Feeding Birds
Summary:
Students make two kinds of bird feeders for attracting birds
both at home and at school. Feeders give students a hands-on
knowledge of ways humans can aid in the protection of birds,
while feeding them and observing them at the same time.
Objectives/ Standards:
The students will…
Identify how some animals gather and store food,
defend themselves and find shelter.
Background:
Birds bring a diversity of benefits to school and home gardens:
they eat insects; fertilize the soil; pollinate flowers; fill the air with
beautiful sounds; and provide atheistic beauty to the landscape.
There are over 10,000 bird species in the world, each one different
in its own way. Three hundred and fifty different bird species are
found in Oregon. Some stay in one location all year round.
Migratory birds fly thousands of miles from feeding grounds to
breading grounds and back, stopping in wetlands and other
feeding spots along the way. However rural and urban
development is destroying much of the habitat that these birds
depend on for food and rest along their long journey.
Humans can aid in the protection of birds by providing them
shelter and food. The best way to provide food and shelter for
birds in your area is to help restore native wild lands or plant
native trees and plants in your yards. Native plants are plants that
have evolved in the same place where they now live. Non-native
plants have been imported from elsewhere and do not always
interact in a balanced way with the surrounding ecosystem.
You can also build bird houses, bird feeders, and bird
fountains. To make sure that we are truly benefiting the local birds
and not putting them at greater risk, we need to be considerate of
the potential harms they may encounter while eating from our
feeders. House cats kill hundreds of millions of migratory birds
each year. Feeders should always be hung in a place where cats can
not access them and where there is protective shelter nearby for
birds to escape to.
Grade Level:
Duration: 30 minutes
Indoor/ Outdoor/ Both:
Vocabulary/Terms:
 Native
 Migratory
Materials:
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Pine cones
Yarn or string
Peanut butter
Plastic knives
Bird seed
½ gallon cardboard milk
cartons (one for each
child)
Felt tip marker or pen
Illustration for
birdfeeder
Scissors
Paper punch (optional)
Pencils (1 per child)
String
Birdseed
Note:
Make sure that none of
your students have
allergies to peanut butter
before they dive into the
activity.
Essential Questions:
 What is protective area for a feeder? Where would a bird be
unprotected? Who else eats bird food?
 Which bird feeder will be visited the most? Why?
4H Junior Wildlife Stewards (2008)
Set-up:
A few weeks prior to this lesson have students start collecting and bringing in ½ gallon
cardboard milk cartons. Collect pine cones for the pine cone feeder. If your school has a pine
tree, have students collect their own cones.
It is helpful for the teacher to have a knife to start the cuts that the students
will be making with the scissors
Procedure:
Ask students how they might help protect local bird species while at the same time
increasing the diversity of birds that visit their school habitat. Talk to them about bird
migration and the importance of habitats where they can rest and eat along the way.
Notes:
*if any students have
a peanut allergy, feeders
can be constructed instead
out of milk cartons and
string.
Pinecone/ peanut-butter Feeders:
1. Tell them they are going to make a bird feeder to put in their yards
or windows.
2. Give each child a pine cone and some yarn or string.
3. Have them tie the string or yarn securely around the pine cone,
wrapping it around the cone several times.
4. Then have them use the knives to spread *peanut butter* generously
all over the pine cones. Have them roll each pine cone in the bird
seed.
5. Tell them that when they take these feeders home, they can be hung
outside a window to attract birds. Talk about places to hang their
feeder. It should be high enough so other animals can’t get it and
close to protective cover for the birds.
Milk-carton Feeders:
6. Give each child a milk carton.
7. Draw lines on the carton to cut along as shown in the illustration.
Have children cut the cartons along these lines.
8. Us a paper punch or scissors to make the holes to insert the pencil
for a perch, and to make holes in the top to attach string to hang the
bird feeder.
9. Sprinkle bird seeds on the bottom of the feeder. Have the children
talk about where they can put their feeders at home.
10. Remind them that it should be placed within view of a window,
high enough so other animals can’t get it, and close to protective
cover for the birds.
Demonstrate how to fill the bird feeder in class, but don’t have them fill
there feeders until they get home.
Instead, send them home with a baggie of bird feed.
4H Junior Wildlife Stewards (2008)
Wrap-up:
Go over the importance of safe placement for the bird feeders, possibly going outside to
demonstrate a good location on the school grounds.
Assessment (how will students demonstrate their understanding?):
 Students will make bird feeders and responsibly place them in their back yards or
on the school grounds.

They will understand that habitat conservation and restoration are important
activities for humans to engage in if they want to protect the diversity of birds that
they share the planet with.
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Extensions
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A. Have teams of students make a few extra feeders. Take the students outside into the
habitat. Ask them where they think would be good places to put their feeders and
why. Place the feeders in different locations identified by the students and have them
make a prediction which feeders will attract more birds. After a few days, visit the
feeders again and have the student’s make observations about what has happened to
their feeders. Ask the students if their predictions were right. Why or why not?
B. On a tour through your habitat, have students identify which plants might attract
birds.
C. Connect with your local birding groups or Audubon Society to participate in habitat
restoration projects.
D.
E.
Relevant Books:
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Other Relevant Activities/ Games:
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4H Junior Wildlife Stewards (2008)