How to Make an Edible Birdhouse

In my last post, I showed an adorable edible birdhouse that my mother-in-law had gotten.  I love that after the birds eat all of the seeds off of the birdhouse, it can be turned into a functional birdhouse.

Store-bought edible birdhouse

I thought it would be fun to make one for the birds here at the Red House Garden, not to mention cheaper than buying one!


Step 1:  Assemble ingredients

• Birdhouse - you can either make one or buy one for fairly cheap at a craft store
• Edible Glue - there are many recipes out there, or you can even just use peanut butter.  The recipe I used calls for flour, corn syrup, and gelatin
• Different types of birdseed, raisins, dried fruit, raw nuts, etc.
• Decoration - I went outside and gathered some pretty stalks of grass, holly berries, and sweetgum tree balls.  Use anything you can find (as long as it's not poisonous to the birds!)

Step 2:  Make Edible Glue - I used a common recipe that I found online:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

1 pkg. unflavored gelatin (1/4 oz.)

3 Tbsp. corn syrup

3/4 cup flour

Heat up the water and then dissolve the gelatin in it.  Then mix in the corn syrup and flour.  Using whole wheat flour will make a light brown glue, white flour will make a white glue.  Whole wheat flour is preferable for the birds as it is more nutritious. 

Edible glue

I found that this glue is pretty workable for about half an hour before it starts setting up too much.

Step 3: Glue Birdseed and Decorate

Starting from the top down, spread a thin layer of edible glue on the house and then press birdseed, dried fruit, nuts, etc. into it.

Decorate and viola!

Edible Birdhouse

The kids also had lots of fun decorating their own little houses for the birds!

Step 4:  Let dry for a few hours, then let the birds enjoy!

Brown-headed nuthatch on edible birdhouse

Decorative and delicious!  I think some of the birds were even checking out the living arrangements for next spring.

Carolina chickadee checking out the edible birdhouse

The only problem with this edible birdhouse was that it took the birds awhile to figure out how to land on it.  The bigger cardinals didn't want to land on it at all and were rather disgruntled that I had switched out their regular feeder.  That's something to keep in mind when choosing a birdhouse and hanging it.

Brown-headed nuthatch looking for a place to land

This was definitely a fun project, and it was great to watch the birds enjoying it.

After the birds have finished all the birdseed, I will wash the house and hang it.  We'll see if any birds move in this spring!

Carolina wren

Wouldn't you like to nest in a cozy little birdhouse at the Red House Garden, little wren?