Easy
30 min
No matter where you live, there are bound to be some birds left in your neighborhood come winter. Some come down from the mountains or further north, others want to keep a hold of their territory, and others simply don’t want to go through the hassle of migrating.
This includes Crows, Goldfinches, and Robins, as well as Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays that are sure to stick out in the snow.
In order to keep warm and maintain their resiliency, they fluff up their feathers to trap in heat like a big down comforter and hunt for fat-rich food to generate the necessary heat.
This is where the importance of our Waypoint comes into play! By making a winter bird feeder, your kids can make the lives of winter birds much easier. They’re natural, biodegradable, and completely safe for all types of birds or creatures you have nearby. And also give a pop of color to your outside!
Try to get your hands on unflavored gelatin. You can probably find it in the baking aisle. It’s also pretty common in health food stores as more people start to take it for bone and joint problems (at a cheaper prices than the grocery stores).
We used oranges that were ripe and juicy, because they’re easier to work with, but any citrus will do. All that matters is the rind.
Slice just enough off the end of your citrus, so you are able to get in and scoop out the juice, pulp, and seeds. Scrape it clean. Feel free to munch on this part as we complete the rest of the steps; we won’t be needing it.
Once the inside is scooped out, poke two holes through the orange near your opening with your skewer.
Take a foot-long piece of twine and thread it through one hole then the other. You can use your skewer to help with this. Tie a knot at each end of the string, then pull the middle of the string up, so it can hang like an ornament.
Since this is a Winter Bird Feeder, we don’t want to put only birdseed in our feeders. The howling winds of winter will knock it around and knock the birdseed out. So we’re taking advantage of the colder temperature and using gelatin to bind our birdseed together.
In a saucepan, mix two packets of gelatin to 1 cup of water and simmer on the stove over low heat. When the gelatin is completely dissolved, stir in 2 cups of birdseed. This ratio of 2 packets of gelatin to 1 cup water to 2 cups birdseed is only a recommendation. How much birdseed you want to use depends on how many oranges you want to fill.
Once your birdseed mixture is ready, it’s time to fill your citrus. This step could easily get messy, so take advantage of a sunny day if you have it and head outside if you can.
Scoop your mix out of the pan and into your citrus. Pack it full to the top.
If you find yourself with extra birdseed mix after all your citrus are full, you can also use muffin tins and then place them in little planter pots outside. Don’t let any of it go to waste!
When all your citrus are good and full, carefully place them in your fridge for at least two hours.
The gelatin in the birdseed mix will set and stick to the rind. Once the mixture feels stiff to the touch, you’re ready to go out and hang them.
The great thing about bird feeders is being able to watch them from your window as birds fly up to your food. In the winter time, you want to avoid hanging them in the middle of a yard away from shelter where they’re exposed to the elements and other hungry predators.
Look for places closer to your home to hang your feeders. This can be on a bush nearby or a tree near your window or even hanging from a fence. Bonus points if there’s some sort of coverage from snow falling. Most squirrels will be munching on their winter stash of acorns rather than out searching for food, so your feeders are likely safe from them.
Once they’re up and hanging, cozy up inside and see how long until those resilient winter birds find their way to your generous food. Depending on the size of your oranges and nearby bird population, they should last about a week or two.
Make a plan to have the kids take a peek out there every day and write about the birds they see. Let us know what species you find! It can become a winter tradition to see which birds keep coming back.
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