Homemade Gourd Bird Feeder DIY
I was excited a while ago to find inspiration for a bird feeder made out of pumpkins on Pinterest. I love growing fun gourds in my garden. They're just amazing to watch grow - so colorful and fun for the kids.
But honestly, what good are tons of gourds? I can only display so many in fall arrangements and they aren't really that tasty. Since we ended up with a few awesome gourds this year, the kids and I decided to try our luck at a Gourd Bird Feeder and try to attract songbirds to the backyard.
Gourd Bird Feeder DIY
Admittedly, the first step to making my gourd bird feeder was to marry well - because my amazing husband Dan actually made this for me. My eight year old son came up with the specific design, but the husband ran the power tools which made the job easier. If you'd like to make your own gourd bird feeder, here's what to do.
Supplies to Make a Homemade Bird Feeder From a Gourd:
-
- Gourds {either grow your own or buy a nice one at the farmer's market or store}
- Drill
- Hole bit
- Round bit
- Serrated knife & spoon
- Sticks
- Bird Seed
- Twine
How to Make a Homemade Gourd Bird Feeder:
1. Using a drill with a hole bit, drill holes in the gourd. Be careful using this drill as we found the gourds to be somewhat unwieldy. This step in the process is definitely for an adult who knows how to be careful using a drill. We used Bule Gourds that I grew in my garden and made three big holes with the hole bit so we could make a cavity for the bird seed.
2. Next, loosen up around the holes you drilled so you can pull the gourd parts out and form the cavity. A serrated knife worked well to loosen up the hole. After we got the round chunks out, we cleaned the inside up a bit with a knife and a spoon and made plenty of room for the bird seed.
3. Now, change out the hole bit for a round bit. We made three holes across the top so we could insert twine to hang the bird feeder. Then we also made three small holes underneath the bigger holes so we could insert sticks upon which the birds can sit to eat the food. Finding sticks is a good activity for your kids!
4. After all the hole are drilled, thread the twine through the top holes. We doubled up on the twine to help hold it better - don't want the heavy bird feeder to break the twine and fall to the ground.
5. Finally, add whatever kind of bird seed you want, hang the gourd and watch for birds. We've seen gold finches and barn swallow eating from our gourd bird feeder, but I haven't been lucky enough to capture a picture so far.
A Gourd Bird Feeder is one thing to do with fall gourds! Do you have any other ideas?
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