Drinking Birds in a Pine Tree


  Normally, the bird heads go into a cup of water and the evaporative cooling creates a temperature difference between the body and head. In this project, we warm the body with a resistor to create the dunking motion.

What you need:

  • (6) drinking birds scientificsonline.com
  • (6) 3 watt, 12 ohm resistors P12W-3BK-ND digikey.com
  • Twelve volt, one amp power supply T1027-P6P-ND digikey.com
  • (1) 16 inch by 28 inch (1/2 inch thick) plywood
  • (2) 1" x 4" x 12" boards
  • #22 stranded wire, about 10 feet (multiple colors would be nice)
  • Krylon Green spray paint (#1216)
  • Battery
  • LED Drill and bit that will fit in an 8 inch space, such as (Craftsman 11576 Drill/Driver)

How and How Long:

  1. Cut the plywood
  2. Paint the plywood tree with Krylon Spray Paint.
  3. Add birds to tree.
  4. Assemble and add wire (for heat).
  5. Attach lights!
Approxiate project time: 2 hours.

For complete instructions, visit http://www.instructables.com/id/Drinking-

What it Costs:

Cost is $30.