Feed the Birds
by LDS Living Staff

Sooner than you realize, birds will be flying back after a long winter. So grab the kids and get your garden ready for their beautiful songs by completing a homemade bird feeder. Rather than falling back on the old pine-cone-and-peanut-butter feeder, consider these easy, inexpensive, and attractive options:

• Drill two holes, one inch apart, in the middle of two dried sunflower heads (you can dry them or purchase them pre-dried) from the soft underside of the flower. Place the backs of the heads against each other and thread floral wire through the holes, from one side to the other, leaving a loop on one side for hanging. Twist the wire to secure, and hang from a tree. Birds will love to peck at the seeds!
• Melt ½ cup of vegetable shortening or suet and ½ cup of peanut butter. Add corn meal, instant oats, and flour in equal parts until mixture is mealy. Pack mixture into two paper cups, cool, then peel off the cups and place mixture in a colorful mesh bag, secured on the bottom. Tie to a tree branch.
• Cut the top off an orange and remove the pulp. Drill four holes, equally spaced, about an inch from the top. Thread floral wire or thin ribbon through each hole and join them, tie them, and create a loop for hanging. Mix together cracked corn, white millet, peanuts, and shelled sunflower seeds, pour it into the orange, and hang the feeder.

General tips: Suet (animal fat) is high in calories, which birds need, especially in the winter. If winter is long in your area, consider using suet instead of shortening, or hanging a ball of suet in a mesh bag. Also, whatever feeder you make, favor cracked corn and white millet instead of commercial birdseed, which often has filler seed that is distasteful to birds. Finally, hang your feeder high enough, at least 6 feet high.

Sources: marthastewart.com, kidsactivities.com

LDS Living, Jan/Feb 2009; Photo by Juha Soininen