You don’t need fancy bird feeders or expensive landscaping to make your yard a good environment for birds. In fact, one of the best bird friendly creations can be made with materials that you probably already have. This simple thing can be done in an afternoon: create a brush pile. A brush pile is a pile of sticks, branches, and other wood debris. Constructing a brush pile can also help attract numerous different kinds of birds to your yard and create a mini ecosystem.
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To some people, brush piles might look like a big mess of yard waste, but to birds, they are prime real estate. These multi-layered structures provide birds shelter from predators like hawks and cats, and give them a place to quickly hide when danger approaches. In the winter and summer birds need to shelter from the elements, and brush piles are great places to roost because they allow birds to regulate their body heat and save energy.
The advantages go much further than providing shelter. The aging and decomposition process of a brush pile becomes an endless source of food for insect life. A variety of invertebrates, including beetles, spiders, grubs and many others, will fill the damp and sheltered spots that lie between the branches. For birds that eat insects, especially woodpeckers, wrens, and towhees, the brush pile is a year-round food source that is rich in protein. Brush piles are great foraging sites for cardinals as they can sift through the leaf litter in search of seeds and insects. Ground feeding species like juncos and sparrows are offered cover while they hunt for food, and they also enjoy the shelter that the brush pile provides.
Creating brush piles in your backyard is a great way to encourage biodiversity on your property. Most new suburban developments do not have tangled understory habitats. Brush piles take a treasured piece of the forest (the forest floor) and place it in your backyard. This encourages diverse bird populations and more likely, secure breeding birds to raise their young.
Picking the Best Place in Your Yard
Choose your location for your brush pile carefully. Think of creating a safe atmosphere for birds, not a predator trap. If you have bird feeders, try to put your brush pile around 10 to 15 feet away from the feeders. This will allow the birds to dart and cover themselves from hawks, but far enough that the cats will not use the brush pile to catch birds. When birds are feeding, they appreciate having some cover to get to.
Check the boundaries of your property, and especially the borders of any woods or natural areas. These transition habitat zones attract birds as they migrate between different habitats, so your brush pile will serve as a natural extension of their habitat. If there are no natural wooded edges on your property, you can place the brush pile in a corner or along a fenceline (where it will be out of the way of traffic visually) which will also reduce its prominence if you are considering the aesthetic of your neighborhood.
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Stay away from low-lying areas that will stay wet and collect water. Some moisture will attract beneficial insects, but if the pile is waterlogged it will decompose too quickly to provide shelter. Also, avoid placing your brush pile up against any wooden structures like sheds or fences. The moisture and insects that accumulate will harm the wood. Look for an area that has partial sunlight. It will help to keep the base vegetated, but not dry the pile out so that it loses moisture and the insects that come to it.
Blogging Therepy – Step by Step to make a Bird Friendly Brush Pile
Begin your brush pile with a solid foundation. Place a few large logs or thick branches with four to six-inch diameters. Lay these pieces in a crisscross fashion, much like a loose game of Lincoln Logs. This base layer is essential, as it will not break down for many years, providing structural support for the pile. In addition, the spaces between these larger pieces will allow plenty of homes for beetles, salamanders, and other critters birds love to eat.
Next, place a layer of medium-sized branches that are about 1-3 inches thick. These could be from tree trimming, storms, or pruned shrubs. Again, use a crisscross pattern to create air pockets and entry ways. The goal is a loose and airy structure instead of a dense mat. Birds should be able to jump through and easily navigate the pile, and good air circulation prevents the pile from becoming moldy and inhospitable.
Use smaller and smaller materials to continue building upward. Use thinner branches, perennial woody stems, and leafy twigs. If you have evergreens from clippings, pine, spruce, or cedar branches, these are great for the top layers, particularly if you are building in the fall. Evergreens provide dense winter cover for insulating birds during cold nights. The needles shed water, and the interior stays relatively dry during rainy and snowy weather.
Plan for a total rough size of 4 – 6 feet wide and 3 – 4 feet tall, or even larger as larger piles provide greater structural integrity and more habitat variety. The natural and uneven look is what birds want, as they look for what appears to be fallen branches and intertwined vegetation, which they have evolved to rely on.
A good idea is to use thorny or spiny branches if you have them available. The prickly branches from raspberries, hawthorns or roses can provide additional predator protection. While smaller birds are able to weave through the thorns with ease, cats and other mammals are more hesitant about making the jump.
Bird Watching and Maintaining Your Brush Pile
Brush piles are not a project you build and forget about. Over time, the material will decompose and settle (which is good), and you'll want to add new layers from time to time. Each time you prune trees or shrubs, throw the cut twigs on the pile. After cleaning up leaves in the fall, take some of those leaves and add them to the pile. This kind of ongoing maintenance will keep the brush pile structurally sound and provide new habitat for insects.
As your pile of woody debris decomposes, you can expect it to shrink by about a third a year. This is completely normal and even good! The rotting wood at the bottom becomes a magnet for insects, which will also attract birds. After two to three years, you may want to refresh the bottom by adding new big logs or just start a second pile next to it.
Planting some native shrubs or perennials at the base of your brush pile can help maximize the bird-attracting potential. Serviceberry, elderberry, and native viburnums offer additional cover and food in the form of berries. Native grasses and wildflowers draw in more insects as well as seed-eating birds. This living plant and brush pile combination creates a mini ecosystem and supports an impressive variety of species.
iSince there are many different birds that come to the brush pile, you should pay attention to the ones that visit throughout the year. Carolina wrens, dark-eyed juncos, and white-throated sparrows may take shelter from the storms in the brush pile during winter. In the spring and summer, nesting activity starts. Catbirds, brown thrashers, and towhees build nests in vegetation that is dense near reliable cover like brush piles. Woodpeckers will probe the decaying wood for insects and during migration, warblers may glean bugs.
It's easy to be amazed at the number of species one brush pile can attract. After a bit of time to decompose, all the various critters that dwell inside will start drawing in birds. However, without a daily commitment and no cost to you, you have created a habitat that will be better than almost any feeder you could buy to attract birds to your yard. Best of all, you don't just offer a feeding service to the birds. You are fully catering to their needs by providing shelter, food and nesting materials which will allow them to sustain a population long term. Enjoy your birding!
