Use This Muffin Tin Hack To Create A Unique Way To Feed Birds In Your Yard

If you're hoping to attract a variety of birds to your yard, what better way than giving them food? But if you think you need a fancy new bird feeder to do so, think again. There are many ways to DIY a natural bird feeding station with things you already own. Just take a look through your kitchen cabinet and pull out a muffin tin. No need for it to be old and rusty; you can use the muffin tin you're currently using for baking for this hack. After a good wash, it can go back into the baking gear cabinet until you need it for your next batch of warm muffins.

The idea for this hack, which comes from YouTube creator The Daily DIYer, is to fill the muffin tin with bird seeds, water, and a piece of jute twine. To hold it all in place, the muffin tray goes into the freezer and gives you frozen seed balls that can hang from tree branches or fences. Essentially, you're making an ice feeder, or a popsicle for birds. 

You might wonder whether this hack only works on cold winter days. If the ice melts, that's not a bad thing. If it thaws, birds can eat whatever falls onto the ground. In fact, while birds can consume frozen water, it takes up a ton of their precious energy, so this has some benefits. And, as long as you're using jute twine that's 100% natural and biodegradable, you can leave these seed balls throughout the woods or in the garden and forget about them for a while. It's always best to pick up after yourself, but if a piece of twine flies off or is left behind, it's not as bad as plastic. 

The basic idea for this DIY is fairly straightforward: fill each section of the muffin tin with birdseed, place a loop of jute twine into the seeds, and fill with water. But the key is the ratio: you don't want the seeds to be trapped under a thick layer of ice, so they shouldn't be floating around like fish in water. Instead, only add water up to the seed level, and tap with your hand to make sure they're fully in contact with water (think cereal and milk ratio, not pasta and water). 

You can use this hack with DIY seed recipes, pre-made seed mixes, and other foods. For example, some birds like cranberries and raisins. You could also add cooking oats or cornmeal to the birdseed mix for something a bit more nutritious. Look up your local bird species and what they eat during winter to make sure that you're filling your DIY muffin tin food balls with the right nutrients. 

With that being said, there are a few changes you can make to this DIY to make it more convenient for birds to access the food. One option is to use fat instead of water to bond the seeds together. For example, mix lard into the seeds and fill the muffin tins with it (don't forget to add a loop of jute twine into it for hanging purposes). Freeze to make the lard solid, unmold each section, and hang from a branch. You can do the same with peanut butter, or even mix both lard and peanut butter to create fat balls that give birds everything they need.