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Pigeons don't forget

A project log for Vending Machine for Birds

Simple, inexpensive bird feeder that dispenses peanuts in exchange for dropping stuff in a hole. A vending machine for clever birds.

stephen-chaseyStephen Chasey 02/22/2023 at 16:180 Comments

It's been almost 4 months since the feeder was out and the pigeons were all over it for the last two days. Unfortunately only pigeons so far. Sometimes a couple of jackdaws will come watch them mess with the feeder, but haven't interacted with it yet. I should still have some good clips to share - I just need to go through them.

I did have a couple of problems on the first day.

  1. The motor wires got tangled in the motor. Luckily no damage was done and untangling (and better placement of) the wires fixed it.

    I really need to tape them into place next time I refil.
  2. Dispensing took too long, like 5+ seconds most of the time. I had really pressed down all the fittings when reassebling this and forgot to give the vibration platform a little play. There is still room for improvement, but after some adjustment most dispenses take <3 sec.

    I think I will work on a slightly better version of the dispenser now. I can do that while the thing is up - it's not that bad at the moment.

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