Guest Author - Lisa Shea

If you'd like a feeder in your back yard, why not use a plastic milk gallon jug? They're easy to find, and make a great, inexpensive feeder!

First, clean the plastic milk gallon out thoroughly. You don't want to give your birds food poisoning! Then look closely at your gallon jug. One side has a handle on it. You want to put two food-holes in the opposite side. Cut two 2" openings into the opposite side of the gallon with scissors.

Now put a small hole beneath each food-hole. Run a small stick in one hole and out the other (or use two separate sticks). These will be the perches that the birds sit on while they eat their seed.

Depending on how the handle is situated, you can either tie a rope right to the handle and hang the feeder from that, or wrap a rope around the top of the container and hang it that way. If the feeder blows around a lot in the wind, put a few heavy rocks into the bottom of it, under the seed. That will help give it some stability.