35 Homemade Hummingbird Feeders From Recycled Material

A homemade hummingbird feeder is an inexpensive and creative way to attract hummingbirds to your landscape. These tiny birds are always hungry and will come back again and again to a favorite feeding spot. Hummingbirds are enjoyable to watch as they fly swiftly between flowers, trees and feeders. They are also very territorial and will ‘dive bomb’ any other hummingbirds that try to grab a meal from their favorite feeder.

A homemade hummingbird feeder can be made from glass jars, plastic bottles and many other recyclable material. They don’t care what the feeder is made from as long as there is sugar water inside.

Simple things, like planting flowers that attract hummingbirds or creating a DIY bird bath or feeder from recycled material, will help the environment by keeping unwanted items out of the landfill plus keep your landscape buzzing with a variety of winged creatures for your enjoyment.

Look over our list of 35 homemade hummingbird feeders made from recycled material and consider swapping your traditional store-bought feeder for a bird feeder plans.

1- Glass Bottle Homemade Hummingbird Feeder

Attract hummingbirds to your yard with this attractive homemade hummingbird feeder by Ehow made from a recycled glass bottle. A few enticing red flowers are cut from a red plastic plate, and colorful beads add a touch of decorative whimsy to glass bottle. This DIY  hummingbird feeder will look good anywhere you hang it and the birds will flock in for a free meal of sugar water.

2- Tequila Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Recycle those empty shapely tequila bottles into attractive diy hummingbird feeders with this idea by DIY Network. Step by step instructions included, but emptying the bottle first is up to you.

3- Macrame Hummingbird Feeder

Dress up a clear bottle (glass or plastic) with a colorful macrame cover and hang it outside for the hummingbirds to flock too.

This homemade hummingbird feeder by Lovely Indeed  is pretty enough to be used as front porch decor, and functional enough to keep hungry hummingbirds returning day after day for a meal.

Start with any empty bottle, then create a macrame cover for it. Spray paint the macrame rope any color desired. Fill the bottle with sugar water and place a hummingbird feeder tube in the open end of the bottle. Place inside the macrame cover, hang it up and wait for the hummingbirds to come and dine.

4- Gatorade Hummingbird Feeder

Follow these detailed bird feeder plans by World Of Hummingbirds and recycle an empty plastic Gatorade bottle into an attractive and practical homemade hummingbird feeder. I recommend this feeder to you if your preference is not to have glass items in your landscape, you can make a homemade feeder from a plastic bottle.

5- Jelly Jar Hummingbird Feeder

We love this small hummingbird feeder by Instagram made from a jelly jar that is ideal for small spaces.   Outside of an apartment window or suspended from a windowbox planter would be the perfect location for one of these cute little feeders.

Easy to create from a recycled jelly jar. Just fill the jar with sugar water and paint the lid red, then suspend it with a small recycled chain and watch the hummingbirds flock to it. Cheap and easy to make, and the hummingbirds will love it.

6- Homemade Hummingbird Feeder

Transform any empty glass bottle into a piece of yard art that will attract hummingbirds with this feeder plan by Birds And Blooms. A little copper wire, tubing and a few colorful beads will recycle a clear glass bottle into a decorative piece of hanging art worthy to be suspended from your front porch.

7- Make Hummingbird Feeder From Plastic Bottle

All those empty plastic water bottles that get tossed into the trash each day will take years to decompose at the landfill. This DIY bird feeder by Instructables will keep at least one plastic water bottle out of the landfill and provide much needed food for a hungry hummingbird. When the feeder becomes dirty from use, then toss it in the trash and make a new one from a clean, recycled water bottle. At least you will have recycled a few plastic bottles before they ended up at the landfill.

8- Wine Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

That bottle of wine and take out salad you enjoyed last night can be fashioned into an attractive hummingbird feeder today with these DIY bird feeder plans by The Wonder Forest. The bottom of the feeder is made from the plastic take-out food container, so it’s is easy to replace as needed and won’t cost you any money.

9- Pill Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Do you take prescription medication on a regular basis? Consider how many empty pill bottles you have added to the local landfill over the years. While it may only be a small eco-friendly contribution, recycling a few of those empty pill bottles into hummingbird feeders will be a way to help the environment. Follow these DIY instructions by Mother Earthnews and make some of these pill bottle feeders for yourself and to share with friends.

10- Recycled Peanut Butter Jar

When the peanut butter jar is empty it can easily be transformed into a homemade humming bird feeder with this unique idea we just love to share with you.

Create a decorative and functional feeders for hummingbirds by folllowing this YouTube video from empty peanut butter jars. Using recycled materials to create something new is a great way to save money and keep usable items out of the landfill. Plus, the hummingbirds love these feeders.

Encourage your kids to eat more peanut butter so you will always have empty peanut butter jars on hand to recycle into hummingbird feeders.

11- DIY Hummingbird Garden

To increase the hummingbird traffic in your yard, plant a hummingbird garden to go along with a couple of homemade bird feeders. Plant some flowers in a container or in your landscape that produce red, purple or orange blooms and that are rich in nectar. Salvia, corral bells and petunias are good choices that are easy to grow in most climates. Hummingbirds are not attracted to flower scent as much as they are to the nectar production of the flower.

Add a simple DIY feeder by NWF made from a baby food jar or Frisbee near the area where the flowers are planted and you will double your chances of attracting hummingbirds.

12- Kids Craft Homemade Hummingbird Feeder

Make this fun hummingbird feeder craft by Home And Garden with kids to provide your kids with hands-on experience in recycle, building, bird feeding and bird watching. A bottle, cork and drinking straw are the main items needed, with an adult working the drill and hot glue gun, to make this a wonderful summer project to do with kids. This DIY kids project also includes a recipe for homemade hummingbird nectar.

13- Cheap And Easy Hummingbird Feeder

Try making this cheap and easy hummingbird feeder by All Free crafts from a soda bottle and plastic container. The price of the feeder does not matter to hummingbirds, as long as the feeder is filled with sweet nectar, they will keep coming back for more. This type of homemade bird feeder is good to create when you have a multitude of hungry hummingbirds visiting your yard regularly and need several feeders scattered around your backyard to keep the birds fueled with nectar. You may also like to check out diy squirrel feeder to enjoy watching wildlife.

14- Tiny Feeders For Tiny House Dwelllers

The perfect solution for those who live in tiny houses or travel the country in an RV. Compact and easy to make, with no needed tools, a simple plastic spice jar and thin wire makes a functional diy hummingbird feeder by Live Work Dream that is easy to carry along on the road with you in the smallest of living spaces.

15- Wine Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Elegant and easy to make, this hummingbird feeder by Apartment Therapy made from a wine bottle looks like a high-end product purchased from a boutique. Ordinary thing found at the hardware store (or that you may already have on hand) can transform an empty wine bottle into a piece of elegant art. Suspend the wine bottle feeder from a location where it can be seen from the inside so you can enjoy your handiwork even when hummingbirds are not feeding from it. This are elegant enough to make as gifts for your friends. You may also like to check out homemade deer feeders to enjoy watching wildlife.

16- Glass Jar Homemade Hummingbird Feeder

Recycle a shallow glass jar into an attractive and functional homemade hummingbird feeder with these free plans by Birds and Blooms. Use a baby food jar or marmalade jar to create this easy to clean DIY hummingbird feeder.

Use polymer clay to create a realistic looking flower on top and galvanized wire to suspend it from an outdoor location that will give you a good vantage point for viewing.

17- Feeding Bar

I would suggestion this homemade hummingbird feeder by Instructables to build if you have a multitude of hungry birds looking for a meal. This is one of our most favorite hummingbird feeder ideas . This feeding bar can accommodate dozens of hungry birds at the same time, plus it’s easy for you to keep re-filled.

Created from a four long fluorescent tube protector, the red flowers are painted on with red nail polish and will be visible to hungry birds from several yards away.

The tube is easy to cut down and can be made into two or three separate feeding tubes instead of one long one. The total cost of this unique hummingbird feeder will be under $15, even less if you have some of the items on hand.

18- Flower Box Homemade Hummingbird Feeder

These free plans will show you how to build an attractive flower box that will attract and feed hungry hummingbirds like this one by by Instructables.

The wood box starts out in the shape of a bird house, but without sides. A jar and clear plastic tubing is concealed inside the wood box. Large, brightly colored plastic flowers protrude out of the box, attracting hummingbirds to check them out. One end of the clear plastic tube is attached to the inside jar that is filled with sugar water, and the other end of the tube is attracted to the center of the plastic flower.

This homemade hummingbird feeder makes an attractive addition to your yard plus it keep the birds well fed.

19- Hand Held Hummingbird Feeder

Learn not only how to build this unique feeder like in these free plans by Birds And Blooms but how to get hummingbirds to eat out of your hand.

A simple plastic test tube with lid and a plastic flower with stem is all you need to create this small hand held hummingbird feeder. The test tube holds the sugar water and the stem of the flower acts as the tube through which the hummingbird places its bill and drinks. A plastic flower placed on top of the test tube attracts the hummingbird to come and have a meal of sweet nectar.

20- Juice Bottle DIY Hummingbird Feeder

Any size plastic juice bottle can be recycled into a bird feeder by sparklinbecks. Smaller, individual serving size bottles make ideal hummingbird feeders, and larger family size juice bottles make great feeders for larger birds that eat seeds.

No need to struggle to clean these juice bottle feeders, since they are already a recycled item, toss them into the plastic recycle bin after a week or so of usage and create a new one with a clean juice bottle.

21- Modern Hummingbird Feeder

All your friends and neighbors will be asking where you found this modern diy hummingbird feeder by HGTV when they see it hanging in your yard. When they find out you made it from recycle material, they will keep you busy making these DIY hummingbird feeders for them.

Use any size soda bottle and wrap a length of colored wire around the body of the bottle in a spiral pattern. Use a feeder tube in the open end of the bottle so the hungry hummingbirds can access the sugar water inside. Twine is attached to the wire so the bottle feeder can be easily suspended from a hook or tree branch.

22- Cans And Bottles

This bird feeder plan on Youtube combines glass bottles and aluminum cans to create attractive and functional bird feeders for hummingbirds.

Can and bottles are items we typically toss in the trash but they are ideal materials for use in recycling projects like this one. It’s an easy craft that you can do with your kids and the finished bird feeders will make a great gift.

This is a fun and easy DIY project that is free to make and the hummingbirds will love the feeders. You can save money, help the planet, and feed the hummingbirds by making these homemade hummingbird feeders from empty cans and bottles.

23- Winter DIY Hummingbird Feeder

We don’t think much about feeding the hummingbirds during the winter because the traditional sugar water mixture would quickly freeze when exposed to outdoor temperatures. But the hungry hummingbirds still need to eat during the winter months.

This ingenious bird feeder design by Instructables will enable you to provide fresh sugar water in the winter for hungry hummingbirds. A chick brooder lamp keeps the sugar water from freezing and provides the tiny hummingbirds a little warmth while they enjoy a winter meal.

24- Medicine Bottles Feeder

Recycle your old medicine bottles and turn them into functional DIY hummingbird feeders like in this youtube video. Follow these step by step plans and keep the birds fed while helping to keep some plastic out of the landfill.

25- Plastic Box Hummingbird Feeder

An empty soda bottle and a shallow plastic box can be recycled into an attractive and functional homemade hummingbird feeder with these free plans by Build-Hummingbirds-Feeder. Easy to create and irresistible to the hungry hummingbird looking for some nectar.

26- Glass Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Learn how to take ordinary empty glass bottles and create attractive ant-proof feeders for hummingbirds in this YouTube video. You can attract beautiful hummingbirds to your landscape without increasing the ant population with this unique recycling idea.

Ants are a major problem with hummingbird feeders, they love the sweet taste of the sugar water and will quickly take over an unprotected feeder. This design, created from empty glass bottles, prevents the ants from reaching the sugar water but allows plenty of access for the hummingbirds.

Many items come in decorative glass bottles, like vinegar, cooking sherry, baby food, etc., and when the bottles are empty, instead of throwing them away recycle them into homemade bird feeders. You may also like to check out bluebird house to attract them to your backyard.

27- Recycled Plastic Water Bottle

A DIY hummingbird feeder can quickly be transformed into a functional hummingbird feeder with these free plans.

Discover how to make a hummingbird feeder in this YouTube video from an ordinary plastic water bottle. We throw away millions of these water bottles each day and they end up in the landfill where they sit for years, cluttering up the environment. Plastic does not break down and decompose, so recycling it makes good sense for the environment and your budget.

Give that empty plastic water bottle a second life by creating a hummingbird feeder with it. Many of the ready-made hummingbird feeders are made from plastic, so you don’t have to be concerned about harming the birds with recycled plastic. This feeder is safe, cheap, and very easy to make with these free plans.

28- Kid Friendly Project

This is a fun project for the whole family but we especially consider it for kids as they will love it because they can do most of the construction.

Plastic water bottles and straws are easy to recycle into homemade hummingbird feeders with these free plans by Kids Activities Blog. These detailed instructions will show kids how to recycle used water, used straws, and old plastic bowls into a new hummingbird feeder that is sure to attract plenty of colorful hummingbirds.

This DIY project is fun to make and even more fun to watch when the hummingbirds start feeding from it. This kid friendly project could even be used to help the kids earn spending money during the summer. Save your used water bottles and let the kids make these DIY hummingbird feeders to sell in a yard sale or at the local flea market.

This is a great way to teach kids to recycle, create, be kind to animals, and make money. And the best part is it won’t cost you anything. It’s a fun and free project that will benefit everyone, even the birds.

29- PVC Pipe Feeders

An empty bottle and a piece of PVC pipe can be crafted into a unique DIY hummingbird feeder that will allow multiple birds to feed at the same time.

Attract a wide variety of hummingbirds to your yard with this large feeder made from recycled materials. An empty juice bottle, soda bottle, or other large bottle and a 2-3 feet length of PVC pipe with two end caps will make a large feeder and landing pad for tired, hungry hummingbirds.

The large bottle is filled with sugar water and disbursed out along the length of the PVC pipe. Holes are drilled and flower feeder stems inserted so the hummingbirds can drink all they want with ease. Follow these free instructions so you can build one of these useful homemade hummingbird feeders today.

30- DIY Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Any bottle you have on hand can be kept out of the landfill and recycled into unique diy hummingbird feeders like this one by Grow And Make with these easy to follow step by step instructions. Spray paint, hot glue and a few other items can transform a bottle headed for the trash into a object of beauty in your landscape. Plus the hungry hummingbirds will thank you for it.

31- Salt Shaker Feeder

Use these instructions to recycle an old salt shaker into a cute little DIY hummingbird feeder by Littlesusiehomemaker. Use red pipe cleaners to create fake flower petals around the top of the salt shaker to catch the attention of hummingbirds so they will fly in for a drink.

Great way to recycle old salt shakers and the small size makes them an ideal for place just outside an apartment window or on a balcony. This size and design is also ideal for suspending in in outdoor shrubs to mimic flowers and attract hungry hummingbirds.

A recipe for sweet nectar is also included in these free plans so you can make a feeder and food that hummingbirds won’t be able to resist.

32- Red Solo Cup DIY Hummingbird Feeder 

Cheap, easy, practical and it works! These free plans will show you how to make a hummingbird feeder from an ordinary red solo cup.

All you need to do is cut a half circle on one side so hummingbirds can access the sugar water inside the cup. Punch a couple of holes out near the top of the solo cup and place twine through the holes so the cup can be suspended from a hook of tree branch.

Fill the solo cup up to the bottom of the half circle with sugar water and you will have just created a unique hummingbird feeder for practically nothing.

33- Plastic Spoon Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Plastic spoons and bottles can be transformed into decorative and functional homemade hummingbird feeders with this unique idea. A great idea for creating eco-friendly homemade gifts too.

34- Sports Drink Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Make a homemade bird feeder with an old Tupperware bowl and empty sports drink bottle with these creative plans. Any small plastic bowl that has a lid will suffice for this DIY project, even a margarine bowl. Make this simple little DIY bird feeder that looks good sitting on a front porch railing.

35- Insulin Bottle DIY Hummingbird Feeder

If you have a bottle of any size or shape, you can recycle it into an attractive and inexpensive hummingbird feeder with these DIY plans by Mainegardenideas . Insulin bottle, test tubes, salad dressing bottle, hot sauce bottles, etc., are easily transformed into beautiful bird feeders. Make several so you’ll have some to share with neighbors and friends who will admire the homemade bird feeders in your yard.

Conclusion

After going through all of these homemade hummingbird feeders you must have clear idea to which recyclable material you have on hand to make it use for these little whimzy creatures. Hope you enjoyed the post! Don’t forget to share your thoughts and ideas on making your own feeder.

To answer some common questions you may have in your mind we have prepared a questionnaire.

FAQ’s

What is the best food to feed a hummingbird?

When feeding hummingbirds consider only refined white table sugar.Sugar substitute such as Equal or Splenda would not provide enough energy for hummingbirds for fast flying and hovering.

What should I not feed a hummingbird?

Brown sugar, honey and molasses should not be used instead of real sugar. Brown sugar either light or dark and molasses are added with some additional ingredients that can be harmful for these tiny flies.

Although red dye and food color attract hummingbirds but these may be harmful.

When should I put out my hummingbird feeder?

Placing and feeding hummingbird feeders depends upon the region you are living. Usually April to May is a good time to welcome these guests to your yard. Some migrating hummingbirds continue to come in the late summer but before the winter season.

How to make a cheap hummingbird feeder?

Use recycled items such as empty plastic bottles, plastic or glass jar, old salt shaker,ordinary red solo cup, test tube and many other recyclable things you find in your home. Also recycling also helps us to keep clean out items otherwise we throw them away to landfill