How to Make Copper-tubing Bird Feeders

Attract hummingbirds with a home-made copper tubing birdfeeder.

Hummingbirds are appreciated for their tiny size, their swift aerobatics in flight, and their beauty. The flashy, iridescent males are often adorned with a ruby red throat or head, while the females and young have more subdued green to brown coloration without the red markings. In addition to sugar water from feeders and nectar from flowers, hummingbirds feed on insect pests. Many people enjoy feeding hummers for the pleasure of seeing the fearless little birds zipping around the landscape. You can recycle copper tubing and some standard household items into a feeder that will attract hummingbirds to your yard.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic bottle and cap, 20-oz.
• Electric drill
• Drill bit, 7/16-inch
• Copper tubing, 1/4-inch diameter
• Hacksaw
• Sandpaper
• Hot-glue gun and glue
• Red ribbon, fabric or plastic sheeting
• Sugar
• Funnel

Instructions

1. Wash the soda bottle, cap and copper tubing with soap and water. Rinse thoroughly.

2. Drill a hole in the center of the plastic cap.

3. Saw a 6-inch length of copper tubing. Sand the edges smooth.

4. Bend the tube 2 inches from one end at a 40-degree angle.

5. Insert the 2-inch, bent length of copper tubing into the hole in the plastic cap.

6. Seal the gap between the tube and the cap with hot glue. Glue on the inside and outside of the cap, being careful not to get glue on the cap threads.

7. Cut a flower shape out of red fabric or plastic sheeting. Cut a small hole in the center of the fabric or plastic flower and insert the copper tube into the center. Secure in place with hot glue. Alternatively, tie a red ribbon around the copper tube. The red color and flower shape will attract hummingbirds in search of red nectar.

8. Mix 1 cup hot water with 1/4 cup sugar to make a sugar water solution. Use sugar, not honey, which can harm hummingbirds. Don't add red food dye. The red flower on the tube is sufficient to attract hummingbirds.

9. Funnel the sugar water into the plastic bottle after it cools. Screw the cap/tube/flower onto the bottle.

10. Wind wire around the base of the bottle to form a hanger.

11. Invert the bottle, and twist the wire around a tree branch to hang your feeder.

References

• The Editors of Klutz Press; Everybody's Everywhere Backyard Bird Book; 1992.
• New England Birdhouse; DIY Recycled Hummingbird Feeder; Bill Askenburg
• Jane Drake & Ann Love; The Kids' Summer Handbook; 1994.

Resources

• Hummingbirds.net: "Hummingbird feeding" by Dr. Reed Hainsworth and Dr. Larry Wolf, 1993.