Birdseed Ornaments - Fireflies and Mud Pies (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Christmas ornaments that birds can eat? ›

Edible Ornaments

Pinecone feeders or donut "wreaths" covered with peanut butter and birdseed. Small suet balls or suet cakes in holiday shapes, or small mesh bags of suet. Strings of fruits such as apple, pear, or orange chunks, raisins, or cranberries. Dried sunflower heads or stalks of dried millet or other grain.

Roll the toilet paper roll on a plate filled with birdseed. If desired, string a loop of hemp twine through the toilet paper roll. Hang the toilet paper roll bird feeder on a bush, or slide it onto a branch. Your toilet paper roll bird feeder is complete!

Household scraps such as pastry, cooked rice and breadcrumbs are enjoyed by many garden birds. Fruit, especially bruised apples and pears, will be popular with thrushes and blackbirds. When you are buying bird food, try to get a good mix of peanuts, seeds and live food such as mealworms and waxworms.

Making homemade birdseed ornaments is a great project that is fun, kid-friendly, inexpensive, and it feeds birds such as cardinals, finches and grosbeaks. As if that wasn't enough, making homemade birdseed ornaments results in great gifts that are fun to give during the holiday season.

Store bird feeder ornaments in an airtight container or zip-top back in a dry, cool place, away from moisture and heat. If stored correctly, birdseed ornaments will last for 4 to 6 months.

Corn syrup and flour are both safe for birds when used in moderation.

Offer a Variety of Foods to Attract Birds to Feeders

Feeders full of seeds, suet, sugar water and fruit, such as oranges and grape jelly, will delight your winged guests. Also, consider hanging different styles of feeders around your garden to boost the appeal.

Combine equal parts distilled white vinegar and warm water in a bucket or tub large enough to hold a feeder. Allow each feeder to soak in the solution for at least 10 minutes.

Spread the peanut butter onto the cardboard roll using a knife. If your peanut butter is thick and a little tricky to spread, you may have to get your fingers messy and use them too. Make sure the peanut butter is spread thickly to cover the cardboard roll, otherwise the seed will not stick well.

How do you make bird feeders with yogurt cups? ›

Carefully make a small hole in the bottom of a yoghurt pot. Thread string through the hole and tie a knot on the inside. Leave enough string so that you can tie the pot to a tree or your bird table.

Do bird feeders attract rats? Those who have dealt with birdseed catchers or other types of feeders know the answer to this question. But let us say it for the rest of the enthusiasts who want to start feeding the birds in their yards – yes, bird feeders do attract rodents.

Water. It's important to supply your garden birds with a fresh source of drinking water but don't put water on your bird table, even if it comes with a compartment for doing so. Birds will also bathe in the water they drink from and the food on your bird table will soon become soggy as they splash about in it.

Heavy metal poisoning is a very common condition in birds. The most common metals involved include lead, zinc or copper. Toys which are usually the source of these metals include galvanized or copper bells, metal keys, lead sinkers and painted lead toys. Rusty toys are considered more hazardous.

If you love to watch birds visit feeders and you love cooking and crafting, combine your passions and make this DIY birdseed wreath. Colorful songbirds will definitely appreciate your efforts and flock to snack on this tasty treat.

Soldered (contains lead) and galvanized (zinc-coated) metals, such as chains, hooks, connectors, and other hardware are toxic to birds. Avoid easily dismantled toys, such as balsa wood and small link chain items, as well as toys with metal clips, bell clappers, or lead weights.

Birds that feed on these contaminated seeds can become sick, and even die. Five of the main culprits that flourish in these conditions are aspergillosis, salmonella, finch disease (Mycoplasma conjunctivitis), avian trichom*oniasis and avian pox.

If you are storing birdseed ornaments inside, keep them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag in a dry, cool place, and they should last for 10-14 days, or in the freezer for up to two months.

You can feed birds all year round. The one exception is if you live in bear country. If you have bears, stop feeding birds when bears come out of hibernation. But, of course, you may stop feeding birds whenever you get tired of it!

Can you make bird seed ornaments with peanut butter? ›

You can make your ornament any shape you like, just be sure to cut a circle in the center so the birds can perch while they dine on bird seed. All you will need is some thin cardboard, peanut butter (the Audubon Society assures us that peanut butter is safe for birds), and bird seed.

Clean the pine cone(s) and tie a long piece of twine around the bottom of each one. Gradually mix the lard with the birdseed until it all sticks together. Push the fat ball mix between the pine cone scales to create a big, tasty fat ball. Refrigerate your fat balls until the lard has set.

Rice and cereals

Any dry breakfast cereal makes for useful bird food, although you need to be careful only to put out small amounts at a time.

It's also perfectly safe to feed popped popcorn to your backyard birds. However, you must ensure that you don't add any salt, flavorings, oil or butter to the popcorn. If you want to pop some corn for the local birds, do so in an air popper instead.

Yes, as long as it is unsalted and unflavored, popcorn is both a safe and healthy treat for the birds. It contains healthy carbs, fibers, iron, and calcium, all of which can benefit their health. Both unpopped and popped corn is equally enjoyable for the birds, so you can go with either alternative.

Birds can eat Cheerios and often love to do so. But that does not mean that they are the healthiest choice for birds (or even for us!). Their high sugar content and salt content mean that they are not the best option if you are looking for foods to share with the birds.

In fact, many pet birds enjoy this sweet and nutritious fruit as part of their diet. Banana is also a great choice to add to backyard bird feeders. While not all birds will eat bananas, many bird species enjoy this fruit as a treat.

Not only will dirty bird feeders deter the birds, it could also be harmful to them. Dirty bird feeders are known to spread diseases amongst birds which can sometimes be deadly. Try to clean them regularly as well as rotating the food in them and this should help to attract the birds back to your garden.

Natural food sources are plentiful.

Migrating birds may find a better place to get their nutrition, and it has nothing to do with you. "A decrease in numbers to the feeder could be related to the abundance of natural food sources elsewhere," Sanchez explains. "So, birds wouldn't need to be coming to the feeders."

Should a bird feeder be in the sun or shade? ›

A sheltered southeastern exposure is best for hanging a bird feeder since birds like to feed in the sun and out of the wind. Birds also prefer to have a clear view over their feeding area so they can see any predators.

Prevent Algae from Growing in Your Birdbath

You could also use a small length of copper pipe or tubing, or any other copper coin. I have found this to work extremely well with the exception of those times when the temperatures stay above 90 for extended periods.

They can scratch the surface of your feeder, and those scratches can provide a new hiding spot for bacteria. Mild soap: We recommend Seventh Generation Dish Liquid and Dawn Ultra. But any dish soap should work. Bleach: To properly sanitize your bird feeder, you'll need to use a disinfectant such as bleach.

Alternative for using bleach: Use equal parts white vinegar and hot water instead. Soak for at least 60 minutes.

Plain, cooked pasta and rice is a popular choice and a great source of carbohydrates. Just make sure that they are not coated in sauce or cheese. You can even provide wet or dry dog or cat food for birds! You will need to break up and soak dry foods though, to prevent birds choking.

Yes, you can feed birds oatmeal. In fact, due to oatmeal being small in size, similar to bird seed and full of protein, they are an ideal food option.

Please don't give wild birds bread, crackers or other human snack foods. Bread has zero nutrition for wild birds. In fact, bread, crackers, chips and other human snacks are, in some ways, WORSE than feeding birds absolutely nothing.

Use a butter knife or spatula to cover your roll in lard or suet, vegetarian varieties are good too. Roll the tube in bird seed so that the seed sticks to the lard. Finally, carefully thread the sticks through to make a cross shape, and thread a piece of string through the two top holes.

Once clean, moisten the feeder's suction cups with a bit of water or vegetable oil then apply the feeder to the glass. The moisture will create better suction, so the feeder stays in place.

How do you make glass safe for birds? ›

The “golden rule” for spacing is four inches apart horizontally and two inches apart vertically. If tiny birds like hummingbirds and kinglets are colliding with the glass, pattern spacing should be reduced to two inches by two inches. Decals or paint should be high contrast in order to be visible to birds.

Just tie a string to the end of a pinecone and form a loop (for hanging off a tree branch), then coat the pinecone in peanut butter using a knife, spoon or — if you don't mind getting messy — your hands. Roll the sticky mess in some bird seed and voila: an edible ornament for your tree that the birds will love.

Pine cone bird feeders are super simple to pull together, and you need around 10 minutes for 1 cone. Essentially, all you need to do is coat pinecones with peanut butter, and then roll in birdseed, and hang them in your backyard!

Royal icing, piping gel and melted chocolate all work well. To attach small to medium decorations to a cake or when making cake toppers, a mix of water and tylose/CMC powder works wonderfully. It's much stronger than water alone and stores well in the fridge.

Sugar glue is a superb universal glue.

Construction grade polyurethane adhesive can be used to install the bird spikes on most surfaces.

Netting. Cover the glass on the outside with netting at least 3 inches from the glass, taut enough to bounce birds off before they hit. Small-mesh netting (around 5/8″ or 1.6 cm) is best, so that birds don't get their heads or bodies entangled but will bounce off unharmed.

Regular insect screens, for example, eliminate reflections and provide a cushion if a bird does hit a window. If you don't have built-in screens, or your screens only cover part of a window, there are several options, like Easy Up Shades and Bird Screens, which can be installed with suctions cups or hooks.

Birds can't see glass. Instead, they see whatever happens to be reflected in its mirror-like surface. Often, this is open sky or trees, which, if you're a bird, are appealing (and perfectly safe) things to fly towards.

How do you make bird feeder with gelatin? ›

Empty 1 package of unflavored gelatin into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Let this sit for 1 minute. Add 1/3 cup of boiling water to the gelatin, stirring for a few minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved. This is the binder that keeps seeds together.

Store bird feeder ornaments in an airtight container or zip-top back in a dry, cool place, away from moisture and heat. If stored correctly, birdseed ornaments will last for 4 to 6 months.