How to Make Healthy, Natural Bird Feeders
You’ve probably seen bird feeders made from pine cones, but have you considered that the things that typically get put on them may not be good for birds to have in their diets? These natural bird feeders are a healthier option with no added salt, sugars, or oils. Plus, they’re pretty!
Most nut butters you find in stores these days contain some sort of additive – salt, sugar or corn syrup, oils or shortenings, even flavor additives. Those really aren’t something we want to be feeding to the birds (or ourselves for that matter, but that’s for another day!).
Let’s make some natural bird feeders that we can feel good about feeding to our local wildlife!
These bird feeders are featured in my Cozy Winter Home video!
Ingredients Needed to Make Natural Bird Feeders
Pine Cones
The best option would be to collect these from nature – from someone’s yard (with permission of course!), the woods, etc. You can buy some from the store if you are sure they haven’t been treated with any sort of preservative, fragrance, or decor.
Natural Unbleached Cotton Kitchen Twine
Since this cotton kitchen twine is biodegradable, it’s a good option for hanging outside.
Plain Peanuts
You’ll want to choose peanuts that are unsalted and contain no other flavorings or additives. How many peanuts you need will depend on how many feeders you want to make. I used one 16oz container for about 12-13 medium pine cones. Half the peanuts will be processed into peanut butter and the other half will be crushed and added to the feed mixture.
You can certainly use 100% natural store-bought peanut butter (or other nut butter) if you would like.
Dried Fruit
I used raisins since that’s what we had available and they are typically a more economical option. Dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, and currants are also great options. Just be sure it has no sugar added.
Seeds
Sunflower seeds are a good, readily available option. You’ll want to choose hulled (shells removed) and unsalted.
How to Make Natural Bird Feeders
Create a hanger for your pine cone.
Tie a length of twine around the top of each pine cone, under a row or two of scales to make sure it doesn’t slip off. You can tie the twine in a bow at the top to make it even prettier!
Create homemade peanut butter.
Add half the peanuts to a food processor and process until creamy. Transfer to a bowl. This only takes a few minutes and no other ingredients are necessary!
You don’t need to worry about separation of oil happening since you’ll be using this right away. Again, if you’d rather use store-bought 100% natural peanut or other nut butter, that’s fine, but this is so easy to do!
Chop the remaining peanuts.
Add the rest of the peanuts to the now empty food processor and give it a few pulses to break them up a bit. This can also be done with a knife. Add them to a bowl or large plate.
Create your mix.
Mix the dried fruit and seeds into the chopped peanuts in a large bowl or on a large plate.
Assemble the feeders.
Spread each pine cone with the homemade peanut butter. Dip the coated pine cone in the feed mixture and press firmly to make sure the pieces adhere.
Hang the feeders.
Hang your feeders in a tree or somewhere up off the ground that you think the birds would enjoy them! It’s fun if you can hang them near a window so you can watch them enjoy the treats you’ve created!
I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! I’d love to know if this is something you’ve done before or plan to do – drop me a comment below!
Blessings,
Melissa
