Cheap DIY Hummingbird Feeder

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This diagram shows you how to make your own hummingbird feeders out of old prescription vials.
This diagram shows you how to make your own hummingbird feeders out of old prescription vials.
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Jud Baker's DIY presctiption-vial hummingbird feeders attract hummingbirds better than store-bought feeders.
Jud Baker's DIY presctiption-vial hummingbird feeders attract hummingbirds better than store-bought feeders.

You can go out and spend good money (anywhere from 79 cents to $10 on a ready-made hummingbird feeder If you want, but you don’t have to. I know how you can make those feeders (from recycled materials) for no more than 3 cents to 5 cents each. And the final product is guaranteed to satisfy even the most finicky hummer. (Fact is, the hummingbirds that frequent our patio actually shun some “boughten” nectar dispensers in favor of my homemade ones!)

The secret of my feeders’ simplicity and cost is the ordinary 20-dram prescription vials that are available everywhere. (Seven-dram tubes will work, If you don’t mind refilling them all the time … and 16-dram vials are OK if they’re untinted. Unfortunately, the 16-dram containers are usually amber colored, and the color turns off the hummers.) You probably have some of these tubes on hand already. If not, they’ll cost you just 3 cents to 5 cents each set at your local drugstore.

How to Make Your Own Hummingbird Feeder

To fabricate one of my nectar dispensers, I need a clear (untinted) prescription vial with a tight-fitting cap, some transparent (e.g., Scotch) tape, and a few feet of thread or thin wire. You’ll also need an ice pick or some other sharp, pointed metal object.

Start by heating the ice pick (or other object) nearly red-hot and punching a pair of holes on opposite sides of the plastic vial near it’s open end (see diagram). Make sure the holes are (1) very close to — but not covered up by — the bottom of the cap when the cap is in place, and (2) extremely small, small enough to keep insects out (and liquid in). 

  • Published on Jul 1, 1978
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