As Spring rapidly approaches, transforming your backyard into a welcoming environment for birds may be your best option. From watching birds for over five decades, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks for building a successful bird sanctuary. I offer you a few methods that are the best to make your yard the top Spring destination for birds in the area.
Bring Hummingbirds Right To Your Window!
Check Price1. Create a Multi-Level Habitat
Birds like varried heights in their natural habitat, so they will like yours too. Incorporate ground cover, shrubs, and varying heights trees to create layers. There are multiple benefits to this like creating nesting, feeding, and protective areas from predators. All these zones will attract greater variety of birds.
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2. Setting Up a Water Feature
Birds are attracted to the sound of moving water. Bubblers and small fountains mimic moving water, and will create bird-attracting sounds from a distance. To keep water shallow enough for safe drinking and bathing of birds, keep it about 1 to 2 inches.
3. Shrubs That Produce Berries and Are Native
Plants like serviceberry, elderberry, and viburnum supply birds with food that birds need and recognize naturally. These plants also provide excellent nesting sites for birds. Because they produce nutritious berries, along with providing a refuge, they also turn your yard into a great stop for birds to eat and shelter.
4. Provide Nesting Materials
Choosing the right materials for nest building is essential for birds. Small twigs, dry grass, and even a little bit of pet hair (but avoid dryer lint) will do. If you have a natural fiber that you can cut into thin strips, that will also work. You can scatter a suet cage and feeder with these materials.
5. Maintain Dead Trees Safely
You may be able to retain the dead tree as a Snag, provided it won't pose any safety risks. Snags offer great natural habitat features to woodpeckers, nuthatches, and other cavity-nesting birds. Just be sure that it is checked on a regular basis for stability and distance from any structures.
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6. Create Brush Piles
Instead of removing fallen branches and cut limbs, think about building a brush pile in a secluded part of your yard. Brush piles provide great shelter for ground feeding birds and protection from predation and the elements. To build the pile, start with larger branches and work your way down to smaller twigs at the top.
7. Plant Native Wildflowers
A variety of insects and birds can be attracted by various species of native wildflowers. Good insects that are attracted to coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and native sunflowers, which also supply seeds. During the nesting season, these natural food sources are very important because birds need insects that are rich in protein to feed to their young.
8. Offer a Variety of Feeders
Birds have unique preferences for feeding. For example, woodpeckers eat from suet feeders while cardinals and grosbeaks like to eat from platform feeders. Additionally, finches prefer tube feeders. To lower competition, try spacing feeders out and having multiple feeders around your yard.
9. Reduce Lawn Space
If possible, consider replacing some of your lawn with more natural spaces. Consider substituting grass with native ground covers, wildflowers, or low shrubs. This approach promotes habitats for insects and provides food sources. Birds prefer nesting in natural spaces more than in lawns.
10. Provide Dust Baths
Create small depressions that are filled with dirt or sand where birds can take dust baths. Dust baths are important for the health of birds’ feathers and to help control parasites. Placing these baths in sunny, open spots will help birds see and avoid predators.
11. Install Roosting Boxes
In spring, many birds are seen more frequently. Adding a nesting box to your yard is an excellent idea, but also consider adding a roosting box. Roosting boxes are a specific type of birdhouse that offers nighttime shelter. These boxes usually have a few distinguishing features. There is an entrance hole so birds can enter, and often, there are some built-in perches to help birds stay off the cold box bottom. Finally, many boxes use some sort of insulation to help retain heat. The boxes offer spring night shelter during the chilly nights. Additionally, the more boxes you add, the more birds will be encouraged to make your yard their home!
12. Add Natural Perches
Place some natural perches around feeding and bathing areas. Dead tree branches, bamboo poles, and decorative stakes are all great for landing and viewing spots. Birds prefer to have an unobstructed view while feeding and bathing.
13. Minimize Chemical Use
Rather than using chemicals like pesticides and herbicides, consider using natural pest control methods (and yes, that may mean accepting some bugs in your yard). Small bug populations in your yard will attract birds, who will control pests even more. Since pesticides kill the food (and the birds), they can kill the birds you want to attract to your yard.
14. Maintain a Seasonal Schedule
Yard bird kind feeders need proper upkeep. Monthly, bird feeders need to be cleaned. Water needs changing each day. Additionally, seasonal bird food changes should be made. Birds will return to a watering and feeding spot for years.
