Log Bird Feeders

Students who attended the May bird lab got to make a bird feeder. This year we are focusing on the Eastern Bluebird so we wanted to make a feeder that would attract them.

Eastern Bluebirds eat a lot of protein. They love meal worms but I didn't want to give the kids meal worms to stuff inside their bird feeders. After all, the parents of my students have been through a lot with me this year; bullfrog tadpoles, antlions, worms, caterpillars... I thought meal worms crawling out of the student's bird feeders and into the car would set the parents over the edge. So, I exercised caution and restraint :) No meal worms this year...

First I drilled holes in the logs with this type of drill bit.
The logs looked like this when I was finished. I tried to make at least five cavities in the logs. The more cavities you can drill, the more food you can stuff inside. We inserted a small eye hook in the top so that the children could hang their log bird feeder from a tree. Finally, we filled the cavities with Crisco. Peanut butter works too but I didn't want to expose anyone with peanut allergies to nuts.
Add a mixture of bird seed. This was a messy task but lots of fun!