How to Make a Pinecone Feeder for Wild Birds

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By Feather
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Pinecones

Watching wild birds is an interesting hobby for lots of people. Many avid bird watchers have bird feeders or bird baths in their backyards. Here is a simple and easy to make bird feeder that you can make at home from picking up pine cones in your yard!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

pine cones
peanut butter
seed, such as a small 2 lb. bag of millet
something to apply the peanut butter with
string
newspaper

Step 1

Prepare:

Gather up pine cones from your yard, a friend or neighbor's yard. Allow them to dry out if wet to avoid mold from growing.
Step 2

Gather Materials:

Spread out newspaper, get all your supplies together
Step 3

Let's Do It!

Smooth peanut butter on all over the pine cone and up inside it as much as you can. The peanut butter is what will make your see stick to the pine cone. Roll the pine cone in seed, it will stick to the peanut butter and cover the pine cone. Let dry for about an hour. Take a piece of string (about 4-6 ft. long) and tie around the pine cone in a knot. You will tie the other end to a low hanging branch for the birds to enjoy! Now you can sit back and watch the birds enjoy your homemade treat!

Tips & Warnings

The peanut butter is a perfect item to use to make the seed stick to the pine cone. It's high in protein, will not harm the birds and is another source of food for them.
You can substitute unsalted sunflower seed available at feed stores and/or hardware for millet if you desire.
Supervise small children when doing this project, especially if you use a knife to spread the peanut butter with. Also pine cones can be prickly and you could also end up with seed all over the place!