Water Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

Hummingbird feeders can get pretty expensive. I decided to build one for less than $8.00! What can be more green that feeding a beautiful specie of nature, while recycling at the same time!

Step 1: Materials and Tools

I found all of the materials other than the water bottle, at my local Lowes. You can find any of these materials at a local hardware store.
Materials

• 1/4'' Copper Tubing $6.48 for 5 feet at Lowes. Make sure it is pliable.
• Caulk/Sealant $1.28 at Lowes. Food safe caulk would work the best.
• Water bottle- You can find these in the trash.

Tools

• Drill with a 1/8 in. drill bit
• Hacksaw to cut the copper tubing
• Measuring device

Comments

[rhudson6]

how do you keep water in? from just leaking right out

[unjust]

please use food safe caulk! any adhesive is NOT ok, as they can leach some NASTY things and you;ll kill your lil visitors. look for "food safe" or safe for use on aquariums. generally this is ONLY silicone caulk, not silicone "II"

[lesizz]

There is an "aquarium safe" silicone. That would work.

[jatrophacostarica]

instead of caulk, you could use wax.  Just melt a candle and add a few drips to the cap.  Cheap, earth-friendly, and nontoxic (use plain wax, not scented, just in case)

or bubble gum. seriously.  mash it in.  it'll last a frighteningly long time.

or a cork (from wine, for example)

[Van_Franklin]

OK I made one all the water drained out as soon as I up ended it. I used a cork instead of the cap but it sealed off the water when I plugged the tube end. So no air getting in there. Any ideas?

[khouse2]

did you get this to work?
[e-mail]

[Van_Franklin]

A hacksaw leaves really jagged edges. I used a pipe cutter for this step =)

[wren99]

Any reason one couldn't use a straw instead of pipe?

[kcli]

Definitely worthy of my vote and I can't wait to make some! Because hummers are attracted to red (and red dyed sugar water is a no-no), perhaps some red sharpie accents/highlights would bring even more visitors.

[Brennn10]

Thank you! Yes, I have read that the dye is not very healthy for the hummingbirds. Maybe a little paint around the bottle will help it attract more birds.

[Shut Up Now]

what about using beet to dye the water?

[pbmcm]

You could also add a fake flower to the tip, but I wonder if it would rest against the tip and wick the nectar out (creating a drip).

[Shut Up Now]

great ible, and for anyone that doesnt have a drill, you could try melting the hole too.

[ty.melvin]

What is keeping the liquid from just draining out the end?

[cowscankill]

Atmospheric pressure (I think). It won't drain unless there is a whole in the top for air to flow through. If the water left the bottle without a hole, a vacuum would form. This keeps the water in place.

[hurten]

If you have a problem with ants invading your feeder, you could add a little bend in your hanger wire between the feeder and the hook end. Then attach a cotton ball soaked in any type of cooking oil. The cotton ball must be wrapped around the wire completely. The oil will keep the ants from laying down a scent trail to get to the sweet food mix.

[chriself]

Does the angle on the pipe keep the nectar from running out? Or does it drip? I don't want to attract bees or hornets to the ground under my feeder.

[Brennn10]

The wonderful concept of gravity keeps the liquid in the water bottle. At the tip of the pipe, it pools a little bit, so when the hummingbird comes to feed it sucks it up. And yes, the angle on the pipe does help to keep the liquid from draining out, because the more air in the top, the more will be pushed out.

[pbmcm]

Have you tried with multiple tubes? I presume that the more surface area you have on the bottom the more easily it will drip. But would two tubes still cut it if you could fit both in the cap?

[chriself]

Ah,gravity, that's the thing that keeps us from floating off of the earth, right? :P Thanks for explaining and for the great instructable! I can't wait to try it out!

[finton]

Chriself, Brennn10 is ... er ... mistaken: gravity is what's trying to pull the water out of the bottle. It is the wonderful concept of air pressure that keeps the water in.
As water is removed from the bottle by the birds, a vacuum is created inside the bottle. Nature* abhors vacuums** apparently and tries to fill it in - this is air pressure: at sea level this is about 101.3 kPa or 14.7 psi (see Wikipedia for "Atmospheric Pressure"). Because the bottle's pipe is pointing down, the two forces of gravity and air pressure oppose each other, with air pressure winning until additional force is applied by capillary action*** or birds sucking (an opposing vacuum).
The pipe diameter makes a difference: roughly speaking, a wide pipe means that the air pressure is spread over a greater area (so for a square-inch-area-sized pipe the pressure is 14.7 pounds and for a quarter-square-inch-area-sized pipe the pressure will be four times the amount: 58.8 pounds****). The bend in Brennn10's pipe is helping because it is restricting the area of the pipe.
If the bottle is not rigid enough, the sides will collapse, reducing the volume - and therefore the vacuum - in the bottle, allowing gravity to win for a bit.

* ...and teenagers and some adults, if their rooms are anything to go by.
**...the only reason we have an atmosphere is because the same "thing that keeps us from floating off of the earth" is also stopping our air flying off into the vacuum of space. Good design, that. 
*** ...like when you touch the end of the pipe and water flows over your fingers until the increased vacuum in the bottle overrides it.
**** ...or thereabouts, but you get the idea.

[HummerGal]

I have also located a website that offers an inexpensive bee-proof hummingbird feeder base that will be very handy to folks who have a lot of bees in their area. You simply use their base and your recycled Coke or water bottle and you have an inexpensive, bee proof hummingbird feeder. You can find them at: www.thehummingbirdstore.com. Great idea for kids too!

[=SMART=]

Very good !, We sell these at my garden center and the good ones cost about £30/$60 ! p.s. ........ Is that bird photoshopped ?

[Brennn10]

Yea, the picture in Step 8 is photoshopped. In this cold weather, I feel it is impossible to capture a picture of a hummingbird feeding at this time of year.

[=SMART=]

Of course, Very good photoshopping though !

[stncilr]

hehe, if that was real the hummingbird would be extremely small!