Creating Bird-friendly Habitats
Like any animal, birds need food, water, shelter, and a place to raise
their young. The entire set of these needs defines the habitat. Every
species has its own habitat requirements, so the more variety you can
create in your yard the more birds you may see in it.
Take a bird's-eye look at your backyard. Does it provide those things?
If not, there are plants you can grow and many other ways you can enhance
your landscape to make it more bird-friendly without investing a fortune or changing your way of life.
Food
For seed-eating birds, the easiest thing is just put out a few bird feeders. The more different types of seed you put
out, the greater variety of birds you will attract. You can also landscape
with seed and berry bearing plants which are native in your area.
Many birds don't eat seeds, but do eat insects. If you or your neighbors
spray pesticides, you are eliminating these birds' food supply— destroying
their habitat— and possibly even poisoning them, too. It is hard to
put out insects in feeders, but many insect eating birds will eat suet.
Chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers are common at suet feeders in
much of North America. Mealworms are another option. They are big and
tasty and you can feed them in a simple screen feeder. A screen feeder
is just a rectangular frame with window screen (vinyl or stainless steel)
stretched over the bottom of it.
Water
Water is vital to all life. When the weather is dry, a bird bath can
be a life-saving oasis which will attract many birds. They like to bathe
in it as well as drink it, so be sure and clean it often. Or you can
incorporate a pump and filter into your bird bath and it will double
as a pleasant sounding water feature in your yard. Whether you buy,
or build yourself, consider that a bird bath should mimic a mud puddle
in shape if not in size. Mud puddles are very shallow and have very
gradually sloped bottoms. Too many bird baths are so steep-sided that
the birds are afraid to use them. 1.5" deep is about the right
maximum depth.
Shelter
Shelter requirements vary from species to species. In the spring and
summer, reproducing is every bird's objective and each species has its
own preferred nesting habitat. Leaving a corner of your yard unattended
and brushy may provide nesting sites for wrens, goldfinches, hummingbirds,
and many others. Leave a dead tree standing and woodpeckers will show
up to feed on the termites living in it and may hollow out a nest cavity.
Some birds, like chickadees, nuthatches, swallows, and others will nest
in a man-made nesting box. Most birds will not. When placing a nest box
it is important to consider the nesting habitat of the bird you wish
to attract. Look at your yard and see what is available. It would be
futile to put up a box for chickadees on a pole in the middle of a field,
but a tree swallow may look at that same box and think it had just found
the Ritz.
Winter birds need shelter, too. Some birds, like chickadees and nuthatches,
will roost in former nesting cavities or boxes to get out of the weather.
Many birds will crawl into dense shrubs or perch next to the trunk of
an evergreen tree with tight branches. If you live in an area with fairly
predictable prevailing winds, put some shelter plants on the lee side
of your house for the birds to roost in.
Places to raise young
Evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs provide nesting areas for
birds. Dead and dying trees (called "snags") provide nesting
sites for many species such as owls, flying squirrels, and other cavity-nesters.
Rabbits, shrews, mice, snakes, and salamanders lay their eggs or raise
young under boughs of plants as well as in the rock, log, or mulch piles.
Nest boxes for bluebirds, chickadees, wrens, and purple martins can
be placed in your backyard.
Read also: Plants for wild birds
See also: Deciduous trees
