Having a birdfeeder is easy right? Just go to any home goods or garden store store and buy one. Not in Mexico, where I live. So get one from Amazon then... Yeah, but I don't want to wait 3 weeks for a piece of crap piece of plastic from China that either is broken on arrival or is an over-engineered masterpiece that doesn't do what I want. If it arrives at all... No, I'll make one myself, and you can too!
What you'll need to make a bird feeder
This isn't nearly as hard as you might think. And all you need is a few kitchen items, an electric drill + bits and some screws.
I've used the following: - A plastic tub, one with a screw-on lid. Any size will do. But mine is about 12cm (~5 inch) in diameter and about 10cm (~4 inch) high. - A plastic sandwich plate. I picked one that is about 20-25cm across. - 4 self tapping screws. - A piece of string/wire.
Pick a nice color for the tub and plate of-course!
For tools I've used a battery drill. You'll need a couple of drill bits and a screw bit. Most of the above items you'll find in any dollar store.
Putting the 'project' together
This is rather simple. In the tub you'll drill a few holes in the side, along the bottom. I made 2 holes of 16mm with a wood drill. One on each side. This is so the seeds can flow out.
Next I measured the tub to be in the middle of the plate and with 4 self tapping scripts screwed the two together. I put the screws in from the bottom so the point of the screws stick into the tub where the seeds will be. That way there are no pointy bits on the outside.
I used 4 screws, this ought to hold the weight of the feeder, a scoop of seeds and the bird. If you feel you need more add more.
If your tub or plate is made of thin/bendy plastic, you can also drill holes and use a small bolt and nut to connect the two pieces. Or, more advanced, add a sturdy plate, maybe a thin piece of wood, inside the tub for the screws to go into.
In the screw-on lid of the tub I drilled a couple of 6mm holes, 3 in a triangle, so the wire can go through. Twist the 3 strands together at any length you desire and make a little loop at the end.
The loop goes on a hook or whatever, tie it to a branch in a tree or the patio lamp or something. Somewhere where birds can get to it, and where you can see it.
To refill the feeder simply unscrew the lid and enter a cup of seeds. It'll overflow through the holes onto the plate. Then simply screw the tub back into the lid.
Build cost and cave-ats
Overall this whole thing cost me about 200 Mexican pesos ($8-10USD), mostly because I screwed up the first 2 tubs. I already had the tools of-course. But I bought a drill bit for the larger holes.
The one cave-at is that since plastic tubs are such poor quality these days, or at-least the ones that Mexico has to offer, the plastic easily cracks. For the first tub I tried cutting it but on the 3rd cut the knife went the wrong way and the hole I was making ended up way too big. The 2nd tub was of much harder plastic and it splintered when I put any pressure on it after the first incision was made. I then gave up on using a knife and bought the wood drill bit. This finally allowed me to make decent holes that worked.
And that's it, enjoy your home made bird feeder.