How to attract birds to your yard or garden

Is your garden as appealing to the birds as it could be?

Having a bird-friendly yard or garden has never been more important an average of 2.1 million acres each year is converted to residential use, and almost 80 percent of wildlife habitat in the U.S. is privately owned.

According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study, birding is the number one sport in America. There are 51.3 million birders in the United States, and it takes only a field guide, a spotting scope with tripod or pair of binoculars to go birding. Many birders put feeders out in their backyards to help our feathered friends, and that's good news. However, if you've been wishing you could attract more birds to your yard or garden, remember that providing adequate cover for nesting and protection is as important as providing food.

Shelter

Birds need shelter from the weather and places to hide from predators. Wooded areas, ground cover, a log pile, shrubs and roosting boxes are all examples of shelter your yard can provide.

For safer movement, birds prefer habitat with vegetation at varying heights. Place low-growing vegetation next to a thicket of shrubs and taller trees. Some birds like woodpeckers and chickadees excavate cavities in tree trunks for nesting and roosting. Where natural cavities are hard to find, nest boxes offer these birds a place to raise their young. You can also supply nesting material like yarn or string.

Recent studies show that free-roaming cats limit the survival and reproduction of wild birds in urban and suburban environments. So keep your cat indoors or put a bell on its collar.

Food: try native plants and wildflowers

When it comes to helping out the birds, a good place to start is with a reliable food source in the form of native plants or trees. Planting native plants, shrubs and trees is the easiest way to provide foliage, especially seed- and fruit-producing plants; native plants also require less watering.

Consider planting shrubs like snowberry, twinberry or serviceberry to provide fruit throughout the seasons. If your yard contains cone flower or black-eyed susans, don't deadhead them but let the seeds remain on the plant through the fall and winter to keep goldfinches and other seed-eaters around. Offer hummingbirds the standard mixture of four parts water to one part sugar.

Visit link:
How to attract birds to your yard or garden