Birds of West Cobb
Are you the crafty type of person? Are you the type of person to "upcycle" or repurpose other items to fulfill a specific need? If so, you're in the right place for ideas for crafty, DIY style bird feeders. Let's take a look below!
Are DIY (Do-it-yourself) birdfeeders really a thing? Absolutely. You can repurpose old items easily and turn them into bird feeders, or you can purchase non-birding items and use them for the purposes of bird feeders, bird baths, bird houses and more! First, let's take a look at a few options that you can purchase for a low cost and incorporate them into your bird habitat!
A simple Terracotta Plant Dish can serve many purposes. We love to use them for bird food plates and they don't give the birds many options for hiding from the camera. Instead, they'll be perched right out in the open where you can view, identify, and enjoy seeing them! Birds of West Cobb recommends a 10" or 12" size plate for feeding, and a 14" plate size for use as a bird bath. However, we also keep a tiny 3" plate full of water for the small birds like Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice and Carolina Chickadees. *Please please please remember to clean the water plates out daily! They will get very funky quickly especially when the weather gets warm or hot!
Are you familiar with the "ant traps" or "ant moats" that are designed to keep ants from crawling down to your hummingbird feeders and getting taking them over? We discovered that these hummingbird ant traps also makes a great water source for small songbirds. We've seen multiple finch species, chickadees, nuthatches, bluebirds, and even Robins and Blue Jays fly down for a drink from these! These are inexpensive, easy to wash/clean and refill and give you a GREAT vantage point for watching songbirds above the hummingbird feeders and hummers down below!
Did you know you can use a large limb or a small diameter log, drill some shallow 1" or 1.5" holes into it, and add Tree icing (see link) or home made suet into these holes and you'll have a fun, natural looking bird feeder for very cheap! Add a small hook and a chain and you can hang it from a sturdy tree limb, or even better, from a sturdy 4x4 post with a raccoon-proof baffle. This way you'll ensure the birds get to enjoy your special treats instead of unexpected visitors like Possums, Raccoons or rodents like Squirrels, Rats or Flying Squirrels. This is also a great DIY project for younger generations of bird enthusiasts!
