DIY Bird Feeder Design Ideas

Bird feeders are a great way to bring life to your garden. During the cold winter months where food is scarce, birds quickly find out where the good local resources for survival is. And even during summer, it can be a great attraction for the local wildlife. Having birds from the entire neighborhood land right outside your window is an easy and fun way to be in touch with nature, and the kids might even start talking about that rare bird they spotted in their very backyard.

Bird feeders comes in all shapes and sizes, and while the market has plenty of opportunities, building one yourself is a great way to match your needs and impress your neighbors. Whether you just want a board on a stick, a wooden chewed apple or a mini-barn with fences and a weathercock, only your imagination holds the limit.

Only a few considerations should be taken before choosing your design. First of all, make sure your bird feeder is either placed on a tall stick or hung from a rope or similar, to avoid predators to gain access. Remember, you want a bird feeder, not a cat feeder. Also, consider where you want it placed, if it's hanging under a roof or you want to add a cover to it, both to shelter the birds and to keep the food dry. Is it in a windy place you might consider how the food is placed, if it's loose like on an open board, or in a canister slowly releasing a small amount at a time. Also, do you want to allow all birds access or only smaller birds, this can be implemented in the design.

Deciding on your needs, it's time to find a good design for your bird feeder. You can draw it yourself from scratch or find pre made bird feeder plans to work from, step-by-step. As I'm no great artist, I prefer the last option, and there's plenty of resources out there to fit my needs. Choosing the right one is only a matter of deciding on my needs and knowing where to look. Then the fun part can begin, the process of actually building the bird feeder, and even better, watch the neighbors envy the end result.

Do-it-yourself: Many of the commercial feeders are quite straightforward to replicate by the homeowner with basic skills in DIY. Whether you are looking to create a wooden house feeder or a based plastic platform feeder using a gallon-sized milk jug, you will find many opportunities for self creating a feeder for attracting and nourishing the local bird species.

Attracting birds to the backyard with a feeder gives the perfect opportunity to observe the local species up close. A bird feeder comes in different sizes and styles to help attract the various types of bird species. Feeders are especially helpful in the winter period when snow or other poor conditions can make it difficult for birds to feed. Bird feeders need to be solidly constructed to ensure they are able to withstand intrusion from pests like the squirrels; able to keep the seeds dry, and stand-up to difficult weather conditions.

Here are some of the main types of feeders to include in the backyard:

Platform: A platform bird feeder is ideal if you are looking to attract a variety of bird species to the backyard. Basically, a platform feeder is a sizable tray for accepting the feed with a suitably portioned roof fixed over the tray to give the desired level of protection from the weather. A versatile option, these feeding trays can either attach to a stake for placement on the lawn (at least twelve inches from the ground) or hung from a suitable tree branch. Cardinals, jays, doves, sparrows, and similar ground feeding bird species are likely to be attracted to these feeders.

Tube: A tube feeder is square or cylindrical in shape and features several perches on each side and perfect for the small birds that prefer to avoid the more open feeders that are used by the larger species. They are often filled with sunflower seeds which can easily be collected via the many holes up and down each side.