How to Make a Bird Feeder From a Pop Bottle
Making a bird feeder from a pop bottle is recycling at its best. You keep plastic out of the landfills, and you feed your feathered friends. A pop bottle bird feeder project is a great way for kids to learn about recycling, as well as wildlife. The project requires only a few simple supplies, and can be completed in very little time.
Things You'll Need
- 2 liter pop bottle
- Scissors
- Nail
- 12-inch by 1/4-inch wooden dowel
- 12-inch length of craft wire
- Birdseed
Instructions
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1
Clean out your pop bottle and remove the label. Allow the bottle to dry completely.
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2
Take the nail and pierce the side of the bottle, approximately 1 inch up from the bottom. Turn the bottle and make another hole on the other side of the bottle.
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3
Insert the dowel into one hole and run it completely through the bottle, and back through the other hole. The dowel will act as a perch for the birds.
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4
Pierce the bottle with the nail, 1 1/2 inches above the dowel, on both sides of the bottle. Once you have pierced the bottle, take the scissors and cut the pierce into a U-shaped flap. Bend the flap upwards so that it acts as a covering to the now open hole. When cutting the U, do not make it more than between 1/4 and 1/2 inch wide.
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5
Pierce two small holes at the very top of the bottle, just under the cap rim.
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6
Insert a 12-inch piece of heavy duty craft wire through the holes and tie the ends together. This will be the feeder's hanger.
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7
Fill the feeder with bird seed, and then seal it with the cap.
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8
Hang the feeder where desired.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use any type of bird seed for the feeder, although black oil sunflower seed will stay in the feeder better than wild bird seed.
For more fun, try painting or decorating your bottles.
If the pop bottle is not completely dry when you put bird seed in, the bird seed may become moldy.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit bottle image by tofuwarrior from Fotolia.com
