Bird Feeder Bird

Intro: Bird Feeder Bird

Make a bird to feed your birds! Inspired by the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill calling out in droves to wake me in the morning, I made a parrot to feed them.
Using bread as a base and peanut butter as the glue, I covered this bird in seeds that parrots like best. Find out what your local birds like to eat from a pet shop, and attract them to your yard!

STEP 1: Materials

• bird seed
• peanut butter
• bread dough
• coat hanger or other heavy gauge wire
• baking sheet
• dowel (opt)

STEP 2: Prepare Base

• Shape your wire/coat hanger into desired armature. It wants to be big enough and go through enough of the dough that it won't just slip right out once it's done and laden with seeds.
• Shape your dough around the armature to resemble your finished shape. In this case, I left wire below the dough as well which turned out to be a good idea, since I needed to add a "perch."

STEP 3: Bake

• Bake bread according to package directions.

Mine came out way over-cooked since, as it turns out, my oven heats up to about 100 o higher than it reads (see corn bread).

• If applicable, attach perch. This is way easier to do now than it will be when it's covered with seeds. Wrap wire around dowel or other handy device.
• Check the balance and adjust hanger as necessary.

STEP 4: Cover That Bird

• Slather both sides of feeder with peanut butter
• Pour seeds on and pat to set in place
• You're done!

STEP 5: Hang

Think of a good place to hang your feeder where the birds you want to attract will be able find it.

I didn't think I'd be able to lure the parrots away from their local hangouts to fly by my apartment. Since I see them mostly when I'm near the top of Telegraph Hill, I chose the Fillbert Steps as my locale. (added bonus - lots of tourist foot traffic to witness my art!)

Check back often to see if you need a refill. If they get too hungry, they can always eat the bread too. Then you'll have the perfect reason to make another!

Comments

[cfeleke4384]

wouldnt the peanut butter be harmful for the birds?

[I am in the shed!]

Good one!... but keep an eye on the local bird population - they may start to get confused and eat each other! ;-)

[cfeleke4384]

yeah i thought that too

[GingerG7]

this looks kool!

Im afraid it would fall apart with the rain, wind and such.. =/ ... ?

[awang8]

Sweet! (Literally) But do birds like peanut butter?

[scoochmaroo]

They do! Parrots do anyway. And they love peanuts. A simple internet search will tell you everything you want to know about your local birds. Plus probably a whole lot more.

[The Fishfrog]

jesus do u life in london? telegraph hill?

[scoochmaroo]

Nope, I live in San Francisco.
We've got a Telegraph Hill too.
And there was a movie made about the wild parrots that live there!

[ajada]

awsome

[The Fishfrog]

ooo its because theres a telegraph hill right near my house in london. you can see the london eye and the hoses of parlemont from there.

[hvnlyflwr]

Yes, my parrots love peanut butter! They also love raw peanuts that I buy just for them. :)

[mynameisjonas]

yeah, and It is also a good source of nutrition for them.

[zjharva]

when i was a small kid, at the nature center near me, we would make pine cones covered in peanut butter then seeds

[buck2217]

Cannibalism at its finest

[rrkrose]

I made this for my chickens today and they loved it! I just took part of the bread and covered it in seeds and peanut butter.

[scoochmaroo]

Awesome!

[hvnlyflwr]

I would love to make one for my parrots....but I would have to replace the wire coat hanger with a safer wire for them. I can just see them destroying the whole thing in a day or two. LOL

[chello2k9]

I'm salivating over this, peanut butter is amazingly good on warm crescent rolls so I can only image how it taste in bird form

[tinker234]

ok wow weird to watch a bird eat a bird but my freind had a hamsterer that ate it stomach clean ouut he died but brought back the memory

[Cooldeal]

I love birds with a passion. I am always enthused when bird attractions like this bring birds into our living areas. That should attract quite a good variety of them. Yum.