How To Make Interesting Can Feeders For Birds
 by: Gerald Hopkins

If you love birds, you are likely to have at least one lovely bird feeder outside your window. It is great to sit and watch the birds feed throughout the day. The entire process is one that can be relaxing and enriching. Sometimes stopping tasks long enough to enjoy simple things like birds can really take the stress out of your day and allow you to live a happier life. Birds are a beautiful part of nature that you can enjoy for free. With everything costing these days, it is a blessing to have wonderful animals at our fingertips. To attract birds to your area however you should set up an environment that they are attracted to. By making interesting bird feeders, you can create art while catering to the birds in your area. Remember, birds enjoy feeders all year long in some areas, so don’t forget about them in the winter months. Use these fun ideas to begin making your bird feeders today.

Sometimes the best feeders for birds are made from the simplest items. You can begin by using an empty coffee can. Clean the inside of the can and strip the label from the outside. At this point, you can choose to paint the can if you like, but leave the inside unpainted. Colors of red, yellow, and orange will attract some bird species. Other species may not care what color your bird feeder is, as they have no known color preferences. After the paint dries completely, find a hard plastic plate that will allow the can to fit nicely in its center.

Before attaching the can however, you will need to cut a few holes into it. The first hole should be at the top edge of the can. This will allow the food to spill out when the can is upside down. The next hole should be at the bottom of the can, in the center. This will allow you to fill the can with seed when it is turned upside down. After cutting the holes, turn the can upside down onto the middle of the plate and use super glue or a hot glue gun to glue the two together. There should be a rim of plate around the can to give the birds something to perch upon.

When you are finished, you will need to find a way to attach the feeder to your tree or other area. If the feeder is just sitting on a stump or a porch, then you can skip this step. If you want the feeder to hang from a tree, you will need a small chain and S hook. You can cut another hole in the can to loop the chain through and attach the S hook at the end of the chain. Then attach your feeder to the tree. If your feeder is really light weight, you can also use fishing line to attach it to the tree.

Be sure to clean out the feeder for the birds at least once every two weeks. This will allow the feeder to be fresh and appealing and keep the birds coming to your home. You can refill the feeder as needed. If you fill the feeder and attract no birds, you may want to change the type of seed you filled it with. Some birds prefer specific types of seeds, so you can try this to attract more birds. Just remember to have fun and enjoy the simple things in life that nature has to offer!

About The Author

Gerald Hopkins is an author at http://www.birdsitters.com. If you're a fellow bird lover, then visit http://www.birdsitters.com today.

We all know that taking a beautiful photo of humming birds is hard to obtain, even when they are inside cages. The only thing that you could do is buy a hummingbird feeder to bring these birds into photographic distance. But these ready-made hummingbird feeders are somewhat expensive. Worry no more, because you can make your very own hummingbird feeder for free. All you need to do is recycle used or old prescription vials for making nectar dispensers. Hummingbirds are known to feed on nectars.

The materials needed to make your own hummingbird feeder are clear prescription vials with a fitted cap, a few feet of thin wire or heavy thread and transparent tape or scotch tape. You may also need a sharp pointed metal object like an ice pick.

To start with this project, heat up the ice pick or whatever sharp pointed metal you are using and make a pair of holes on each side of the prescription vial, near the open end where the cap is placed. You have to make sure that they are close but not too close that the holes are covered with the bottom of the cap when it is placed on. The size of the holes should be small enough to keep the liquid inside the container.

Next, round up the thin wire or thread. Secure it by wrapping with the scotch tape or transparent tape on each end of the thread or thin wire to the prescription vial. If you want extra holding capacity, wrap a second piece of transparent tape around the prescription vial.

Basically, that’s all you have to do in making hummingbird feeders. It depends on you how many hummingbird feeders you want to make, but if you want to enjoy watching more than just one hummingbird, you can make a number of these feeders and tie them into a mobile and place them in your backyard.

To fill up your hummingbird feeder, remove the cap holding the prescription vial on and fill it up with nectar and replace the cap. Closed tightly, turn the prescription vial upside down as quickly as you can. The feeder’s hole should be at the bottom, a small amount of nectar will leak out the feeder’s holes, but as soon as the vacuum inside the prescription vial is created, the leakage will stop.

Now we come to making the nectar for the hummingbirds. Basically there are two choices of nectar. First is the nectar mix that is commercially available in a granulated form. Or second, you can make your own nectar from a sugar solution. For the purpose of information, honey is not recommended. Research proves that too much honey is harmful to hummingbirds, since it weakens them and may cause death to these birds.

Just where to hang the feeders? In general, it is good to hang these feeders in any part of the garden where there is no direct exposure to sunlight and where the wind will not be able to shake the feeder. Direct sunlight speeds up fermentation of the nectar inside the feeder. It is recommended to hang the hummingbird feeders near the flowers in the garden to further attract these birds. Now, you can enjoy watching hummingbirds hovering and perching on your own feeder.

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