Family Fun Feeding the Birds

Plants are the easiest way to bring birds into your landscape. Increase the number and diversity of winged visitors by adding a few feeders.

Get the whole family involved by making a few from leftovers from the breakfast table. 

Use the rind from that grapefruit and fill it with thistle seed for the finches or grape jelly for the cedar waxwings and hang it in a tree.

Gather a few evergreen cones and coat them with peanut butter or homemade suet and roll in birdseed. Attach and hang it from a colorful ribbon.  

Make sunflowers into feeders.  Punch 4 evenly spaced holes in the flower head with a screwdriver.  Run twine or colorful yarn through the holes to create a hanger.

Do it yourself or purchase a kit to convert soda and wine bottles into bird feeders.

Homemade feeders make great gifts for kids to make and give away.

A bit more information:  Nature and garden centers as well as online stores have attachments for converting colorful wine bottles and plastic soda bottles into feeders.  Or make your own.  Some gardeners use wooden spoons as perches for the birds.  They place the spoon through the bottle, cutting a slightly larger hole on the side where the bowl of the spoon is exposed.  The seed falls into the spoon where the birds perch and eat.  Use an eye hook attached to the cap on top for hanging the homemade feeder.

Tags

birds garden-landscape-design flowers-ornamental-grasses sunflower

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