A parallax image

Making a Pumpkin Bird Feeder

Posted by Gav Grayston.
First Published Nov 2015; updated May 2023.

Don't let your carved pumpkin go to waste. Turn it into a bird feeder.


Pumpkin Bird Feeder

It's a shame to waste all those carved pumpkins from Halloween.

You could reuse yours as a bird feeder.

You can do this great little project with your kids in the back garden.

What you need

  • A pumpkin (of course!)
  • Something to hang with (some twine or chain, for example) if you cannot place it somewhere.
  • Some good quality birdseed.

Making a Pumpkin Bird Feeder

Making a pumpkin bird feeder is quite simple.

Remove the top of your pumpkin. If yours looks worn around the carvings, slice that off, leaving a bowl shape.

Make sure the pumpkin is clean and not rotten.

Run some twine underneath the pumpkin, cradle it, and suspend it somewhere in your garden.

Fill with good birdseed.

What about the pumpkin seeds?

It would make sense to clean the pumpkin seeds and use those too, but the RSPB say that although pumpkin seeds could be nutritious for the birds, they rarely take them.

It won't last forever

Remember that as soon as the pumpkin looks a little old and rotten, it's time to throw it away (or, better still, compost it).

Don't feed the birds food that has gone rotten or mouldy.