Gather your tools and follow these easy plans for a DIY wood bird feeder to welcome more feathered friends to your backyard.
DIY Wood Bird Feeder Project
Published on Feb. 06, 2025
Tools
- • 1/8″ round-over router bit
- 1/8″ straight-cut router bit
- 3/8″ drill bit
- Brad nailer
- Clamps
- Drill/driver
- Foam brush
- Hammer
- Jigsaw
- Miter saw/table saw/ circular saw
- Pliers
- Router
- Ruler
- Safety glasses
- Speed square
- Stapler and staples
- Tape measure
- Tin snips
- Utility knife
Materials
- One 1 x 8 x 6′ cedar board
- 1 qt. exterior polyurethane
- 12 x 24″ 26-gauge copper sheet
- Two 6×8″ glass panes
- 2 small eye screws
- 220-grit sandpaper
- 3/4″ brad nails
- Chain or rope
- Copper finish nails
- Piano hinge
- Trim head screws
- Window screen
Plans to Make a DIY Wood Bird Feeder
Step 1
Lay out the measurements from the wood bird feeder template on a piece of scrap wood the size of the cedar sides. Once you’ve cut out the side shape using your miter saw and jigsaw, transfer it onto the actual cedar sides to make two identical side pieces. Sand the edges of the sides smooth to remove any kerf marks and fine-tune the shape.
Step 2
Measure and mark the channels where the glass pieces will sit in the side pieces. I used 6 x 8-in. glass pieces, so my measurements required a 6-in.-long channel. The channels are all offset 1/2 in. in from the edges of the side pieces.
With a router, set the depth to 1/4 in. With a 1/8-in. straight-cut router bit, rout out the channel. I prefer to run a hair deeper than 1/4 in. with my channel and have the glass slightly loose, rather than rout it too shallow, fight the glass during assembly and possibly crack it.
Use a straight piece of wood and wood clamps as a guide for making your channel straight. You may need to make the channels slightly wider or narrower depending on the thickness of the glass.
Step 3
Slide both pieces of glass into the wood channels. Make sure they fit properly. Use clamps to pre-fit the glass into place. Adjust as needed. You don’t want the glass too tight in the channels, or else it may crack due to outside temperatures expanding or contracting the wood.
Step 4
Round over the long edges of two 3/4 x 11/2 x 7 1/2-in. cedar pieces with a 1/8-in. round-over bit attached to your router. This will eliminate any sharp edges.
Step 5
Remove the glass and clamp the sides and perches together. I flushed the bottom edge of the perch to the bottom of the sides and attached it at the point where the radius on the bottom of my sides began. I predrilled pilot holes through the sides, then used trim head screws to fasten them together.
Step 6
On the bottom of the bird feeder, measure and cut window screen with a utility knife to fit the base of the feeder. Attach the screen to the bottom of the sides and the perch with a stapler. The window screen allows drainage if the bird feed becomes wet from rainfall.
Step 7
To capture the edges of the screen and cover the unsightly staples, I made trim pieces. I ripped 1/8 x 3/4-in. pieces of scrap cedar, cut them to length on the miter saw, then nailed them to the bottom edge of the feeder using a brad nailer. Rip these pieces from the straightest grain scrap cedar you have.
Avoid nailing the trim pieces too close to the edge. If you do, they may split.
Step 8
You’ll need at least a 1-in. overhang around the roof to keep out rain or snow. With two 3/4 x 7 x 113/4-in. roof pieces cut, rip a 45-degree bevel along one of the long sides of each piece. This allows them to fit together at the peak of the feeder roof.
Step 9
Use a foam brush to apply exterior polyurethane to all the cedar components, including the sides, perch, roof pieces and screen trim. Let dry before proceeding.
Step 10
Install one side of the glass into the wood channel routed into the feeder side. Secure it in place by attaching the roof panel above it with trim-head screws. Be sure the overhangs are consistent on the feeder sides and front, and that you’re fastening the same side of the roof you installed the glass on.
Step 11
Measure for the copper to overhang 1/8 in. all around the edge and front of each roof panel. Cut the copper with tin snips and sand the cut edge with sandpaper. Fold over the top edge with a hammer and fasten it with copper nails. Repeat this process for the second loose roof panel. (Copper roof is optional.)
Step 12
Select a piano hinge with a large enough barrel so the gap at the peak of your roof can accommodate the chain or rope the feeder hangs from. Use a metal blade on your jigsaw to cut piano hinge to the length of the bird feeder.
Install the piano hinge to the 45-degree bevel on the fixed roof panel. Attach the other leaf of the piano hinge to the bevel of the other loose roof panel, aligning the two panel edges before driving the screws.
Step 13
Install eye screws into each side of the wood bird feeder. Attach the rope or chain to hang the wood bird feeder. A 2-to-3- ft. length is recommended.
Bext, learn more about bird feeder placement: where and how to hang a bird feeder.
