Turn Those Leftover Pumpkins Into Eco-Friendly Bird Feeders

Halloween, Harvest Festivals, and General Autumnal Celebrations Lead to an Abundance of Everyone’s Fall Favorite: Pumpkins.

While you partake in pumpkin spice lattes and jack-o-lantern carvings, why not share some gourd indulgences with the birds? This bird feeder is the perfect use of an extra or post-trick-or-treat pumpkin.

Materials:

• Small to medium-sized pumpkin, up to 10 pound
  
  
• Small sticks
  
  
• Twine or rope
  
  
• Birdseed

Steps:

1. Cut the pumpkin in half.
   
   
2. Scoop out the seeds, leaving a hollow inside with a 1/2-inch thick shell wall.
   
   
3. Insert two sticks across the open pumpkin to create perches for the birds.
   
   
4. Knot two lengths of rope together at the center and tack the knot to the bottom of the pumpkin feeder. Hang the other ends of the rope in your chosen feeder location.
   
   
5.  Fill with birdseed.

What's that bird at your pumpkin feeder? Visit the Audubon Society's online bird guide or download our free Audubon bird guide app to find out!