Bird Feeder Tray

Many people keep a mix of different seeds in their bird feeders. Different species of birds select their seed of choice, scattering their rejects to the ground. This lets the ground feeders, like mourning doves, as well as squirrels and chipmunks, get in on the action. But if you would prefer to conserve the seed discarded by birds such as jays and doves and provide a larger feeding area, construct this simple feeding tray which mounts directly below your feeder. A shallow lip around the perimeter, and drain holes to keep the seed dry, will present a large treat table of food for the birds above ground. A plastic mounting flange available at Home Hardware, that can be adapted to a range of pole diameters, is used to secure the tray to the feeder pole.

What You'll Need

• plastic mounting flange
• 1-1/2" inch galvanized finishing nails 2134-826
• 1" wood screws 2180-776
• outdoor wood glue 2020-850
• 3/8" drill bit 1214-359
• hammer 1030-556
• cordless drill 1239-528
• 5/8" or 3/4" plywood 16"x 20"
• 1/2"x 1-1/2"edge trim 7ft.
• 1/4″ ogee or cove bit (optional) 1288-207

Step By Step

1. Cut out a piece of 5/8" or 3/4" plywood, and four edge pieces as shown in the diagram. Mitre the corners of the edge pieces to 45 degrees.
2. Using 1-1/2" finishing nails, and outdoor wood glue, attach the four edge pieces to the plywood.
3. Drill four 3/8" holes close to the 4 inside corners of the tray for drainage. Holes smaller than 3/8" may easily plug with seed.
4. Centre the mounting flange on the underside of the feeder tray using 3/4" wood screws. The feeder in our project was secured to the tray from below using 1" wood screws.The combined feeder tray and feeder may now be mounted on the feeder pole.The underside of the tray and the rim may be painted or stained to complement the colour of the feeder.

Tip: Hang a hummingbird feeder, silo finch feeder, or in the winter a suet feeder, from a corner of the Bird Feeder Tray