Make a Log Feeder

My wife and I enjoyed feeding birds in our Midway, Arkansas, yard for many years. We tried various types of bird feeders and recipes for homemade bird food. The feeder design with which we had the most success, and that attracted the widest variety of birds, was a simple log design.

To make a log feeder, take a sturdy log three to four inches in diameter and about 18 inches long. Drill holes at least 1 inch deep at intervals along the top (12 to 15 holes will fit along an 18-inch log). If you want, you can add perches, but this is not an integral part of the design. We made several log feeders and placed them around our yard. We even put one next to our birdbath, and one summer it attracted six bluebirds (two adult and four immature) at the same time.

After we mastered the feeder design, we set out to find the perfect food. A friend sent my wife a recipe for "bluebird food." We tried it and found that its appeal was not limited to bluebirds; mockingbirds, pileated woodpeckers, cardinals, and many songbirds became addicted to the concoction.

The food consists of the following:

• 5 parts oatmeal
• 1 part corn syrup
• 1 part peanut butter
• 1 part bacon grease or lard

Mix well and push into the holes in your feeder log. The birds will have a wonderful time working the food out of the holes.

We spent many hours watching different species compete for places on the logs. A mockingbird pair tried to guard the logs, swooping down when other birds tried to feed. Pileated woodpeckers would bring their young to feed, and they would "talk" to us when the holes on the logs were empty. We even had a cardinal and a bluebird that would sit on the same log feeder simultaneously. The only local birds that these feeders did not attract were goldfinches.