Bird feeders are a useful garden facility that attracts feathered helpers. You can use a variety of materials for their construction, attracting your children to this occupation. The easiest way to make a feeder out of the box and a plastic bottle. For the construction of capital structures for your own garden you will need a board or plywood and several hours of free time. You should responsibly approach the issue of food, because not all food is equally good for birds.
Content
- How to make the simplest feeder
- The main types of bird feeders
- Suitable winter food for birds
- How to build a capital wooden feeding trough for a personal plot
How to make the simplest feeder
The feeder is a structure of a covered area, on which there is enough space to place food and the location of birds. This building is useful for owners of personal plots, as it attracts feathered helpers. It has long been known that birds are the natural enemies of insects and like to build nests not far from human habitation. That is why it is worth worrying about the survival of birds in the winter, so as not to lose valuable helpers.
The simplest plastic bottle feeder protects the food well and is popular with birds. it protects food well and is popular with birds
The bird feeder out of the box is quick and easy. The easiest way is to take an empty carton of milk and make holes wide enough in it so that the bird gets to the feed. You can also make it yourself from thick cardboard, planted on glue. Another simple and popular material is a plastic bottle in which holes are made..
Making bird feeders is a fascinating activity, which is worth attracting kids growing up in the house. It should be taught that different types of birds need different designs of “winter canteens”. So for bullfinches, pigeons, sparrows, those that are equipped with wide flats or those with open walls are suitable. In such sufficiently stable feeders it is easier to get to the feed. Titmouse prefer more complex and inaccessible options. For example, narrow tap feeders, deep, made of bending materials or swaying on a fishing line.
The main types of bird feeders
- The design of the bottom with sides, walls and a gable roof (usually made of wood or plywood).
- A platform-table, mounted on a leg at the bottom of which there is a drainage pipe made of plastic, which protects the feeder from squirrels and cats. Optimally, such a structure should be placed at a distance of a couple of meters from the house and the nearest branch. The height of the feeder should be more than one and a half meters.
A table-table without a roof will require periodic clearing of snow
- A cone-shaped mesh or steel grill where various types of food are placed, depending on the species of birds involved. For example, for blackbirds, bullfinches, waxwings, it is good to prepare rowan berries and viburnum. Such a feeder is also suitable for squirrels, which can put raisins, flour worms, peanuts, seeds.
- A window feeder on suction cups or other fasteners is good for small birds. It is worth placing it so that feathered guests do not fly into the house.
- Ground feeders prefer finches, blackbirds, thrills, zavianki, and curlers. It can be either a construction with a roof or just a wide tray that needs to be brought into the house at night.
- For tits, it is worth hanging a few pieces of unsalted bacon joined together with a tight thread. In this case, the feeder is difficult to access for a larger bird. In addition, for the tits on the wire, you can place small pieces of ghee or butter. They also make hanging edible feeders from dried fruits, nuts, seeds and lard.
Suitable winter food for birds
In the feeder, you can pour several types of food, which will attract different birds. Woodpeckers, crossbills and nuthatch love sunflower seeds, pumpkins, lard, cones, acorns, nuts. Goldfinches, sparrows and greenfinchs are well fed with millet, millet and oats. Waxwings, as well as bullfinches, with pleasure peck the berries of elderberry, mountain ash.
Tits will like feeding troughs in which nourishing balls of ghee and various seeds and nuts are laid
One of the most enjoyable treats for tits is the edible feeders. Prepare them as follows. Unsalted fat is melted at a low temperature, and then dry components (various seeds, dried fruits, nuts) are added to it. It is necessary in advance to prepare some small forms in which the mixture gradually hardens. Previously, all the ingredients are mixed well, and in the center of the container is placed a wire with a rope tied at the end. After hardening, the edible feeder can be hung in the garden.
Suitable foods: fresh unsalted lard, meat, beef tallow, butter, raw sunflower seeds, millet, corn, rice, wheat, hawthorn berries, viburnum, mountain ash, white bread, eggshell (source of calcium). At the same time, you should refrain from feeding feathered brown bread, chips, corn flakes, fried, sweet and salty foods, as they can cause digestive upsets of birds.
How to build a capital wooden feeding trough for a personal plot
In their own garden, the owners often hang purchased or independently made wood or plywood feeders. The simplest and most convenient design under a gable roof can be assembled in a few hours. First, make a drawing of the bird feeder, and then proceed with its assembly.
The classic version of the feeder can be supplemented with a compartment for filling the feed
You can make a simple and convenient structure with a compartment for filling feed from plexiglass. To work, you need a board 2m long, 20cm wide, 2cm thick or moisture-proof plywood. Plexiglass is inserted into the side walls, where grooves with a depth of 4 mm are made using a milling machine. Details of the feeder are fixed with self-tapping screws, all angles must be sanded.
Feeder elements: gable roof, side walls, bottom with sides
On the sides it is worth making perches from a round strip, inserted into the edges of the sides (element No. 8) where it is necessary to drill holes (10 mm in diameter). The right half of the gable roof is assembled together with the rest of the elements, and then the left half is fastened with furniture hinges. The feed, which should be enough for a few weeks to fill, will gradually pour out to the bottom of the feeder due to the gaps between the side walls and the bottom.
Capital bird feeders, the photos of which are best done when feathered guests arrive at the building, will please the children if they put their efforts into the construction. Therefore, it is worth attracting little helpers..
Drawing of the side wall of a classic bird feeder.
If you decide to make bird feeders, pictures can be a good source of inspiration. You can make a completely standard structure or go further and come up with something extraordinary. In any case, the feeder is a real help to the birds, which will subsequently benefit people, because feathered helpers are wonderful fighters against insect pests.
