14 DIY Oriole Feeder Plans You Can Build Today (with Pictures)

There are several oriole species scattered across the United States, like the Baltimore Oriole in the East or the Scott’s Oriole in the West, so there’s a good chance you can attract one of these colorful songbirds to your home with an attractive feeder that you’ve built. We’ve searched the internet to find as many plans as we could find that will teach you how to build an oriole feeder from scratch. We’ve included pictures as well as a short description so you can learn more about the project to see if it’s right for you.

What Do I Feed Orioles?

Orioles generally eat insects, nectar, and berries. They have a sweet tooth, so a good way to attract them is with fruit. They will eat raspberries, blueberries, oranges, strawberries, honey, and more. They will also eat fruit-based jelly, which is easy to provide but contains a lot of sugar.

The 14 DIY Oriole Feeder Plans

1. Oriole Feeder Plans by Stokes Birding Blog Feeder

The Stokes Birding Blog Feeder is a perfect example of an easy-to-build feeder that effectively attracts orioles. It only requires a few boards and nails to complete. You can finish it in several different ways to make it more weather-resistant. Two posts hold the orange or tangerine in place and will make it easy to refill every day or two.

2. Orioles Feeder by The Frog Lady

The Frog Lady feeder is another similar design that you can finish in several different ways to match your yard. It also has two wooden posts for hanging fruit pieces and room for up to four bowls of seed. You can also place smaller fruit like raspberries and blackberries in the cups you couldn’t put on the posts.

3.  Oriole Bird Feeder by Premeditated Leftovers Feeder

The Premeditated Leftovers Feeder shows you another way to create a feeder from old wire or a coat hanger. This design allows you to add several slices of fruit to attract more birds potentially.

4. DIY Oriole Feeder for Jelly or Oranges by The Homespun Hydrangea

This beautiful hanging oriole feeder is easy to make with some basic craft gear and a terracotta saucer. You can simply put globs of jelly or slices of oranges inside the feeder and hang it where desired. Local birds will flock to it, and it’s quite simple to put together!

5. Simple Macrame Oriole Feeder by Blue Corduroy

With a small terracotta saucer, string, and deft hands, you can weave together an ornate oriole bird feeder to feed your local birds whatever treats you have on hand. Orioles don’t like seeds very much, but you can alternate sweeter fruits and birdseed to attract more diverse birds to your home.

6. Upcycled Oriole Feeder by Silo Hill Farm

You can use nearly any plastic container with a lid to craft your very own upcycled oriole feeder. The trick to attract orioles to the feeder is to use some cheap orange spray paint, a color orioles are known to love and flock to.

7. DIY Oriole Bird Feeder by Who Needs A Cape

Craft wire and repurposed candle lids are the main supplies used to craft this cleverly decorated oriole feeder. Make sure to use liberal amounts of colored ribbon, as that’s the main thing that will draw orioles to your feeder. The plan calls for purple, but you could get by with orange as well.

8. Hanging Oriole Bird Feeder by It’s Simple by howtothisandthat.com

Try your hand at this affordable and whimsical oriole bird feeder. You first make a macrame-style holder at the top, which is what you drape over tree branches to hold the feeder. Orange or yellow paint adds the final touch, and then you just fill it with your desired bird feed.

9. Clever Teacup Bird Feeder by Practically Functional

This wonderfully Victorian oriole feeder glues a teacup to a simple saucer, which is held aloft by simple twine. There’s some gluing involved as well. To use it, hang it up and make your bird feed of choice appear to spill out of the teacup onto the saucer.

10. DIY Cup Oriole Feeder by Observing Nature

This short and simple Youtube tutorial walks you through how to make an oriole bird feeder from just a plastic cup and other crafting essentials. Don’t forget to cut a hole in the bottom so rain can drain out of the feeder and not ruin the birds’ treats.

11. Easy DIY Oriole Feeder by Birds & Blooms

This wooden DIY oriole feeder takes some more work and power tools to construct, but it’s fairly basic woodworking stuff that DIY veterans might have already anyway. It’s primarily used to hang oranges on nails on the feeder’s face.

12. Basic DIY Oriole Bird Feeder by dengarden.com

You’ll need a drill to make this spear-style oriole feeder outside your house, but it’s still easy to put together. This DIY plan is a trove of oriole info, too, from preferred treats to habits and fun facts. Whether you want to make your own oriole nectar or just leave out orange slices, this plan will serve you well.

13.  Hanger Oriole Bird Feeder by BirdHouseSupply.com

The simplest of oriole feeders is this coat hanger feeder, made with a wire coat hanger and basic hand tools. You should hang this away from tree trunks and roofs, which predators can use to reach the orioles when they’re feeding.

14. Homemade Oriole Feeder by BirdInformer.com

With some woodworking skills and power tools, you can whip up one of these homemade oriole feeders. You could likely use some scrap boards and cut them down to size, as the dimensions for the plan are small. Carefully place outside and load with all the stuff orioles love, like oranges and jelly.

Summary

When trying to attract orioles to your yard, the most important thing is to provide a feeding space that’s high enough off the ground the birds won’t be in danger from cats and other animals while it feeds. Fruit or fruit-based jelly will appeal to the oriole’s sweet tooth, and they will have a hard time resisting a visit to your yard. Bright colors, especially orange, will attract the birds quicker, so you don’t need to wait as long. We recommend starting with the Easy Oriole Feeder or the Premeditated Leftovers Feeder because you probably already have an old hanger in a closet you can use to get your birdfeeder up and running in a few minutes. These feeders will help you see if you have any orioles nearby and if it’s worth trying one of the more complex or expensive projects.

We hope you have enjoyed reading and found some ideas to improve your yard and bring wildlife to your garden. If you think it would be interesting to others, please share this guide with plans that teach you how to build oriole feeders on Facebook and Twitter.

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• 6 Cardinal Birdhouse Plans You Can Build Today (with Pictures)
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Featured Image Credit: Scottslm, Pixabay