How to Build a Clay Bird's Bottle Nest
Bird bottle nests are a colonial invention, cleverly recycling old clay jugs with broken handles into decorative and very functional bird's nests. The original purpose of encouraging birds was for insect control, and the bird bottles were typically occupied by insect-eating birds like house finches. Building your own clay bird bottle is quite simple and would make a lovely addition to any yard, or as a novel housewarming gift.
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Instructions
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Mold a piece of clay into a disc approximately 4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. This is the base for the bird bottle.
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Place the base flat on the work surface. Roll a log of clay 1/2 inch thick and coil it around the edge of the base. Dampen your fingers, and smooth the coils down so that they adhere to the base and appear flat.
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Roll another log of clay and coil it on top of the first log, widening it slightly with your fingers so that the walls of the bottle are slanting slightly outward. Smooth the coils over like you did the first ones.
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Repeat adding more coils to build up the walls of the bottle, bringing them outward until the diameter is around 6 inches wide at about 6 inches up from the base, then bringing the walls inward until they are around 2 inches diameter at the top, another 6 inches up from the base. The bottle should be approximately 12 inches long, and look like a pitcher.
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Make a flat rectangle of clay, around 1/2 inch thick, and about 1-by-2 inches and attach it approximately 1/2 inch below one side of the rim for the perch rest. Poke a nail through the middle of the rectangle, and through the side of the bottle opposite where the nail hole in the perch goes.
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Poke the nail through the base of the bottle as well, on the opposite side to the perch. Poke three small holes in the widest section of the bottle side for drainage holes.
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Place a sheet of plastic over the bottle and leave it to dry completely; this can take up to a week, depending on the humidity.
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Paint a glaze onto the outside of the bird bottle, ensuring the glaze doesn't fill any of the nail holes. Don't paint it on the inside, as it will make the inside too slippery for the birds.
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Fire the bottle in a kiln, following the kiln instructions precisely. Once fired, the bird bottle can be hung on a tree using a nail or screw through the hole in the base. Place a twig into the nail hole on the perch, with one end resting in the nail hole on the side of the bottle, and the other end extending out past the mouth of the bottle.
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References
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