Lately I’ve been noticing a ton of hummingbirds around our backyard. I’ll be sitting outside and suddenly hear a buzzing in my ear, only to turn around and find a sweet little birdie hovering by my head. I got an urge to create a hummingbird feeder over the weekend… to give them something to do while fluttering around the yard of course! Here is what I came up with…
You will need:
– A plastic container with a closeable lid
– A clean bottle (glass or plastic… just dig through your recycling bin!)
– Some chain. The small chain I used was an old necklace.
– Pliers
– Hot glue gun
– Scissors
– Optional hammer OR lighter
– A nail or something to make holes with
First you’ll want to make sure your bottle can securely hang upside down. I created a chain contraption by putting a small piece around the neck of the bottle, a larger piece around the bottom of the bottle, and three equal length pieces attaching the two together.
Next, cut a hole in the center of your container lid. I actually just used a lighter and burned a hole because it was quicker. Use your hot glue gun to secure it in place if you need to. Make sure your bottle neck sticks through the container about an inch or so.
In the top of your lid, you’ll want to make a bunch of holes so the little hummingbirds can get their long beaks through. They don’t have to be too large, but don’t make them so small that they will get stuck. mine were slightly larger than hole punch size. You can use a hammer and nail for this, or a drill, or you can do like I did and heat up a nail and simply let it slide through the plastic.
Attach a larger chain to the bottom of the bottle chain for hanging.
This step is totally optional, but I do recommend you put something red on your feeder. We’re not going to use red dye in our feeder water because that is known to cause birth defects in future baby birds. I opted to make some plastic flowers and melted them around a few of the holes. I made these using an old red plastic coffee container, cut into little petal shapes. I then heated the bottom of each petal and let it melt to the plastic lid.
Ta da! This is what it should look like. Now all you need to do is fill the bottle up with some hummingbird food, secure the bottom back on the container, and flip it over so the water from the bottle fills the container.
To make nectar water:
Boil 4 cups of water in a pot. Add 1 cup of sugar and let dissolve. Cool and pour into bottle. Please do not add red dye! Red dye can cause growth defects in little birdies.
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Do you have hummingbirds where you live?? I LOVE them they are adorable! This video will just make your heart skip beats too:
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The idea of boiling the water is to sterilize the water. It also helps to dissolve the sugar.