I love the sound of the birds chirping as I tool around outside–it’s such a tweet, ahem, treat. If you want to turn your backyard into a bird-lovers paradise, here are a few sure-fire tips on how to attract birds to your garden and to ensure that you are a good bird hostess.
Provide plenty of fresh water for drinking and bathing.
This is especially true in the winter, when birdie resources are a little more scarce. Birds will stay close to a consistent, clean water source.
Provide a variety of feed.
Since variety is the spice of life, providing a couple of different feeders with different types of bird seed will increase your odds of lots of types of birds.
Plant pine trees.
In the winter, quite a few types of birds seek the protective qualities of pine trees. They can hide easily from predators and pines provide a little more shelter from the elements.
No pine trees?
No problem. Put a pile of branches and twig in the corner of the yard. A lot of birds prefer to make their homes on the ground in the safety of thick brush trimmings.
If possible, provide running water.
The sound of running water will attract birds from miles away. Obviously, this is easier to do in the summer, when fountains, etc. are on.
A lot of birds dine consistently on bugs, but will supplement with fruits.
Cut up apples or shrubs with fruits {think holly, elderberry, honeysuckle, etc.} provide another supplemental food source that will draw in the birds.
Clean out bird houses {if you have them} yearly.
Birdhouses can foster bugs and parasites, so for the safety of any new inhabitants, it’s best to give them a good cleaning once a year.
How do you bring birds to your garden?
~Mavis
Mel says
Remember to install predator baffles on birdhouse poles. Also, check bluebird houses regularly in season (it is a myth that this will cause parents to abandon nests, though they might dive bomb you). If you see coarse twigs instead of finer grasses and twigs, that’s a house sparrow nest. Remove the twigs before they finish building, and they’ll find another location (they’re invasive and will even kill bluebirds). You can install bluebird houses in pairs maybe 10-20 feet apart and potentially get tree swallows in one box and bluebirds in the other.
Turn off house lights at night.
Many birds are attracted to moving water instead of still water. Buy a bubbler, pump, or small sprayer. Add rocks or other leveled perches to bird baths so all sizes of birds can visit.
You can buy shelled sunflower seed for less mess. Suet and hummingbird feeders are generally not messy. You can buy feed spiked with red pepper to deter squirrels.
Place feeders away from windows to avoid collisions. We use nest cams to monitor feeders safely, and my elderly father can watch the camera feed from his city apartment.
Choose plants that feed birds and let them go to seed. Purple coneflower for finches and chickadees, salvia for hummingbirds, etc.
Resist the urge to play lures too often during nesting season. It can draw birds into the open when they investigate the lures, but it can be stressful for them to think they have competition they can’t locate. Use the Merlin app, which can record while you walk and tell you which birds you’re hearing.
If possible, keep cats indoors.
J in OH-IO says
We recently installed the Merlin app and my husband loves sitting outside and listening to the birds and now being able to identify what birds we are hearing! Fantastic app- highly recommend. Also, thanks for the coneflower and salvia plant recommendations. I have coneflowers, but will look for salvia to plant, too.
Mel says
We love a salvia variety called “blue and black.” It’s perennial, and the flowers are electric blue. Our hummingbirds also love it.
Rosemary says
We have a camelia tree near our house (in the back yard) and every year cardinals make a nest in it. Sometimes they land on our back porch railing and “talk”. They fly back and forth from the porch railing to the tree (only a few feet distance). This has been going on for quite a few years now – I guess they feel safe in that tree even with us walking by. The tree is quite full and it is hard to see inside the branches. I tried to see if I could find a nest a few years ago but was not successful. Now, we just leave it alone.
Last year I found a bunch of sparrows under the back porch just hanging out. Not sure exactly what was going on – maybe just getting some shade.
In the spring, we get a lot of robins in the yard – probably in the hundreds. When we first noticed them, it looked like leaves all over the yard. When there was a noise, all of a sudden they all fly up – it was quite a site to see. This only seems to happen in the early spring.
Birds are fun to watch!
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I had a dozen or so cardinals that loved my privet shrub when it grew to tree size. putting pieces of apples on the yard can draw yellow jackets to make their nests under apple trees or where fruit falls. People clean up under fruit trees in order not to have yellow jacket nest in the ground. So, beware of tossing fruit on the ground. Put it into something.
A scuppernong arbor drew birds who loved to eat them. A pair of doves lived in my yard for many years. They spread out on the arbor to sun and stay from neighbor cats.