Making and hanging peanut butter pine cone bird feeders is one of our favorite family activities when camping. So I was very happy to see your question!

One alternative to peanut butter is suet (dense fat). Here's some info about it and other bird feeding recipes on a handful of sites:

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/bird_feeding/otherfoods.aspx

http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/other/birdfood.asp

http://www.a-home-for-wild-birds.com/homemade-wild-bird-food.html

An Education.com site visitor also spoke to a naturalist about this question and that expert suggested using a mixture of 2 parts crisco, 1 part flour, 1 part corn meal to make a paste instead. See comment #2 on this page: http://www.education.com/activity/article/pineconebirdfeeder_preschool/

I hope these resources are helpful to you.

I used lard as a child to make a bird feeder and or worked very well.  It has a neutral odor and holds the seed very well.