How to Build a Bird Feeder From a Plastic Bottle

Plastic bottles make inexpensive bird feeders.

There is enjoyment to be found in watching birds flock to your feeders, especially during the winter when their natural food sources are limited. Making feeders from plastic bottles not only helps the birds, but it helps your budget and the environment as well.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic soda bottle or milk jug
• Dowels or chopsticks
• Sharp knife or nail
• Twine or light wire
• S-hooks

Instructions

For the Birds

1. Remove the label from the bottle by peeling it off or soaking it in warm water. Stand the bottle upright and poke a hole on either side of the neck just below the cap. Run twine or wire through both holes and tie the ends together securely.

2. Poke holes about three inches from the bottom of the bottle on both sides. Push a chopstick or a dowel into the bottle through both holes. This is what the birds will perch on while they eat.

3. Use the knife to cut a larger hole on either side of the bottle about an inch higher than the perch hole. Make this hole large enough for a bird to poke its beak into but not so large that the seed falls out.

4. Fill the bottle about halfway with birdseed and replace the cap. Hang the feeders from S-hooks on tree branches, a clothesline or anywhere you can easily view the birds.

5. Follow the same directions if using a gallon milk jug, making allowances for the perch lengths and the size of the feeding holes.

Tips & Warnings

• You can put any kind of seed in these feeder bottles. If using tiny black thistle seed, be sure to make the feeder holes smaller so the seed doesn't fall out.

• Decorate your feeder bottles with craft paint to make them more attractive.

References

• BBC: Do One Thing: Make a Bird Feeder From a Plastic Bottle

Resources

• Curious George: Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder