SPUN Bird Feeder by Urbanproduct from Maple Wood and Tension Wire

This bird feeder was designed by Urbanproduct and offers a minimalist take on what often tend to be rather kitsch garden ornaments. SPUN comprises both an indentation on its top to serve as a birdbath, and a trough around its edges to hold the seeds. The feeder itself is composed of solid maple which has been hand-turned to create its unique form which resembles a spool for thread.

The maple body of SPUN is supported in mid-air by two tension wires which can be fixed to walls or trees to install the bird feeder. These cables run through holes drilled into the wood, although I’d be interested to see whether the feeder’s indented shape would also enable it to hang from the wire rope without these holes. This would make it possible to easily remove SPUN from its cables in order to refill it with seeds and water.

In terms of design aesthetic, SPUN seems most suited to urban environments and the tensile cable system would be ideal for balconies.

Its a remarkably efficient design for a bird feeder which maximises the space available for the birds. For example the bath at the top features an island so birds can stand in and around it, while the hollowed out edge of SPUN creates a sheltered ledge for the birds to stand on.

Unlike many of the designs featured on Homeli, you can actually order one of these. The construction of SPUN is relatively simple after all – the bird feeder itself being made of a single piece of hand-turned maple – and so Urbanproduct sell it through their site for the relatively reasonable sum of CAD$117.