How to make a fun and wacky bird feeder

It’s winter so the weather is changing and getting colder; in some places it is even snowing! Birds struggle, during winter, to keep up the amount of fat they need so I did my bit this week, whilst staying at a Caravan Club site in Denham. I helped them out by making a bird feeder to supply them with food.

Birds have quite a varied diet. Some eat worms and bugs, some eat plants and seeds and some larger birds like kites -link- eat small mammals. In winter some of these things are hard to find so they have to find alternatives. I helped garden and woodland birds this week by making a bird feeder with some bits and bobs that they might enjoy eating. To help me do this I did a bit of research about what birds eat. The RSPB website helped me a lot with my research.
You can just buy a bird feeder from a shop, but it is much more fun and rewarding to make your own. The easiest way to make bird food is to mix lard with bird seed but I couldn’t get my hands on bird seed. This meant I had to buy lots of different food to go inside my feeder and had to carry out some research about what is good for them.

Here is what I used:

How to make it

1. First crack open your coconut so it is in two halves. Enjoy eating everything inside.
2. Drill a hole into the sides of each half and attach the string to make a handle.
3. Melt the lard in a pan until it is a liquid. Leave it to cool slightly*.
4. Next mix in a generous supply of all the ingredients.
5. Now spoon the mixture into the coconut halves and pat it down.
6. Leave the lard mix to cool and solidify.
7. Hang up your bird feeder for the birds to enjoy.

Don’t forget to check if there are any interesting birds feeding on your feeder!

I made a short video of my attempts at making a feeder.

I really enjoyed making my feeder and hope lots of birds thrive on the food.

* If you don’t leave it to cool it will cook your ingredients. We found this out when we added our porridge oats too early and they bubbled up.