Last Updated on March 8, 2023 by Ellen Christian
You’ll love this simple bird feeder to make! It’s so easy to make. Learn how to make an orange bird feeder to feed the birds during the winter months.
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Simple Bird Feeder to Make
Marty and I love to watch the birds. In the summer, we have lots of brightly colored songbirds at our feeders. The yellow goldfinch and indigo bunting are a few of our favorites.
We also have Baltimore Orioles and cardinals who visit our yard as well. In the winter, all the brightly colored songbirds fly south to warmer places.
I don’t blame them. Winters in Vermont are not nearly as nice as warm summer days. We don’t stop feeding the birds in the winter. Seeds are harder for the birds to find underneath a foot of snow.
Orange bird feeder
While we have several traditional bird feeders, sometimes I like to set out something extra for the birds. You may remember that I posted how to make your own suet for the birds and how to attract birds to your yard.
I decided to share this simple bird feeder to make. You can use this instead of a traditional bird feeder or as an extra. They are easy to hang on a tree branch and you do not need to worry about a squirrel dragging them off or damaging them.
Tools / Equipment to get started
You can use any type of citrus including grapefruit, oranges or lemons for this bird feeder. I used a Meyer lemon since that is what I had on hand. The larger types of citrus will hold more bird feed than the smaller types.
How to make a simple bird feeder
Slice the Meyer lemon in half and using a citrus reamer (like this one from Good Cook), ream out the juice from the center so the center is mostly empty.
Don’t worry about removing the flesh of the Meyer lemon. The birds will enjoy it. Save the lemon juice for a future recipe.
Using a sharp knife or a knitting needle, make a hole in each side of the Meyer lemon half. Since Meyer lemons are smaller than traditional lemons, I cut the top quarter off and used the bottom.
Using twine, run a piece through each hole and tie. You will use this to hang the bird feeder from a tree limb. If you don’t have twine, you could use yarn.
Fill the center of the Meyer lemon with bird food, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. Carefully hang from a tree limb or bird feeder hanger and enjoy watching the birds when they visit.
Did you know that certain birds enjoy certain types of bird food and use certain types of feeders more than others? I hope this guide helps you while you’re feeding the birds.
Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.
My yard is supery snowy still, and the birds cannot get to my feeders, so I made one of these (thanks to you). The birds were SO happy. Thanks for the idea 🙂
We still have tons of snow too 🙁 So glad you enjoyed making this!
What a great idea! We don’t get many birds in our yard, but I bet we would with this, and it is so colorful and natural!
It definitely does help to attract birds to your yard!
What a fun craft idea for kids. I am going to make this with my 10 year old. I love seeing the birds in the cooler months and I am sure they love having extra food around. 🙂
I’m sure they do enjoy the extra food. Hope you both have fun with the craft!
That’s really clever, and totally not wasteful! Love that! Reuse and recycle! Great job Ellen!
Thanks so much, Rose. It was a lot of fun.
I love this idea! I showed it to my mom and we both agreed it would be so fun to do with kids!!
I bet they would have a great time with this!
This looks like a fun craft to do with the kids. Its also a great way to recycle unused orange skins.
It definitely is, Debi!
I love this idea. I remember making one years ago with a pinecone, peanut butter and seeds.
That’s fun too, Stefani!
Cool idea! Thanks for sharing : )
Glad to share, Jess! Hope you give it a try.
What an awesome idea, I am totally doing this with the kids!!
Thanks, Danielle. Hope they enjoy making it with you!
I would have never thought to do this! I’m definitely doing this with my son – he will think its so cool!
It was pretty cool, Bethany!
I think this was a great idea. i like the idea of using the lemon juice for my family and then using the lemon itself as a bird feeder! Great idea.
Thanks! I don’t like to waste any of it.
I should make one of those for my Nanday Conure. She LOVES sunflower seeds and hanging one of those in her cage would be a nice treat for her.
What a great idea. I’m sure she would love it.
What a simple fun idea. Pinning this too.
Love how “green” this is!!!
Thanks, Janel! That’s one of my goals.
What a simple yet ingenious idea. I love recycling your orange peels for the good of the birds. We are going to do this today. Thanks for the feeding guide too.
You’re welcome! We love feeding a variety of birds.
I really love the natural beauty if this bird feeder! I think I will have to pick up some seeds to try it on my own!
Thanks so much, Amy. Let me know how it turns out!
what a great idea Ellen, I have never seen this before. I so want to do this but there is is pesty squirrel who would destroy it, maybe my kids and I will make one in our front yard. Pinning this! Thanks for sharing your creativity!
Thank you so much! Yes we have squirrels that are pests too!
this is such a wonderful idea, my daughter is really into birds these days so I would love to make this with her.
I’m sure she would enjoy making it and then identifying the birds that visited.
we are so so so going to make this in brownies next week!! what a fun and eco friendly craft!
What a great idea! I bet the Brownie troop would enjoy it!
Very cute feeder and you make it look easy to make! Wonderful idea and the timing couldn’t be better. We’re snowed in and the poor birds could really use some food.
We have snow too, Nancy! Almost done shoveling out!
WHat a cute and fun idea! We love bringing the birds to our yard, my toddlers love to watch them out the window! We will have to try this one!
Thanks, Aimee. I’m sure they would enjoy it!
SUCH a great idea! My dad wanted a bird feeder for Christmas – I should have made this! I think I’ll do this with my son then we will watch the birds!
Sounds like a fun afternoon project!
What a great idea for feeding the birds. This is simple enough to do with my younger kids. They would love this!
They could definitely help with this. Sounds like a fun project!
What a great idea and nothing goes to waste! I love it. I will have to show my Grandma because all the neighborhood animals literally WAIT for her to feed them!
We love watching the birds rediscover our feeders when we fill them.
My daughter would like to help make this. I like that it’s all natural and good for the birds.
I agree, Ashley. That was important to me too.
Well, how cute is that? This post made me nostalgic for spring. My two little boys would love making a bird feeder. I’ve pinned for later use…when it’s not snowing outside.
We have snow too, Susanna! I’m ready for it to stop!
I think my kids would love helping to make these and hang a few around the yard for the birds. Such an easy and quick nature craft! Could you use oranges instead of meyer lemons?
You could certainly use oranges, Karen. Any kind of citrus would work fine.
We only use Safflower seeds at our house, because the squirrels don’t like them! If I ever get a squirrel free feeder, maybe I can get a songbird mix!
I just hate when squirrels get in my feeder. We have one that is squirrel proof but the others are not.
Oh, I love this! Thanks for all this information. I am going to make this with my son.
You’re welcome! It would be fun to make with kids and for them to watch the birds visit!
What a fun treat the birds had at your house! I will definitely have to do this over here. I LOVE birdwatching!
We do too, Liz. My husband has so much fun!
this is adorable and so simple. i may just make these with my kids tomorrow during the BIG STORM!!
I am so TIRED of this snow already, Brett!
I think I will pass this idea onto my dad. He’d like it! 🙂
Thanks, Chelsea! I hope he likes it!
We feed the birds and squirrels and I love watching them!! This is a fun idea, might have to try this out next time I have an orange around!
It would work great with an orange too!
Adorable – in my yard, though, it would last about 5 minutes because the stupid squirrels would jump on it and ruin it!! 🙁 Dumb squirrels!!
We have that problem too, Jamie! But at least they are not hauling away my real feeders!
I love how easy this bird feeder is! I like too that it’s biodegradable and good for the Earth and birds.
I agree, Jennifer! In 2014, one of my goals is to make more Earth friendly choices.
Oh I’m totally doing this! I better pin it for later! My girls would love to help make this and then see the birds come to it! Fun learning!
It was fun, Amy! I hope they enjoy it too!
I have been throwing seed onto the ground for the birds but I imagine this would be a lot nicer for the birds. I’ll have to make a few to hang in the trees.
Depending on the birds, they will enjoy it either place but this is fun to do!
How cute is that! My kids would love this project.
It would be a great projects for kids to help with!
This would make a great homeschool lesson!
It would! Especially paired with a bird identification lesson.
That is not only functional but seriously cute too! What a great idea.
I had to tell you though… my jaw has that sour clench at every picture of a lemon! haha!
Thanks, Stefany! They definitely are tart although the Meyers are a it sweeter than normal!
What a great idea for bird feeder! I will have to share this with my friend as she has a lemon tree that is mass producing right now.
I would love to have a lemon tree! What fun!
It would work well with oranges too, yes? I hope so because I have them!
Oranges would work fine too, Liz!
I really need to try doing this in our yard, we have a ton of birds and they’re always digging around in my mulch looking for worms and making a real mess in the process. Maybe they’d be distracted by the bird feeder instead?!
They might! It cannot hurt to try at least!
In my yard, the birds always come after the cat food for our outside cat. This would give them a distraction! LOL!
LOL, Jennifer, that would be a site to see!
Oh my goodness, how simple. I love this… my kids love seeing birds in the back yard, so we will definitely need to try it
Thanks, Shauna. It is fun to keep track of the different types you see.
This is a wonderful project that I would love to do with my boys! They would get a kick out of watching the birds from our window 🙂
I still have fun watching the birds, Robin!
What a neat idea! I’m going to make a bird house for spring time and I’m kind of excited about it. I’ve never done anything like that before.
Thanks, Leslie. We love feeding the birds.
Oh Ellen, that is such a nifty little idea! We have a bunch of clementines in the fridge, now I know what we are doing with them when we finish eating them!
Thanks so much, Jennifer. It was fun and easy!
Oh, smart we have clementines on hand too!!