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Winter can be hard on our little feathered friends that don’t fly south. Everything is frozen, or covered in snow, and the plants are all hibernating or dead. But if you love birds, here’s a really special way you can help provide for them all winter long! Here you see a bird enjoying his meal! But be sure to ask an adult to help you with the hot stuff on the stove!
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What You Need:
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- 2/3 cup of shortening
- 1 cup of bird food mixture (bird seed, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, oats, coconut flakes, raisins, etc.)
- 2 empty yogurt cups or similar containers
- metal hooks, ribbon, or netting material
- scissors
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What You Do:
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- Place the shortening in a pot and heat it over medium heat until it melts (don’t overheat).
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the bird food mixture, stirring it in thoroughly.
- Under adult supervision, pour the hot mixture into the yogurt cups, and add the hook.
- If you’d prefer to use a ribbon, then tie the two ends together forming a loop. Put the knot into the mixture, so you can hang it when it cools. If you have netting, you may prefer not to use any type of hook.
- If it’s cold enough, place the yogurt cups outside until the mixture cools and hardens into a solid. If it’s not cold enough, then put them in the refrigerator and wait until the mixture is solid.
- Cut away the yogurt cup with the scissors.
- If you used a hook, then tie a ribbon to it and hang it from a branch or a hook on the porch. Be sure to hang their food high enough to keep them away from animals that might enjoy a bird for a snack!
- If you used a ribbon, just hang it up, and watch your feathered friends come for dinner.
If you used no hook or ribbon at all, then place the food cake inside a loose netting and hang that up. It gives the birds something to hang on to while they are feeding.
As an alternative, you can also place the cakes in a netting and hang it from a branch. The netting holds the cake longer and the birds can hold on to it easier while trying to eat.
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