Easily DIY A Charming Bird Feeder With A Common Kitchen Item You Probably Have

Bird feeders have been growing in popularity for years. In fact, there are whole corners of the internet dedicated to discussing which feeders are best for which birds, how to keep rodents away from your feeding set-up (the hidden downside to putting a bird feeder in your yard), and DIY designs. It's estimated that 59 million of us feed birds, and this has created a huge industry around feeders and birdseed. But you don't need to spend much more than a dollar or two to make one of the best kinds of bird feeders that uses something probably sitting in your fruit basket right now: an apple. 

Making your own DIY bird feeder out of reused household items is a fun project, but making one out of an apple may be the easiest, and family-friendliest, feeder project you can do. Simply core an apple, tie a string through it, stick some twigs or dowels in the sides as perches, poke seeds into the flesh, and hang it up. Spring is a great time to try this DIY because birds are looking for food sources to feed their babies, and they can also teach their offspring to visit your apples, ensuring feathered visitors to your feeder for years to come.

Apples are a healthy source of nutrients for birds, and are one of their natural food sources in the wild. A variety of fruit-eating birds enjoy munching on an apple, including orioles, cardinals, flickers, and robins. Not all of your backyard birds will enjoy the fruit; some, like finches, may prefer the seeds poked into the apple rather than the apple itself. You can use any kind of apple, but make sure to wash it well to remove pesticide residues first, or use organic. 

This is a quick and easy project, but you can go the extra mile and coat the apple with peanut butter or sunflower seed butter and roll it in birdseed, which will attract both seed feeders and fruit feeders. Some DIYers even make heart-shaped slices using a cookie cutter. The possibilities are endless. 

YouTuber Maria's Place-Activities demonstrates how to make a more elaborate version of an apple bird feeder using multiple apples hung between twigs on a string. Start by carefully putting a hole through the middle of the apples using a knitting needle. Wind string around twigs to add perches in between each apple, and pull that string up through the apples using a crochet needle to hang it on a tree branch or post hook. This design doesn't core the apple; some recommend doing so to remove any seeds that contain a compound called amygdalin, which releases a small amount of cyanide when crushed. But this isn't a big concern, as it would take pounds of apple seeds to actually be a health risk to wild birds.

One of the many benefits of an apple bird feeder is that you never have to clean it. After all, frequent cleaning of bird feeders is important, as they can get messy. With an apple bird feeder, you don't need to do anything but hang it up. Just be sure to take it down when the apple gets munched down to its core, or you risk attracting other visitors like mice and rats to the remnants of your cute, natural feeder.