Glass Jar Bird Feeders

Already the fall and almost winter when the days can be cold and rainy making it difficult for the birds to feed. Indeed there are seasons when birds need more food to keep warm and food becomes scarce at this time of the year. 

Here is an activity you could do to help the birds by creating access to water and food. For this you just have to make a bird feeder and mount it vertically, hanging from a branch, for example.

But before you start making the Hellokids.com bird feeder carefully read the few rules that you must adhere to really help the birds: 

• Only feed the birds in periods of extreme cold or long periods of rain, otherwise the birds would become dependent and would stop playing natures role in the food chain
• Has food morning and night in the feeder (for lack of time, do it at least in the early morning)
• Change water troughs regularly
• Regularly clean the feeders
• Keep the seeds dry
• Do not give them salty foods
• Try to place the seeds and feeders out of reach of predators (like cats for example!)
• Once you started to feed the birds during periods of extreme cold, please do not stop, because the birds get used to eating from your feeder and may die before finding another source of food.

Here are some foods that you can feed them: 

• All kinds of seeds, as long as they are not salted
• Lard
• Margarine
• Ham fat
• Broken rice
• Broken corn
• A mixture of small grains (wheat, millet, oats, barley ...)
• Pieces of fruit: apples, pears
• Mealworms 

Now that you know all about how to properly feed your feathered friends, you can now create bird feeder!

Making a Feeder

What you need: 

• 3 small glass pots like the picture shows (be sure the glass pots are clean and empty when you begin)
• Thick wire
• Water and food for birds (see list above) 

 Instructions:

1. Clean out the little pots of empty glass.
2. Use the wire to connect the glass pots to each other, twisting the wire around the pots. Leave excess wire on each side to be able to attach the feeder to the branch of a tree for example.
3. Around each glass pot, put a piece of wire wound by protruding one end of each side. Redo the same thing with another piece of wire but by wrapping it around the pot in the other direction. There you just have to tie together the excess pieces by twisting togther.
4. Once you have prepared the 3 glass pots, you just have to connect to each other by twisting the end pieces together.
5. There you just have to hang your feeder by connecting the wires at each end to a pole or branch.
6. Fill two jars with food and the last one with water.
7. The meal for your winter feathered friends is ready and you have help save a lot of birds this winter!