fight with relatives, others enter into competition with other species, but without exception, all carefully look around so as not to miss the attack of a small hawk, which is very interested in the visitors of the feeder.

simple feeder for birds will bring great benefits to birds

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

• the feeder should be, first of all, convenient for the birds, there should not be any difficulties when extracting food;
• the roof and sides will help protect the food from snow, rain and wind. From exposure to moisture, the food can 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 is resistant to moisture, otherwise this design will not last long and a new one will need to be made;

The feeder should be safe: not have sharp sides and be located high enough above the ground

• walls and corners should not be sharp and prickly;
• feeders for small birds are made small 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 add food to 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, 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 sizes of parts for cutting. Choose the design that you like, the drawing will facilitate the work and ensure that the end result is exactly what is shown in the photo.

Lightweight and durable plywood feeder

When choosing a drawing for a future feeder, consider the bird population in your region. Jays, pigeons and magpies can eat all the food, leaving little titmouses hungry. To prevent this from happening, make the size of the openings of the feeder such that big birds couldn't get to the food.

So, you will need a hammer, an electric jigsaw, nails of a suitable length, water-based glue, sandpaper, plywood, 20 x 20 mm timber. Consider the simplest feeder.

Wooden bird feeder ideas and drawings

Wooden feeders are attractive because they will last a long time, keep their shape well - this is due to the properties and reliability of wood. To make such a feeder with your own hands, you will need at least minimal skills in working with tools and a drawing. The board for manufacturing should be 18 - 20 mm thick. 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 4.5 x 2 cm timber for the racks, a 25 x 25 cm square of plywood for the bottom, two pieces of 35 x 22 cm for the roof, nails, self-tapping screws and glue.

Feeding trough made of wooden beams

Such a feeder can be installed permanently on a dug-in pole 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 the roof, the feathered friends of the garden will like such a cozy dining room.

Finished wood feeder

If there is a gazebo on your site, hang a simple feeder without a roof there. 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 tree from splitting, the tip of the carnation must be made blunt, and a hole must be drilled under the self-tapping screw before screwing in.

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

You can make a feeder with your own hands from a milk bag or a tetra pack from under the juice, such. This is even for a child. For this you will need:

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

Bird feeder from a milk bag

First of all, we 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 glue the window on the underside with adhesive tape for the convenience and safety of the birds. We pierce a hole under the holes with scissors and insert the cardboard folded into a tube, which remains from cutting the holes above. In the bent corners we make small holes for the wire or rope. And tie to a branch.

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

Tetro pack horizontal feeder

You can make a feeder out of two juice bags. We cut the first package along the narrow sidewalls, leaving the top not cut. We cut off the third part from the second tetra pack and cut a hole on the front side of the package - this will be the stern board or the bottom of the feeder. We combine the bottom with the first package so that we get a triangle. Parts can be connected with glue, wrapped with tape or pierced at the bottom of the sidewalls to insert tubes for cocktails.

Bird feeder from plastic bottles 1.5 - 2 liters

Consider some variations of the execution of the feeder with your own hands from plastic containers.

Option number 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. Jumpers should remain between the holes. If you make a slot in the form of an inverted letter "P" and bend the plate up, you get a visor from the rain. You can stick a band-aid or fabric tape on the bottom edge of the hole - the edges will not be pointed and the birds will sit comfortably. We make symmetrical holes in the lower part and insert the stick - the result is a feeder with a perch.

A simple plastic bottle feeder

You can attach such a dining room for birds on a tree by wrapping a 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 into a knot, you get a loop that can be thrown over the branches of garden trees.

Be sure to make the edges of the plastic feeder safe - seal the cuts with electrical tape

Option number 2. Bunker feeder.

This design is rational in use in that the feed can be poured with a margin for several days. The feed, as it is eaten by the birds, will automatically fill up on the feeding ground itself.

Bunker feeder made of 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 upper third of the bottle. We make two symmetrical holes at the top - a ribbon or twine will later be attached to them for hanging the feeder. In the second bottle, we cut several holes at the narrowest part - food will spill out of them. Do not immediately make large holes, it is better to expand them later. We fill the bottle with food, tighten the cork and insert the bottle into the first bottle cut off by a third.

Option number 3. Feeder with spoon

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

Feeder with spoon

Advice. With a red-hot needle or small nail, make several holes in the bottom of the feeder to remove moisture that has got inside.

Bird feeder from a plastic bottle 5 liters

Probably, in every house there is an empty plastic five-liter water bottle. Making a feeder in one evening for feeding birds in the winter with your own hands 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 you to comfortably feed several birds at once.

Feeder 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, secateurs or a clerical knife.

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

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

Materials needed to make a feeder

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

From a five-liter bottle, you can also build a bunker feeder. 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 create unusual canteens for birds from the simplest plastic bottles that will decorate your site.

Shoe box bird feeder

To make a do-it-yourself bird dining room, the simplest material will fit, which is stored in abundance on the balconies of most families: boxes for electrical goods, cardboard packaging for food. Choose thicker cardboard with a laminated coating, the laminate will slightly increase the life of the feeder. 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 schoolboy can make a cozy feeder out of the box with his own hands

You will need a nylon cord, scissors or a clerical knife and adhesive tape. Since cardboard is a very short-lived material and is afraid of moisture, the finished feeder wrapped with tape will last until the next season. Having cut through the side holes and fastening the cord, you can hang the feeder and fill it with treats for birds that will not take long to wait. Put sand or some pebbles on the bottom so that the structure does not shake much with the wind.

If you cover the cardboard feeder with paints, then 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 is a side and a roof. We glue the structure with adhesive tape. We make two hooks from the wire: we bend a piece of wire in half and pierce the “ceiling” of the feeder with the ends, twist and bend from the inside. By connecting the hooks, you can hang the feeder on a branch. As you can see in the photo. Now pour the food and wait for the guests.

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 not 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. There are no and cannot be birds that fall into hibernation or otherwise save their own energy resources when adverse conditions occur: 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.

Wild birds on feeders in winter

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 the constant 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. AT middle lane In the Russian Federation and in the south of Siberia, in addition to the ubiquitous stubborn sparrows, the birds shown in the figure fly to the feeder; the list with the names is below it.

Birds that you can wait for in the winter at the feeder

• 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 in 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 and arrogant, 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 will take on pests in the spring, 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.

Schematic of a bird feeder unattractive to sparrows

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.:

Types of winter feeders for wild birds

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 to maintain 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.

Feeders for tits

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.:

Cone hanging feeder

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.

Paper hanging feeders

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 a spool from a roll of toilet paper, smeared with the same peanut butter and sprinkled with seeds (see the figure on the right), can save more than one feathered poor fellow right in front of your 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.

Feeder house out of the box

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.

Feeder house for strong birds

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 something similar quickly from a shoe box, on the sidebar there, but this one will not last long: strong active birds will tear and peck at weak material for a 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 bird feeders

Homemade bunker feeders come in 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.

Making a bunker bird feeder from a bottle

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 cater for 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. Feed is retained 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 anyway, 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.

Plastic bird feeders

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 made from used toys: 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.

Bird feeders from unusable containers

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.

Bird feeders from bags and bottles

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 bird feeder out of plastic eggplant

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 device of the bird feeder tray from the eggplant

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

Feeder-house from juice bags

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.

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.

A simple homemade wooden bird feeder

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 bird feeders made of wood

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.

Drawings of a stationary wooden bird feeder

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

Double Decker Hanging Bird Feeder

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.

Wooden bird feeders with good food visibility

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 wood in terms of convenience, appearance and can last at least 3-4 seasons can be made from corrugated cardboard from packing 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:

Making a Corrugated Board Wooden Board Substitute

• 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;
• 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 according to the technique of execution or some functional features and simply beautiful, designer ones. 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.:

Original bird feeders

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.

Putting a mark on the end of the rope

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 can is tied with a rope in the same way that sailors, riggers, or, say, high-altitude fitters, mark 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 drawn cat from a living one, and even peck the image in retaliation; Let's just give a few examples in Fig.:

Decorative bird feeders

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.

Pumpkin bird feeders

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 budgerigar seed mix is ​​just what any bird in 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 are smaller than hens 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.

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.