Stop buying pricey, ornamental sugar-water feeders. Any backyard may now have a gorgeous hummingbird feeder constructed from a recycled bottle with copper accents for a few dollars.
– 5 feet of 4-gauge untreated copper wire– 3 to 5 feet of 12-gauge untreated copper wire– Beads or other decoration– D ring or carabiner– Screw eye– File– Needle-nose plier– Wire cutter
Material
File copper wire ends to remove sharp edges. Bend one end of the 4-gauge wire into a tiny circle. This should loosely cover the bottle opening.
This allows some design freedom. The wire should be slack enough to remove the sugar water bottle but tight enough to hold the feeder.
As illustrated, bend the last 18 inches of wire upward to construct a hanging hook and then loop the end to secure it.
Now adorn your feeder with 12-gauge copper wire. Shape the wire with needle-nose pliers and wire cutters.
Wrap the wire around a pencil and join it in parts to make curling vines. Finish your design with colourful beads or other embellishments.
Put sugar water in the bottle. Use your store-bought feeding tube to carefully insert the stopper into the bottle hole. Fit snugly to avoid leaks.
After filling with sugar water, return the bottle to the copper holder. You may need to shake the bottle to remove air bubbles.
In case of leakage, take out the feeding tube and adjust the stopper to ensure a tighter fit.