Sometimes the best thing about having bird feeders in your garden is sharing those moments of bird watching with your children. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach them about the wildlife that flies past your window as well as a nice time to spend sharing something beautiful with your kids. If this is something you want to do perhaps you also would like to make some of the bird feeders with them. Depending on the age of your kids this can be another sharing and learning opportunity. One of the feeders you could make is the finch bird feeders. They are a little more complicated than making the simpler platform feeders which are very simple, but not so hard that you could not construct one.
Since finches are such tiny birds what is used as a finch bird feeder is often a tube bird feeder. The first thing to do is to find all the materials that will be needed. Start with a narrow plastic tube. This can be something that was used as a medicine bottle, spice jar or soda pop bottle. Then you will need something to use as perches. The best thing to use for this will be doweling. Doweling are round pieces of wood. You will want them to be no wider than a quarter of an inch. This allows the birds to grab onto them easier. How long they are is completely dependent on the width of the tube you are using. On average each piece of dowel should be around six inches long. This measurement allows the perches to be a few inches long for the birds to sit on. It the tube you use is very wide you will need longer pieces of doweling. You will also need a small hook which has a screw at one end, a hot glue gun or strong glue, paint, using non toxic is a must and a drill with a few bits so there are ones that are big enough for the multiple purposes you will need them for.
Take the drill and make holes for the dowel to go into. Leave them longer on one side so the bird has a place to sit on the perch then glue them in place. Depending on how big the tube is you can make at least six perches by alternating them on all the sides. Use the screw hook to attach the top of the feeder to your tree. If you want to make it more attractive for your garden you can paint it. This is the simplest way to build finch bird feeders. You can do this with your children, having each of them build one to put outside their bedroom windows, so that they too can they watching the birds feed.
How To Make Bird Feeders
Bird feeders benefit from regular maintenance, although the maintenance tasks are easy to carry out. The most obvious of these tasks is refilling the feed. When you refill feeders as necessary, you provide a reliable source of food for the birds. If you refill them on a hit-and-miss basis, birds probably won't starve. But they will look elsewhere for food. You will have to start all over again in attracting birds to your feeding area or yard. The other two regular tasks revolve around cleaning. You should maintain the area around the feeders, and you should clean out the feeders every few months or so. Keeping the area neat and clean reduces the risk of spreading disease among the birds that frequent your bird feeders.
Keeping a supply of feed on hand and refilling the feeders when they get low will be your most frequent maintenance task. But your attention to this task will ensure that you enjoy regular visits from birds. You may choose from various types of feed, depending on the birds you wish to attract. Black-oil sunflower seeds probably appeal to the widest variety of birds. Therefore, sunflower is a popular feed choice. With sunflower seeds, you can attract chickadees, jays, sparrows, blackbirds, finches, cardinals, and even woodpeckers. Mixed seed is also a popular choice. Millet, corn, suet, and fruit will attract additional species to your yard.
You will need to clean the area around your bird feeders periodically. To carry out this task, rake up the seed hulls. If you allow them to stay there, they will begin to decompose. At this point, they can kill your grass, and they can also spread disease among the birds. You can prevent both of these conditions with a few minutes of raking every now and then.
Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned once a week, but you can clean other bird feeders less frequently—seasonally, or once every few months. Cleaning your bird feeders keeps them from spreading disease. When you prepare to clean, start with a basin of hot, soapy water. Mix one part bleach with nine parts water in a separate container. When you take down the feeders, dump out any remaining seeds. Wash the feeders in the soapy water and dip them into the bleach solution. Rinse them well afterward. Make sure they have dried completely before you refill them. Rehang the feeders.
Bird feeders come in all kinds of decorative colors and designs. As you shop for feeders, determine whether you can carry out these three tasks. You should refill the feeders as needed, clean the area surrounding the feeders periodically, and clean and sterilize the feeders themselves every few months. If you can attend to these chores, you should be off to a great start. Go pick out your favorite bird feeders and plot where you will place them and which feed you will stock them with. If you're new to bird watching, grab a field guide and see how many birds you can identify.
Both Mayoor Patel & Rachel Dawson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Rachel Dawson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Gardening and Pets. Rachel Dawson is a freelance writer who likes to watch interesting animals. She writes about bird feeders and. Rachel Dawson's top article generates over 6600 views. Bookmark Rachel Dawson to your Favourites.
