Make your own eco bird feeders
These eco bird feeders use all natural or compostable materials and they're cheap and easy to make. Birds like robins, finches, tits and house sparrows will love pecking at the fruit and seeds. Have a go at making one or all of the three easy designs, then hang them up in a sheltered space. You don't need a garden - they'll work just as well on a balcony, hung on a sheltered house wall or by a window, or added to allotments. Try to hang them high enough that cats and dogs can't get to them. And don't forget to leave out a dish of fresh, clean water too!
Eco bird feeder
Make one of these simple feeders, using natural, recycled materials. You'll help keep the birds fed all year round.
- Suitable for: Adults, and children with their adults!
- Season: All year round
These eco bird feeders use all natural or compostable materials and they're cheap and easy to make. Birds like robins, finches, tits and house sparrows will love pecking at the fruit and seeds.
Have a go at making one or all of the four easy designs (or buy our DIY bird food pine cone), then hang them up in a sheltered space. You don't need a garden – they'll work just as well on a balcony, hung on a sheltered house wall or by a window, or added to allotments. Try to hang them high enough that cats and dogs can't get to them. And don't forget to leave out a dish of fresh, clean water too!
You can help birds fuel up in all seasons with one (or all) of our bird feeder builds below.
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Apple bird larder
Instructions
- 1 Choose eight of your twigs, making sure they're roughly the same thickness.
- 2 Cut four of them to about 30cm in length and the other four to around 60cm.
- 3 Start with the four shorter sticks. Lay one at a right angle to another. Where they cross, wind a length of string round and round as tightly as you can, and tie a knot. Trim the ends of the knot. Do the same with the other sticks to make a square with sticking out ends (for the birds to perch on).
- 4 Make a bundle with the four longer sticks and tie together tightly at one end.
- 5 Place the bundle above your square of sticks and spread the sticks out so you have one in each of the outside corners. Wind string around like you did before to secure the upright sticks in place.
- 6 Poke a pencil or a knitting needle into one side of the apple and out the other side. Push a small stick through the holes. It should stick out slightly on either side so birds can perch closely to the apple to peck it.
- 7 Make another hole through the apple – this time through the core, from top to bottom.
- 8 Then poke some string through and tie the apple to the top of your feeder.
- 9 Tie your feeder to a branch in a quiet, safe space outside (somewhere away from cats!), or to a hook, if adding to a balcony or elsewhere. Keep an eye on the food and throw it away if it starts to go mouldy.
What you'll need
A selection of twigs and branches – from garden prunings or twigs picked up from the ground when you're out walking.
Natural string
An apple or a pear
Strong kitchen scissors or garden secateurs
Pencil or knitting needle (for poking holes)
Swinging fruit bowl
Instructions
- 1 Scoop the fruit out of half an orange.
- 2 Using a pencil, poke four holes opposite each other around the edge of the orange half.
- 3 Thread sticks and string through the holes.
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4
Gather the ends of string together and make a knot, then hang the feeder from a tree or a hook in a quiet, sheltered spot outside (somewhere away from cats!).
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5
Fill the orange cup with bird seed.
- 6 Keep topping up the seed mix (or other foods) until the orange starts to go mouldy. Then you get to make another!
You could also add cooked pasta, cooked rice, boiled potatoes, mild grated cheese, roast potatoes, dry porridge oats and uncooked and unsalted bacon rind.
What you'll need
Two thin twigs
An orange
Seed mix for wild birds (don't use peanuts – they're a choking hazard for young birds and need to go in a special mesh feeder)
Natural string
Pencil or knitting needle (for poking holes)
Example Rich Text
Egg box buffet
Instructions
- 1 Take the bottom half of an egg box.
- 2 Make two holes in the top of the cardboard 'cones', then thread some thick string through and knot it together.
- 3 Add the seeds and hang from a branch or a hook in a quiet, sheltered spot outside (somewhere away from cats!).
You could add other food bits too: try uncooked and unsalted bacon rind, cooked and unsalted pasta, rice or potatoes, or raisins and sultanas (making sure dogs and cats can’t get to them, as they're poisonous for them).
Keep an eye on the food and throw it away if it starts to go mouldy. You could always make another egg box buffet!
What you'll need
Cardboard egg carton
Natural string
Seed mix for wild garden birds (don't use peanuts – they're a choking hazard for young birds and need to go in a special mesh feeder)
Seeded apple
Instructions
-
1
Carefully cut a hole through the apple using an apple corer or a suitable tool.
- 2 Take the pointy end of the sunflower seeds and pierce them into the apple.
- 3 Hang the apple in an open space where birds are likely to feel safe (somewhere away from cats!). Make sure there’s a branch nearby for birds to stand on while they eat.
What you'll need
An apple
Sunflower seeds
Apple corer (or other tool)
Look after your feeder
To keep the feeders fresh for the birds, keep an eye on them and remove any of the foods that start to look ‘off,’ or if the birds have stopped eating them – this could be a sign that they’ve spoiled.
