Are you looking to attract birds to your garden? Bird songs are great for relaxation and helping anxiety. Plus, birds can help control unwanted pests by getting rid of bugs that can harm your plants.
It’s pretty easy to attract birds to your garden. It doesn’t matter where you live; with the right steps, you can have beautiful birds in your yard. The key is to meet the needs of the birds all year round.
Keep reading to find out some simple ways on how to attract birds.
Why Attract Birds to Your Garden?
Birds eat a variety of insects including mosquitoes, aphids, spiders, and other insects that eat your plants. You can reduce the number of pesticides you use if you have a bird-friendly garden. Some of the best bug eater birds and bugs they eat include:
- Sparrows: caterpillars, beetles, cutworms
- Cardinals: grasshoppers, stinkbugs, snails, beetles, leafhoppers
- Titmice: leafhoppers, beetles, aphids, caterpillars
- Woodpeckers: weevils, borers, larvae, beetles
- Bluebirds: beetles, crickets, moths, larvae, grasshoppers, moths
- Nuthatches: borers, ants, earwigs, caterpillars
- Swallows: moths, grasshoppers, beetles
- Grosbeaks: caterpillars, beetles, larvae
- Chickadees: whitefly, scale, caterpillars, ants, earwigs, aphids
- Orioles: larvae, beetles, grasshoppers
Birds also pollinate plants. Pollinators create new blooms on your flowers, which more blooms will attract other insects like butterflies and bees.
Birds also help control weeds because they eat the seeds before they sprout. Some of the best seed-eating birds include sparrows, towhees, and finches.
How to Attract Birds
Now that you know why you want them. Let’s go into more detail about getting them in your garden. No worries; you don’t need to be an advanced gardener to have beautiful birds in your yard.
It’s all about meeting survival needs. Birds need basic things to survive.
1. Give Them Food
Fill up bird feeders around your yard. Make sure you buy from reputable sources and have seeds to provide energy. You can try experimenting with different seed mixes to see which the birds enjoy most.
Don’t put out simple foods like peanuts, bread, and pet food. These are not healthy for a bird and can swell up a bird’s stomach. It’s best to stick with bird seed meant for wild birds.
Most garden stores have birdseed that is formulated for bird species in your area. You can find colorful bird blends, songbird mixes, and other seeds for the type of birds you want, such as suet for woodpeckers.
You should also feed your birds year-round. You may have to fill up the feeders twice a week or more during the harsh winter since the birds may rely on you for food.
2. Install a Birdbath
Backyard birds like birdbaths to clean themselves and drink water. You can actually bring a wider variety of birds to your yard with birdbaths.
Make sure you choose a birdbath that is easy to clean. If there are too many nooks and crannies, they may be hard to keep sanitary and can get slimy. Be sure to change the water regularly to avoid mosquitos.
Different types of birdbath materials include plastic, concrete, metal, glass, and ceramic. You can find a birdbath to fit about any price level and style to give your yard a nice focal point. Glazed and copper baths are easier to scrub but can be more expensive.
You will want your birdbath slightly elevated to help avoid predators like the neighbor’s cat. Don’t install it too high because birds do like them closer to the ground.
3. Provide Shelter
When you design your landscape, you want to give birds areas for shelter during the cold weather and places to hide. Birds also need areas to build nests in the spring and summer. This means they like small trees and shrubs with lots of twigs.
You may want to keep one of your landscape areas more natural and not as tidy as others. You want birds to nest in your yard because baby birds’ favorite foods are bugs.
4. Plant Bird-Friendly Plants
In addition to trees and shrubs in your landscape, you will want to plant some flowers that attract birds. The good news is that these plants are usually beautiful with bright, fragrant flowers.
Some of the best flowers for birds include:
- Sunflowers
- Bee balm
- Coneflower
- Aster
- Elderberry
- Herbs
Most of these plants are pretty easy to grow, so you don’t need a green thumb. You should also have some native plants that follow the rhythm of seasons. These plants are usually low maintenance as well because they grow naturally in your area.
Ask your local nursery or plant store for plant recommendations. Let them know how much sun your space gets and what direction your home faces to find the best fit.
5. Add Bird Houses
You can also add birdhouses to your landscape to give birds a permanent residence. You can find some bright, cheery options that also add some pizzazz to your yard.
You can either hang them from trees, your fence, or porch posts or get a post to put the birdhouse in any location. You can also add one near a window to watch your friends build a nest and see the babies grow. Just make sure it is away from predators.
Birds love houses, but you might not get residents right away. You need to be patient. Once birds set up a nest in your birdhouse, they will likely return each year.
Have Fun Attracting Birds
Birds are fun to watch and can be beneficial to your garden, too. With these simple steps, you can attract birds. Be sure you keep up with the seed in your feeders and also clean out the birdbaths regularly.
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