Homemade bird feeder from a plastic bottle.
Remember how, back in childhood, educators,then teachers diligently instilled in us a love for our smaller brothers? We willingly made bird feeders in labor lessons and were not lazy in filling them regularly, taking care of the birds in the cold season. Years passed and high technologies came into our lives, but progress did not touch the colorful flocks of birds. In winter, they still need support, which now costs almost nothing. The simplest bird feeder from a plastic bottle, hanging outside the window or in the yard, is made in just a couple of minutes, and its maintenance is almost cost-free. Maybe we will make bird feeders from plastic bottles right now? Yes, why not!
But before we start the master class with instructionsabout how to make a bird feeder from a plastic bottle, we will only barely touch on the value of this craft. The primary benefit is obvious - it is practical help for birds suffering from nutritional deficiencies in the cold. It is for this reason that birds fly to cities in winter, closer to people. But making this craft also has value in the pedagogical aspect. By involving a child or teenager in the process, we form a full-fledged personality - we instill in the consciousness of a future member of society the concepts of virtue, responsibility, love for wildlife. And making bird feeders from polyethylene bottles with your own hands is much more interesting than playing empty virtual games.
Materials and components
Remember, bird houses used to be made fromplywood, wooden blocks, milk cartons and other handy food? This is all because back then we simply did not have PET bottles for soda and other liquids. The advent of soft plastic containers will only simplify our task. Let's make a bird feeder from bottles ourselves, using step-by-step methodical schemes. Together with the kids, of course. The kids will definitely love this activity. In addition to PET containers of 1.5 liters or more, we will also need: disposable plastic spoons and wooden skewers (rods), strong ropes and scraps of nylon rope. Acrylic paints (for plastic) or self-adhesive film for decorating the feeder are optional. An awl, scissors and a stationery knife are enough as tools. Use foil, rustling candy wrappers and "crispy" cellophane to a minimum - an excess of such decor can scare away small birds. Bird feeder-tower from a regular PET bottle The first step-by-step diagram shows a beautiful bird canteen-tower. Anyone can make one from plastic bottles with their own simple tools. In winter, it will be a feeding place for forest tits, and in the summer heat, a drinking bowl for birds from stuffy city blocks.
Let's get to work? So:
- Cut the tip of the bottle with your cutting tools: scissors, a clerical knife - than you are accustomed to use. This is the future roof of our tower;
- The height of the remaining bottom should be reduced approximatelya third, and then cut through the hull of the "house" laz the necessary size. The small size of the access door allows access only to small birds - bullfinches, tits, etc .;
- Cutting out the window, do not rush to cut off the extra "tongue" of plastic. It can be bent outward, forming a convenient bridge for landing;
- Handle the details of the future feeder with decorative materials (paints, beautiful stickers, film, etc.). Fig. 1 will help you with the ideas of design.
Titmouse feeder from a plastic bottleis almost ready. All that remains is to hang the lower part of the house on the tape, having made 2 holes in the workpiece with an awl. Then pull the tape from the inside through the top of the bottle, having first made a hole in its cork. Fig. 1 will help you navigate this. Hang your designer birdhouse from a plastic bottle on a tree branch in the park and pour food into it. Guests will not keep you waiting too long! An original bunker feeder for bullfinches The second picture will introduce you to an even simpler idea. The peculiarity of this feeder made of plastic parts is that it does not require too frequent filling due to the bunker feed tank. And making such a bird feeder from a plastic container is as easy as pie - you don't even have to cut the bottle. But what you should pay special attention to in Fig. 2 is the width of the neck of the future birdhouse. The freer it is, the more convenient it will be for you to add food. So:
- Take any plastic bottle with a wideneck (for example, a liter of milk) and pierce it through with wooden skewers along the holes indicated by the awl. Skewers should stick out from both sides - these are the landing pegs for incoming birds;
- Make several such punctures at different heights so that the birds do not interfere with each other, if on arrival they settle on all the pits at once;
- It remains to make holes through which bullfincheswill pull loose feed from the trough. A diameter of 0.5-1 cm will be enough (if grain and cereals are poured into the hopper). Dyrochki can be burnt over the pergolas with a hot nail or gently cut with manicure scissors.
This is interesting!Look how successfully the skewers-perches of the bunker feeder are replaced by wooden spoons in Fig. 3. The principle of manufacturing the design remains the same, but the size of the feeding window can be increased, and the landing of the birds will become much more convenient. Wooden spoons can be replaced with disposable plastic ones. And do not be afraid that a lot of food will spill on the ground. It is enough to lightly trample the snow under the feeder so that the birds peck all the falling food.
The original bird feeder is ready foruninterrupted service for the benefit of our feathered friends. It remains to be noted that the transparent PET bottle taken as a basis allows you to see the percentage of the hopper filled with food from afar. But an opaque feeder will have to be checked manually every time. Large feeder and birdhouses for birds In general, a feeder made of a plastic bottle is capable of feeding a whole flock of hungry titmice at once, if you make it from a five-liter canister for bottled water. This is no longer just a bird canteen, it is a real restaurant for birds. It will be even more interesting to watch the birds flying here to feed in the winter. Fig. 4 shows the options for such a product:
- You can hang the canister vertically, cutting from all sides aft windows with visors;
- And you can fix a five-liter bottle horizontally, carving out a bird pavilion with a roof;
- Or just cut the top of the bottle and make a windrower-tunnel in a horizontal arrangement.
However, you may have your own original ones.ideas for execution. But from a regular PET bottle you can make not only a birdhouse. You can get an excellent birdhouse from a plastic bottle if you use an opaque container (see Fig. 5). In winter, it can also be used as a feeder.
And in the spring, it is quite likely that serious guests will appear in it. The main thing is to have time to hang the birdhouse from a plastic bottle higher before the starlings arrive.
How to treat visitors?
In winter, birds are not picky.They will happily eat any cereals and seeds, oat and wheat grains, bread crumbs, dry millet and millet. You should not use wet food - in the cold, it quickly freezes and becomes inaccessible. But loose food is ideal for winter feeding of bullfinches and tits, if you decide to make a bunker-type feeder for small birds. You can use pieces of lard, but they are usually hung on a string or put on tree branches. Make several birdhouses for birds and be sure to tell the children how important this is! And it will be interesting for budding naturalists to watch the tits and other forest birds flying to the feeder. Do the kids know all of them or do they need to be told about someone else? It is quite possible that not every visitor will be familiar to you. That will make your trips to the bird feeder with your child even more interesting and educational. The main thing is, do not forget to regularly replenish the food supplies, since you have already taken on this matter. The birds will get used to it and will wait for you every day. And in the summer they will certainly thank you for your care with loud trills in different ways. In the park and square, by the river and on forest paths. Good luck! On our site you can find other crafts from plastic bottles, for example, there are wonderful articles on how to make an almost real palm tree or a vase from a polyethylene bottle.
