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A beginners guide to building a Backyard Bird Feeding
Garden
Creating a Backyard Bird Feeding Area will provide you and
your family with hours of fun as you watch a variety of birds
and butterflies in their natural habitat.
What can be more fun and rewarding than creating your own
natural masterpiece that will attract birds and knowing that you
are doing a wonderful thing to help the ecology and take care of
our precious feathered friends. And many folks find that
creating their own bird garden and then enjoying it is
a great way to relieve stress.
Really when you think about it, there aren't any good reasons
why you shouldn't have a backyard bird feeding garden for
your home.
Birds also pollinate flowers, scatter seeds and help control
pests.
What does it take to create a back yard bird feeding area?
Think three things:
1. Birds need food
2. Birds need shelter
3. Birds need water
Remember: Plants, flowers, trees, shrubs, vines, and ground cover
that feed and shelter birds, will attract birds to your back
yard.
Planting a diverse selection helps ensure that a variety of food
sources is always available. Choose different plantings that
produce food throughout each of the four seasons.
Build It and They Will Come.....
Your very own backyard feeding area can be as elaborate or as
simple as you desire. The key thing is to have fun creating it and do
what will be of most benefit to the birds.
Birds like to feed from areas where they can easily escape if and
when a predator should arise. This means you will want to have
trees, shrubs or brush nearby where they can fly to safety. Birds
also like to "check out" an area before entering it for their own
safety, thus trees and shrubs give them a safe haven to see
what's going on before coming to your feeder.
Trees - Trees and shrubs also provide shelter for the birds from
the weather. Planted on the north and west sides of your feeding
area, trees and shrubs provide a windbreak for the birds.
Plant more than one variety of trees and use a mix of small and
large trees. This will form a backdrop for the lower growing
shrubs and bushes. Also remember that various species of birds
prefer various heights of trees and bushes to roost in.
Shrubs - Provide hiding places, shady resting spots, quick cover
from predators, and provide a great nesting habitat for wildlife.
Shrubs are useful for screens, barriers, hedges, and backgrounds.
Plant in varying heights and textures to create a more visually
interesting garden.
Vines - Offer shelter and quick cover for birds, and entice them
with
flowers, berries, insects, shelter and nesting sites. They help
blend plants of varying heights and can hide structures and houses.
Groundcovers - Provide shelter, blossoms and berries for food,
and are a key feature in any landscape by making the transition from
lawns to shrubs and trees seem natural.
Ponds - ponds, fountains or other water elements accent the
garden and provide necessary moisture and drinking sources for
birds. By combining these elements you can attract wildlife and
provide a better ecological balance to your garden.
Flowers in Your Bird Garden
You should make your bird garden to be visually attractive to
you, bird's aren't really turned on by visuals like humans are,
but birds are attracted to a "natural" look and feel.
Also remember that various flowers and plants attract varying
species of birds. Some flowers and plants are annual and will
need to be replanted every year, perennial plants come up on
their own every year without needing to be replanted.
Flowers and plants are good nesting sites for some birds,
nectar rich flowers are great for feeding some birds.
Some easy-to-grow bird-favorites are cosmos, impatiens, marigold
and zinnia.
Birds love sunflowers!
Some other garden flowers that birds love for their seeds are
snapdragon, aster, and larkspur.
See below for specific links to plants that attract birds.
Remember: Don't use pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides in
or around your backyard bird area, they can poison your birds.
Cats can be devastating to bird populations.
See Also:
Attracting Butterflies
to Your Backyard
Trees That Attract
Birds
Shrubs & Vines That
Attract Birds
Flowers That
Attract Birds
