A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum Feeding Local Birds

Can I make a birdfeeder?Where can I buy cheap birdseed?I want to provide food for the local birds.

Sure! Half of my bird feeders are homemade. I use a small, stainless steel, display table as a platform feeder. I heap the top with a cornucopia of bird favorites, Black Oil Sunflower seeds (BOSS), peanuts in the shell, and apple slices for the Mockingbirds. Some birds like to feed from tube or hamper feeders like Chickadees and Titmouses. Tube and hamper feeders are hard to make. It is better to buy these at a store. You can get these anywhere from 75 cents to $4.00 a piece by checking discount stores like Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Walmart, or any low-priced store in YOUR area.

As for seed, Try Tractor Supply Company (TSC) if you have them in your area. Right Now they have a 50 pound bag of BOSS for under $20.00 (I gotta go by there and pick up one up this week). A bag that size will last for one to two months depending on how many feeders and hungry birds you have.

And dont forget the suet! Suet is a mixture of beef fat (lard), seeds, peanut butter, fruit, essentialy any seed fruit or vegetable scrap mixed into lard and then hardened into cakes. It is commomly placed into wire cages and hung or attached to a post. Suet is a FAVORITE of Woodpeckers , Wrens, Mockingbirds, Grackles, Starlings, Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, and I see Chickadees chowing down on it, too. Suet is sold as prepackaged cakes anywhwere wild bird feed is sold. I buy mine at my local grocery store for about 65 cents a cake.

When you set up your feeders, remember that it may be weeks or even months before birds and use them but once even one bird finds and uses them the word spreads fast and pretty soon birds are lined up around the building towait there turn at the feeders. For this reason I maintain about 15 feeders in my front yard. We are starting to discover that many if not all species of birds have a near human ability to use and DO use LANGUAGE. Crows, Jays and Parrots are ESPECIALLY BRILLIANT in understanding languages. So birds LITERALLY talk, by voice, to other birds to tell them where the food is......Quoth the Raven, "Quantum Physics"

I bought a feeder for a dollar today for any bird types.. I put my table scraps in that.

I checked out bird baths was too heavy . $30.00 here .. I have to be able to lift it.. I seen plastic somewhere think I might get.

I arent investing in seed......I use ole crumbs from cereal , left over cracker, old bread table scraps..
Look for day old bread at stores or markets the get it cheaper.. I dont buy see.

Sister gave me a bag of thistle for my birthday......LOL Wonder if that will be annual..ha ha

Yeah those bird baths at Walmart are concrete and weigh about 200 pounds, but they are in two pieces so that a man can JUST manage to move it. I found a good place for mine, set it up there, and there it has sat for three years now.

Not really sure I want one.. Might just make a phony one that can be moved . Use the catch containers at the bottom of flower pots.. Presto, no problem..

Hey , Thorn , nice suprise today.. Game commision brought our free christmas trees to plant . And brought us a present.. He made wooden birdhouse for us to hang.. Hubby thought it was so cute.. I am allowed to hang it.. I did already.

I am going to be addicted to birds and flowers>>LOL
Been fun..
Thanks for all the advice on here.

Catch containers make GREAT bird baths and waterers. I also use Pyrex pie pans as watering dishes on my platform feeder.

Smart cookie you are.

I've decided to take up birdwatching .I can buy cheap birdfeed,a birdfeeder,and suet cakes all at walmart.There are no squirrels in my neighborhood to steal the feed.Any tips to attract birds?

If you need to attract squirrels, GO OUT IN A TREE AND ACT LIKE A NUT.....

I move my bird baths around all the time. You just take off the top and roll the pedastal. I have to have help moving the top of 1 of them off the pedastal but once it's on the ground I'm good to go.

If you put out the bird seed the squirrels will come. Believe me.

Instead of buying suet cakes you can make your own. Cindy does it all the time. Or use apples and peanut butter.

The cats got my one bird food I made of suet and crumbs of cereal leftovers and bread and stuff one thows to the cats.. Ha.

Burnt toast.

Yes Cindy does that.. I thought I copied her recipes??????????

But then if I put out food for birds,my parents will get mad and tell me that i'm wasting money,but then It's my money 'cause I'll have a job by then!

Can I make some suet with some shortening or peanut butter and birdseed?

make it out of crumbs off the table and anything you wish..
I have to fight the cats....

Shortening, Peanut butter and bird seeds would make one of the BEST suets you have EVER seen! (Especially if you use Black Oil Sunflower seeds.)

How do I make suet?

The k-mart in town has 20lb. of birdseed for $4.Is that a deal or what?

I've never made suet. Cindy used to make it and send me some once in a while. Would it be selfish to say I wish she was well so she would do it again? Not just for that reason but it's a good reason.

I've got 2 platform feeders, one small wooden hanging feeder, and a tin squirrel-proof feeder that isn't as squirrel-proof as it's cracked up to be...lol. I get my birdseed at Lowe's - the Sunflower Harvest blend. I've got quite the variety of birds - cardinals, bluejays, rose-breasted grosbeaks, eastern towhees, titmice, chickadees, european sparrows, and the occasional blackbird invasions.
I've got 2 concrete birdbaths, one in the front yard, and one in the back yard.
Now, I've just got to work on landscaping, including more evergreen shrubs and a few berry-producing shrubs (considering Viburnum). Since spring has sprung, I'm going to work on that!

What's the ratio?

and can peanut butter go bad if left in extream heat? hubby found a jar of peanut butter in the trunk of the car. it was left there by one of his laborers that rode with him. I'd hate to just throw it away if it could be used for something.

I don't think there's any one recipe. Shortening Should be the major ingredient followed by peanut butter and then the seeds. I DON'T make my own suet, I buy mine. Cindy makes a lot of suet she might be able to help.

I googled it and there are hundreds of ways to make it, but like you said Thorn-Man, no one recipe. I went ahead and made some up. mostly shortening, some peanut butter, then the seeds. I stuck it in the freezer and I'll try it out on the cardinal's tonight. I'm assuming they'll eat it too? I don't know why not. still wondering about the peanut butter from the trunk of the car though? it looks and smells fine?

there is a recipe in the old forum for it. i'll chase it down and post the link here in a bit.

I'll copy and paste my 'peanut butter in the trunk' question to the food forum. I sure don't want to hurt any birdies, but I also hate to throw it away.

thanks jiffy! I thought I'd seen one before, but when I did a search all I could find was this thread.