Sunflower Bird Feeders

Check out this fun and SUPER EASY activity to make a bird feeder out a sunflower!

Who doesn't love a cheery sunflower?

It makes me incredibly sad when I see them do this! 

At some point, after the bees have visited it in their nectar frenzy, the sunflower becomes too heavy to support itself and flops over. So, what to do? When life hands you lemons, make a bird feeder!

This is a closeup of the head of the sunflower that flopped over. 

Look closely underneath the little yellow blooms, recognize anything? Yes, seeds! The same ones we eat in from the store! We love to eat them and so do birds. Have you ever purchased a bag of sunflower seeds for birds? It is close to $15 for a small bag they tear through in a week.

A sunflower bird feeder

Simply cut the sunflower head off at the base of the stem then tie a string. You can't actually see the string I used but I just tied it onto the sunflower stem and then made a loop to hang it on a hook. You could get very, very fancy here, but I went for the quick and dirty route. Be sure to hang it near a window so your kids can watch the birds visit easily. It may take the birds a few days to find it, fyi, so don't be discouraged if they do not visit right away. The other bright side to cutting this sunflower head off is that you are "freeing some space up" for the plant. If you look in my second picture you can see another sunflower bloom behind this big, heavy one, just beginning to poke its pretty little head out.