Recycling Projects: Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder

Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder

Supplies Needed:

• 2 liter plastic bottle with cap
• String or wire
• Scissors, knife, hole punch, wire cutters
• Wood dowel or chopsticks (used or unused)
• Super glue or hot glue gun
• Ruler
• Spray paint and/or acrylic paint and paintbrushes (optional)
• Bird feed

 This project was adapted from a more decorative, intricate project I found online, which you can find here: http://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/Plastic-Bottle-Birdfeeder#
My version is more simplified. Mine is also less aesthetic, but don't let that discourage you from using your plastic bottle bird feeder. You can customize your bird feeder in any way you like to make it look, well, less like a plastic bottle. The bird feeder made from favecrafts.com is beautiful! So, if you're feeling crafty, check out the link above.

 This project involves some cutting, so please supervise your children or do the cutting for them to make sure they don't get hurt. I'm going to make my own plastic bottle bird feeder as I write this post, and add pictures of my progress as I go!


Steps:

1. Rinse out your bottle thoroughly with warm water to remove any remaining soda or other drink. Remove and recycle the bottle's label. Be sure to keep the cap.

2. One third of the way up from the bottom of the bottle, cut a circular hole (about 1 and 3/4 inch in diameter) out of the plastic using the scissors, knife, or a combination of both. Cut carefully! Recycle the circular piece of plastic you cut from the bottle.

 

3. Using the hole punch or a knife, puncture a hole into the bottle about 1/4 inch beneath the door you just made. Cut a piece from your dowel or chopstick that is at least 1 and 1/2 inch in length. Apply super glue or hot glue to the puncture hole you made beneath the door and push the stick into the hole. Allow to dry and check that the stick is stable.

4. If you are spray painting or painting your bottle, do so now. If you spray paint, be sure to do so in an aerated place and be careful not to spray objects other than the bottle. Allow to dry. I am skipping this step.

5. Next, you need to make the hanger for your bird feeder. It may be helpful to decide now where on your house or in your yard you would like to hang your feeder. Decide what would be best to use; string or wire, and the proper length you will need. I will show examples of string and wire.
6. For string: If you have a drill, drill a hole into the bottle cap. If not, you can simply screw the string onto the bottle with the cap. Tie a knot at the end of the string and place the knotted end on the inside of the bottle to prevent the string from coming out of the drilled hole or from the cap. To create a loop, tie a knot in both ends of the string and screw both ends in with the cap.

Loop style shown in picture on the right

7. For wire: Wrap an end of the wire securely around the neck of the bottle beneath the cap at least three times. Take the very end of the wire and wrap it around the coils to secure them. Do the same with the opposite end before making a hook out of it to hang the feeder from.

8. Fill your feeder with bird seed through the door and hang your feeder outside. Spring is almost here, and before you know it your recycled bottle bird feeder will be a hot spot!

If you missed last week's project, be sure to check it out! Viridorari's next post, "Suggested Reading" and "Activism Spotlight" will come out on Friday the 29th.

Animal of the Month Update

 

Picture courtesy of: http://www.pbase.com/raymondjbarlow/image/85594808

The Golden Capped Fruit Bat's scientific name is Acerodon jubatus, and it is known in Spanish as Zorro Volador Filipino. There are two recognized sub species of the Golden Capped Fruit Bat: Acerodon jubatus jubatus, which inhabits the islands of Basilan, Biliran, Cebu, Dinagat, Leyte, Luzon, Mindoro, Negros, Panay, Samar, and the Sulu Archipelago, and A. j. mindanensis which is found only on the island of Mindanao. Deforestation and hunting has caused extinction on some of the islands, such as Cebu.

Our endangered bat lives in colonies, and, at least historically, these colonies can include several thousand bats. One particularly large colony documented in the 1920s contained approximately 150,000 individuals! However, in relation to the largest bat colony in the world, 150,000 bats is like comparing my small town to New York City. Bracken Cave in Austin, Texas, houses a colony consisting of millions of Mexican Free Tailed Bats, not only making it the largest bat colony in the world, but one of the largest concentrations of mammals on Earth. Go to Youtube and search "Bracken Cave" to find some awesome videos of millions of Mexican Free Tailed Bats leaving the cave at nightfall.    

Sources:

• http://www.arkive.org/golden-capped-fruit-bat/acerodon-jubatus/

•   http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-involved/visit-a-bat-location/bracken-bat-cave/subcategory.html?layout=subcategory&utm_campaign=bracken&utm_source=external&utm_medium=redirect