Honeyeater Homestay 

Making a Honeyeater Bird feeder

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These are the items you will need to make your Honeyeater / Sunbird  feeder

1) Glass bottle (200ml in picture) easily bought from your local pharmacy

2) Plastic Hose 12 cm length, 9mm diameter from your hardware store or "Home Brew shop"

3) Car / bicycle tyre valve cap. Try and get a red one or if not you can use some red insulation tape to disguise it

4) Piece of copper rod 5mm or ball bearing. It needs to be a non corrosive material which will run freely up and down the plastic tubing

5) Two strong rubber bands

6) Honey and water with a little peanut butter for added protein

Stage 1

Drill an 8mm hole in the centre of the medicine bottle top

Stage 2

Cut a 12cm length of  clear plastic hosing. It should fit snugly into the bottle top and not fall out

Stage 3

Drill a 3mm hole in the cap of the car / bicycle valve cap

Stage 4

Drop the copper rod or ball bearing into the tube and tighten the cap onto the opposite end. The valve cap should squeeze the tube enough to prevent the rod or bearing from falling through to the cap

Stage 5

If you have not been able to find a red valve cap then simply wrap some red insulation tape onto the end of the feeder. The birds are attracted by the colour and it helps them find the food.

Stage 6

You are now ready to fill the bottle with the feeding mixture. I find that one table spoon of honey to 200ml of water  works wonders. It's also a good idea to add some peanut butter to the mixture as a  protein supplement. Make sure you put the peanut butter through a fine sieve so as not to block the feeder outlet. 

Stage 7

Place the bird feeder in a tree or bush secured by a couple of elastic bands. Remember to position it so that the birds have a branch to stand on while they are eating. Try and have it in a location where you have seen birds about before. A good way to do it is have a tray of tasty fruit next to it so that they can see the fruit and discover the feeder at the same time. It may take a few days for the birds to discover the feeder but once they have they will never forget where it is.

Good Luck with your feeder and please give us feeder feedback  or let us know if you have come up with any improvements