by Alysa Dudley

Created on: February 28, 2009   Last Updated: April 06, 2009

Pine cone bird feeders are a wonderful, easy family activity. Children love to have the opportunity to help birds.

It can be difficult for birds to find food in the early spring. In addition to feeding the birds, it is also fun to watch them while they are eating.

You will need the following supplies:

One or more pine cones that are not too tightly closed
A sheet of wax paper to work on

A spoon or a knife
A few feet to string, ribbon or yarn
Peanut butter
Birdseed

First tie a few feet of string, ribbon, or yarn around the pine cone below the 2nd or 3rd circle of petals, leaving a tail of string which you will tie on the tree. Since the activity can be messy, you will want to lay out a sheet of wax paper to work on. Put some peanut butter on your work surface, then spread the peanut butter on the pine cone with a spoon or a knife. Be sure to get it into all the nooks and crannies. Pour some birdseed on the wax paper and and then roll the peanut buttery pine cone in the birdseed. Add another layer by rolling the pine cone in more peanut butter on the wax paper, and then roll it again in the birdseed. Lastly, go outside and hang your new feeder on a tree

Your children may ask why this is a good bird feeder. You can tell them that birds need fat to keep their feathers and skin healthy. Fat gives birds lots of energy to help them fly. The peanut butter in your feeder provides that fat.

If you want to, you can use some different ingredients for your pine cone bird feeder. Instead of peanut butter try vegetable shortening, lard or suet. In place of birdseed, birds like uncooked oats, corn meal, chopped nuts, and sunflower seeds.

What if you don't have a pine cone? You can use a bagel dipped in peanut butter and birdseed and tie it to a tree. Or mix your ingredients in a bowl, and then put them into one of the mesh bags that oranges and onions come in. Tie that onto a branch, and the birds can get to the food through the mesh.

There are some foods that should not be given to birds, including chocolate, mushrooms, raw beans, milk, rhubarb leaves, caffeine, and alcohol. Avoid the seeds from apples, cherries, peaches, apricots and pears as well as the skin and pit of the avocado The stems, vines and leaves of tomatoes and potatoes can be toxic to birds.

Bird feeders come in all shapes and sizes. Using simple ingredients you can make your pine cone bird feeder. Once the project is complete, enjoy the added bonus of bird watching.

Learn more about this author, Alysa Dudley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.