Attract bird life to your garden by making one of these feeders to place in an outdoor area.
Standing Feeder
You will need:
- 12mm plywood
- One 200 x 270mm piece (back)
- One 176 x 138mm (base)
- Two 150 x 40mm pieces (sides)
- One 170 x 40mm (front)
- 6mm plywood
- Two 140 x 50mm pieces (roof)
- Quick-drying wood glue
- 25mm nails
- Hammer
- Electric drill with 70mm drill bit
- 12 x 100mm dowel
- 22 x 44 x 1 200mm pine pole
- Paintbrush
- Dark-brown wood varnish in matt
To make
- Cut the plywood to size or ask a timber merchant to cut it for you.
Note The top of the back piece needs to be cut at a 45º angle for the roof. - Put the 176 x 138mm base piece on a flat surface and glue the two 150 x 40mm sides on either side of the base using quick-drying wood glue. Glue the 170 x 40mm piece to the front of the base. Secure by nailing in place from the sides. Put it aside to dry.
- Drill a 70mm hole approximately 135mm from the top of the back piece, taking care to centre it from the sides.
- Apply glue to the edge of the base, where it will be joined to the back, and nail in place. Make sure that all the edges and corners are flush.
- Glue and nail the dowel onto the back, just below the hole.
- Attach the two 140 x 50mm roof pieces to either side of the roof section of the back, ensuring that the edges of the roof hang over equally at the front and the back. Glue and nail in place as before.
- Glue the pine pole onto the back of the bird feeder, positioning it just under the hole. Secure by nailing it in place from the back. Ensure that you nail it in place on the bottom where the base meets the back section, to prevent the nails from protruding at the front. The pine pole can be cut to form a sharp point at the bottom that will make it easier to stand it upright in the ground.
- Set aside to allow the wood glue to dry completely. Then paint it with dark brown matt varnish to complete.
You will need:
- 22 x 100 x 270mm pine (base)
- 22 x 44mm pine
- Two 314mm pieces (long sides)
- Two 100mm pieces (short sides)
- Two 170mm pieces (vertical bars)
- One 358mm piece (horizontal bar)
- Paintbrush
- Dark-green water-based enamel
- Quick-drying wood glue
- 25mm nails
- Hammer
- Two 100mm nails
- Electric drill with 6mm drill bit
- Natural rope
To make
- Cut the pine to size or ask a timber merchant to cut it for you.
- Place the 100 x 270mm base piece on a flat surface. Glue the two long and two short sides onto it using wood glue. Use 25mm nails to secure the joints.
- Glue and nail the two vertical bars onto the middle of the short sides of the tray.
- Hammer two 100mm nails into the horizontal bar where the fruit will go. Glue and nail the horizontal bar on top of the two vertical bars, then leave the whole structure to dry.
- Paint the bird feeder with dark-green water-based enamel, then leave to dry completely.
- Drill two 6mm holes, one on either side of the horizontal bar. Thread a length of natural rope through the holes from which to hang the bird feeder, and knot securely at the bottom.
