Native bird feeder

Rose Hughes’ bird feeder serves up a buffet for our nectar, fruit- and seed-eating native birds.

Your will need: 2.4m x 180mm x 19mm untreated pine, offcut of 12mm ply – 200mm x 400mm, 0.5m 10mm dowel, tri corner shelf bracket 63mm, 2 x 23mm hooks, 2 x 30mm eyes, picture wire or similar, No.8 wire offcuts, water bottle to fit, plastic water dish with a lip, wire basket – 130mm x 130mm, 6g x 32mm screws, jigsaw, drop saw, wood glue, drill and bits, Resene Quick Dry Primer and test pots (I used Resene Jalapeno), wild bird seed, lard, dried fruit, sugar water and an apple.

Cutting lists:
From the pine: Base – 1 x 590mm, Walls – 3 x 300mm, Divider – 1 x 280mm, Edges – 2 x 160mm x 25mm, Bottle holder – 90mm x 50mm, Perch holders – 2 x 25mm square.
From the ply: 1 x 590mm x 170mm, 1 x 590mm x 150mm .

Cost: $90 excluding glass bottle and paint.

Step one
Cut out all the pieces. Mark the position of the walls on the floor at 50mm, 230mm and 430mm. Mark the circle for the sugar water dish (to feed tui, bellbird and silvereye). Mark a circle on the divider starting 50mm up from the base. Using the angle brackets mark the roof angle on the 3 wall panels and trim. Sand all the edges.

Step two
Drill a starter hole then jigsaw out the centre of both circles. Sand well. Drill a hole through the side of the divider panel at the centre of the circle to accommodate the wire. Drill a matching hole in one of the wall panels.
Optional: Drill a 10mm hole for the dowel perch into the two walls of the seed compartment.

Step three
Mark a cut-out for the neck of the bottle on the 90mm x 50mm piece. Cut out using the jigsaw. Sand well. Measure the diameter of the bottle and cut wire adding in 2cm. Bend carefully around the shape of the bottle. Mark and drill holes for the wire to fit into so that the bottle is held in place.

Step four
Cut and insert the apple wire through the wall into the divider (the apple feeds silvereye, tui, bellbird, kaka and fantail). Assemble the feeder by glueing and screwing the walls and divider into position. Add the edges to the seed compartment. Insert the perch dowel and cut to length.

Step five
Undercoat and paint the roof panels. Glue and clamp together. Measure to the outside of the end walls and attach the roof angle brackets at this measurement on the roof.

Step six
Put the roof into position and attach at each bracket. Add 2 small hooks for the lard/seed basket (for silvereye and naturalised birds such as house sparrow and starling). Add a small perch for the nectar feeder: drill a 10mm hole into the two 25mm x 25mm blocks, insert the dowel, cut to length, glue and screw into position. Add eyes to the roof and insert picture wire to hang.

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