In anticipation of the cold weather, many people think about how to make a feeder out of a bottle. Even the townspeople are not lazy and hang them in parks and squares. And those who have their own suburban areas carefully feed winged orderlies so that they take care of the existing plantings in the summer months. On stationary, wooden, not everyone has the time and skills, but it’s not difficult to build a feeder from a bottle.
Basic Rules
Before you make a feeder from a plastic bottle, you should take into account some points to make it convenient and safe for birds.
- The size of the container should not be too small, otherwise it will be unsuitable for the intended purpose. Even a small bird can get stuck inside the “dining room” and die. The minimum volume of the bottle is one and a half liters.
- The container is only suitable for drinking water. No matter how you try to wash, say, a canister from under the detergent, there is no guarantee that you will do it well enough and the birds will not be poisoned by residual miasma.
- The window for the birds should be quite wide. Moreover, it is better to cut through at least two of them: the entrance and exit, so that you do not need to turn around for departure. In addition, two birds will be able to feed at once.
- For ease of use, apertures are required. They can be internal, but there must be at least one outside so that you can land.
- The most important thing is placement, since making a feeder out of a bottle is not enough; you still need to consider how safe it will be for birds. They hang up on branches that are strong enough to support the weight of the “dining room” along with the birds, but too thin for the cat to pick up.
It is advisable to place the feeder in a place protected from the wind. If this is not the case, a load should be put at the bottom of the bottle. Otherwise, it will sway violently, scaring away birds and losing poured feed.
Simplest option
The fastest and most uncomplicated way to make a feeder with your own hands from a bottle is to cut large openings with a knife or scissors on the sides. Two conditions must be observed here:
- The jumpers between the windows should be wide enough to not break through.
- At the bottom you need to leave a nut: it will prevent the blowing of grain and seeds from the feeder.
When cutting, the plastic may have sharp burrs and edges. In order to avoid possible injuries, it is better to paste over all openings with something: electrical tape, pharmacy plaster or adhesive tape.
To insert a perched rod in the opposite walls of the bottle, holes are cut or fused, into which the perforation penetrates.
There are two ways to use the feeders. The first is to wind a bottle to a pillar or tree if it is not too large. The second is to roll a hole in the neck or lid and pull a rope, wire or fishing line through it.
Dispenser feeder
The next way, how to make a feeding trough from a bottle, is suitable for feeding the smallest birds. It is good because the seeds are not exposed to constant external moisture and stay fresh longer without mold. The system is extremely simple: in a 1.5 liter bottle, a through hole is made corresponding to the size of the handle of a wooden spoon. It is inserted, the handle will be just a perch, and the “bucket” should be adjacent to the bottle wall. This hole is made wider so that the food wakes up in a spoon. The entire container is filled with grain or seeds, the lid is twisted, a hole is drilled in it and twine is pulled. The design is ready!
How to make a self-filling plastic bottle feeder
It will be especially convenient if you do not have the opportunity to regularly replenish feed supplies. The main thing is to find two containers with the same neck diameter or to figure out how to fix one in the other.
For the outer shell, take a large bottle, since it is more convenient to make a 5 liter bottle feeder with self-filling from it, and you can create more reserves. For the filler, the usual one, 1.5-2 liters, is quite suitable. The bottom of the smaller bottle is cut off so that it becomes shorter by a centimeter in height. Windows are cut out in the balloon; it is advisable not to cut off the plastic completely, but to bend it with a visor above the entrance - so the feed will be more reliably protected from oblique precipitation. Through one of the holes, the inner bottle is inserted into the outer, and its neck is fixed in it (for example, by gluing or fusion). You can hang the feeder directly by the existing handle. The feed poured inside the smaller “flask” will spill out of it as the birds eat up the existing one.
Personal tit feeder
It may seem strange to a city man to make individual feeders. But I must say that the tits need special care: in harsh winters only a fifth of the population survive to warmth, and the approach to the feeders for them is usually hampered by the omnipresent impudent sparrows. Therefore, our people figured out how to make a bottle feeder, which can only be used by an intelligent bird, which include titmouse.
A 1.5 liter bottle is placed on the table, and at the same height (12-15 mm), horizontal marks are made on the marker on each “leg” of the vessel. These strips are cut with a knife and heated with a hairdryer, even ordinary hairs. When the plastic softens, the upper part, above the incision, is pressed inward. Caution, hot! Each received "pocket" is pierced with a heated nail - this will be a drain for the collecting water. A perch is inserted above the “food cells”, on which the tits will rest. The fastening of the feeder is done as already described.
It is checked by many incredulous people: sparrows do not understand how to get to food. But the tits mastered the design on the first day.
How to fill the "dining room"
Having figured out how to make a feeder out of a bottle, it remains only to choose the right food itself. In many respects it depends on what kind of birds are found in your vicinity. Millet, millet, sunflower seeds and oats are suitable for all birds. If bullfinches and waxwings live nearby, it is good to add berries to the trough - rowan and elderberry. For crossbills, woodpeckers and nuthatching, the diet can be varied with acorns and cones. It is useful for titmouse to add fat to the feeders - but not salty. All birds can and must! - add egg shells. In no case should you "pamper" feathery brown bread, the remnants of sweet and salty pastries, chips or corn flakes - this can even kill the flyer.