Recycled Bottle Bird Feeder

Making a Bird Feeder out of a Recycled Plastic Bottle

Posted by Shell Grayston.
First Published Nov 2013; updated May 2023.

Here's something you can get out and do in the garden with your kids: make a bird feeder out of an old plastic bottle. Let the kids decorate it.


Here's a fun project to make for your garden, and recycle some rubbish, too...


Kids love making things. It enhances their creativity and gives them something to be proud of. If your kids are anything like ours, they are constantly in the recycling box, looking for boxes, jars, and pots to make things. Encouraging your kids to recycle and make will hopefully install some good practices for when they are older.

Here's a bird feeder that we made from a plastic bottle.

Homemade Bird Feeder Hanging

What you need to create your recycled bottle bird feeder

You will need the following:

  • Recycled plastic bottle
  • Marker pen
  • Scissors
  • Garden wire
  • Bird seed

How to make it

Recycled Bottle Bird Feeder

Cut a hole using scissors at the back of the bottle, making it big enough for a bird to get in.

Make two small holes near the top of the bottle. This is for attaching the garden wire to hang your bird feeder.

Using a marker pen, decorate your feeder.  This could be a picture, face, words - anything to make it look pretty for those birds!

Fill it with birdseed.

Hang it outside on a tree or feeding stand, and be proud. All you have to do is wait patiently for the birds!

Top Tip: remember you need a small drainage hole at the base of your bottle. Otherwise, you'll get soggy birdseed.