Julie Finn
If you haven’t been feeding the birds all winter, this is a great time to start! And if you have been feeding them all winter, this is a great time to mix things up by adding some new homemade bird feeders to welcome the spring migrants.
Wherever you are in the “We Love our Feathered Friends” game, there are homemade bird feeders on this list for you. Whether you make your bird feeder out of a water bottle (you can!) or some gorgeous unfinished wood planking (you totally can!), I assure you, the birds do not care. In this case, as in most cases, it’s what’s inside that matters!
20 Best Homemade Bird Feeders
1. birdseed wreath. It’s your very own living wreath!
2. bowl and plate bird feeder: I’d suggest that you use a thrifted bowl and plate, and a drill specifically designed for drilling through those materials, rather than buying a brand-new bowl and plate just for this project. I mean, yeah.
3. bundt pan bird feeder. Even if the finish has worn off your old bundt pan, the birds will still love it!
4. candy jar bird feeder. I’d suggest finding something creative to upcycle for the pillar in this homemade bird feeder–an old glass vase and some river rocks, perhaps?
5. cookie cutter bird feeders. These are cute homemade bird feeders that you can make without adding them as permanent fixtures in your yard.
6. fir cone bird feeder. Here’s an upgrade to the usual “pine cone and peanut butter” bird feeder.
7. glass soda bottle bird feeder. Don’t hang this over concrete, friends, just in case.
8. Mason jar bird feeder. I especially love this homemade bird feeder, because it upcycles those little chick food troughs that you only use when the chicks are tiny.
9. milk carton bird feeder. This project that upcycles an empty milk carton into homemade bird feeders is the perfect one for a kid to do all by herself.
10. milk jug bird feeder. Do this project with preschoolers; they can decorate the jug with markers, but otherwise the whole thing comes together in minutes.
11. orange bird feeder. This bird feeder is a good one to put in a spot that’s inconvenient to access, because other than the string, it’s completely biodegradable.
12. paint can bird feeder. This project is VERY upcycling-friendly!
13. saucer bird feeder. This bird feeder uses the terra cotta saucers that sit underneath plant pots, but it’s possible that you could substitute any kind of saucer–if you experiment, let me know!
14. silverware suet feeder. Silverware is a dime a dozen at the thrift store (sometimes literally!), which makes this an easy project to supply. Use Scott’s suet recipe, which is quick and easy and kid-friendly.
15. soda bottle bird feeder. While it won’t be as pretty as the glass bottle bird feeder, you also won’t have to worry about it falling and smashing onto the concrete driveway below.
16. tea cup bird feeder. This is a great bird feeder for those who can’t reach up high to hang bird feeders–as long as you don’t have any neighborhood cats!
17. toilet paper tube bird feeder. If you build the mounting structure for this bird feeder, then you can simply recycle the tp tubes as they’re used up, and replace them with fresh ones.
18. window bird feeder. This project plays off of the milk carton bird feeder to make one that you’ll enjoy watching as much as the birds will enjoying eating at.
19. wine bottle bird feeder. These homemade bird feeders look well put together, and they also upcycle a wine bottle.
20. wooden bird feeder. If you’ve got some scrap wood and some basic woodworking skills, then this is the bird feeder for you!
Photo credit: homemade bird feeder image via Shutterstock
Great stuff! No. 19 keeps going to the tea cup feeder. I’d like to see how ya’ll do it. Please let me know how to find your wine bottle feeder. Thank you
I was impressed with all of the different bird feeder options. One that stood out to me was the one made from plastic cans. We could certainly use some bird feeders in our yard. It will be nice to have birds at play while we sit at our patio.
I’m a bird watcher and I’ve had my share of store bought bird feeders but for some odd reason they tend to come up missing so thanks to this site I now can make fun family projects doing my own and the kids own crafty bird feeders I just hope I can keep them filled with bird seed BC I love seeing all the different types of birds I can get to come in, thanks again!
Thanks for sharing Julie, I will feel less guilty to drink wine now 😀
My son and I have made several bird feeders and houses over the years. My youngest is just about to the age where he wants to start doing projects like that. Got a few new good ideas from here for which I am thankful!