Now that you have the easy tasks complete, it's time to think more long term. Take a good look around your backyard. Are there trees, shrubs, and flowers? If your backyard is pretty bare there are plenty of things you can do to attract birds that will keep them coming back. You need to provide them with an appealing habitat, plus you can make your backyard look great in the process. Plant a variety of small trees and bushes. There are many types that certain types that offer food and nesting opportunities to birds depending on where you live.
For those in the Northeast a great bush to consider is the Highbush Blueberry which is a shrub. This bush can draw up to as many as 30 different species of birds such as the Brown Thrasher and Gray Catbird. It's a pretty shrub that will eventually offer berries to the birds when it matures. It also provides them with great nesting opportunities. The Eastern Red Cedar is a great tree if you have a large backyard. This tree can grow up to 65 feet and is a great home for many birds like the Ruffed Grouse and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The Eastern Red Cedar provides nuts and can attract many species.
For those in the Southeast the Arrowwood Viburnum is a shrub that produces berries in the late summer months. It's an attractive plant that also offers great nesting sites to various birds such as the Eastern Bluebird and American Robin. The Southern Magnolia is a beautiful tree that can grow as tall as 90 feet. It's a fruit producing tree that matures in the fall. The Southern Magnolia attracts different species such as that of the Red-bellied Woodpecker and the Northern Mockingbird.
For those in the Central Plains and Praries the Big Bluestem is a beautiful grass like plant that produces seeds as well as nesting opportunities for over 24 species of birds such as the Sedge Wren and Meadowlark. It's a plant that provides great cover and attracts many different song birds. The Gray Dogwood is a large shrub that can grow up to 9 feet. It provides fruit berries to birds such as the Northern Cardinal and Eastern Bluebird.
For those in Western Mountains and Deserts the Mesquite is a multi-stemmed shrub which can grow up to 15 feet and a single stemmed tree that can grow a tall as 40 feet. It provides seeds, cover, and nesting grounds to birds such as the Gambel's Quail and White-winged Dove. The Rocky Mountain Juniper can be considered either a shrub or a tree and can grow to 30 feet. It provides nutlets that offer birds such as the Northern Mockingbird and Evening Grosbeak great coverage.
For those in the Pacific Coast the California Wax Myrtle is a shrub or small tree that can reach 35 feet. It's a great source of food that produces fruit all year long, even during winter months. A bird to can benefit from this plant is the Yellow-rumped Warbler and California Towhee, amongst others. The California Wild Oak is a beautiful shrub-like tree that can reach 85 feet. You definitely need to make sure you have the room for this tree. It offers nuts and fruit to birds such as the Western Scrub Jay and Chestnut-backed Chickadee. It creates great coverage for the birds and is a very easy tree to maintain.
Depending on your area, another option for trees are fruit trees. This way both you and the birds can benefit. Great trees to consider are lemon, apple, and cherry. They offer birds the sweet blossoms followed by fruit. The birds can get their food from the tree and you can have a freshly grown apple when you like. It's a winning combination for all and a great way to grow your own fruit.
Flowers are another great idea that will not only attract birds, but will make your yard look great. This is especially a good idea if you are interested in attracting humming birds. Humming birds love the sweet nectar that flowers provide. It's good to plant a variety such as sunflowers, marigolds, and poppies. You can even look into adding vine-like plants that will add to the ambiance of your yard as well as attract birds. In the
end, you garden will be breathtaking. You need to make sure to be adding native plants
that will survive in your area and that birds will be comfortable with.
National Wildlife Federation
Once you have created your bird paradise you have the option of Contacting the National Wildlife Federation. They encourage home owners to create wildlife gardens for birds and other animals. They recognize the importance of giving back to wildlife what progress and development have taken away. When you are done creating your backyard you can check to see if it matches the guidelines of the National Wildlife Federation. If it does then you can get a National Wildlife Federation display that shows your contribution to the environment.
After all that work you now have a backyard that will attract birds for many years to come. You just might wake up to the sounds of birds chirping happily in the morning hours. You can sit and watch the birds while you eat your breakfast or drink your coffee. You can enjoy all the aspects of birding while sitting in your pajamas. Life is now great for the birding enthusiast
Many of us enjoy the sounds of birds singing and chirping in our gardens or yards. Not only are birds beautiful to look at, they also provide many with a real appreciation of nature. There are clearly many benefits associated with attracting birds to the landscape, however in order to experience these benefits, we first need to attract the birds to our gardens! It is quite easy to attract birds to your property by following a few simple design principles, and by choosing plants for your landscape that naturally attract birds.
Birdfeeders are old staples for those who wish to see birds in their yards. When using feeders, they should be placed conveniently, and they should also be large enough to hold two to three days worth of food. Placing birdfeeders in various parts of the garden can be a great help in attracting more birds into your landscape. However, the birdfeeders should serve as supplements to the various plants in your yard that provide food and shelter to encourage the birds to think of your garden or yard as home.
The first thing to remember when designing a landscape to attract birds is that your design should provide shelter to protect birds from the elements or from predators. Evergreens are great in this role, as they often provide plenty of space for a bird to disappear crawl into, but they are very difficult for predators to penetrate. Additionally, they can be thick enough to provide adequate shelter against the elements. Evergreen trees and bushes, moreover, can look both attractive and appropriate with just about any home. They are also fairly hardy and easy to take care of. In general the type of plants that provide good shelter to birds include other woody plants. Features like decks and birdhouses also provide great places for birds to shelter.
The next thing that should be done in designing your landscape to attract birds is to provide plants that offer a consistent food supply. These plantings should offer a great deal of food, and produce enough food to meet the bird's needs, with the help or addition of birdfeeders. In addition, there should be a variety of plants that offer seeds and fruits at various times so that the food supply lasts for an extended period of time. Holly plants (if you use blue holly, you will need both a blue boy and a blue girl in order for there to be any berries), crabapple trees, sunflowers, and other plants that produce berries and seed are excellent choices. Many of these plants are very attractive and can be made to look good in any design, alongside being an excellent source of food for our winged friends.
Another landscape principle to keep in mind while selecting plants that attract birds is to select plants that attract insects. Most scented flowers attract insects, and this means that your yard will attract birds that eat insects. Not only are there many beautiful flowers, like the roses, that attract insects, but these also in turn smell very pleasant. You can have a fragrant garden or yard, as well as one that is really attractive to the birds. Among your choices for insect-attracting flowers, choose some that bloom during the spring migration periods. Then you will be sure to get birds on their way through town, headed north.
Finally, there are landscape features that are not plant-related. These features, other than birdfeeders and birdhouses, can also mean the difference between a garden or yard bursting with birdsong and one that is depressingly quiet. These features are water features. Birds like to have places where they can bathe and drink. There is no need for a big water feature; a small birdbath or basin is often more than sufficient. Birds do prefer moving water, so small features that circulate water, or even water in gently sloping basins or troughs can be very attractive to birds.
It does not need to cost a lot of extra money to attract birds to your landscape. There are plenty of discount stores that offer greaat birdhouses, feeders, and water features at low costs.
Birds do not require anything really special. For the most, part you just need to keep them in mind if you want them to be part of your landscape. Much of the time attractive plants and features that you would have been likely to have purchased anyway can be incorporated to make your landscape more pleasing to the ear.
Both Julie Souto & Paul P. Duxbury are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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