Provide Food, Water, Shelter and Birds Will Come Visit

Birds can be attracted to just about anywhere, even to a small yard in a densely developed area.

Three things need to be kept in mind when planning to attract birds: shelter, food and water.

Shelter is probably the most important. If you do not have any trees or shrubs around, you will not have very many birds. Maybe a Canada goose, or 10, or 50 of them. Let’s face it, most birds perch in trees and shrubs much more than they are on the ground.

A diversity of trees and shrubs are essential. Birds perch, roost and nest in them, and they use them as cover to avoid predators. Some birds prefer evergreens while others prefer deciduous plantings. Some prefer low shrubs while others specialize in tall trees. Evergreens are also important because their dense foliage provides extra protection from bad weather. A mixture of evergreen and deciduous plants is best.

Bushes and trees with flowers are great: we enjoy looking at them and birds will benefit from them. More often than not, the first ruby-throated hummingbirds I see each spring are feeding at the red flowers of the Japanese flowering quince shrub (hummers prefer red flowers.) Another benefit of flowers is that birds will eat the insects that are attracted to flowers. The bugs are a good source of protein.

Many flowering bushes and trees also produce fruits and seeds that attract birds. Blueberry bushes and grapevines may produce abundant fruit, but be aware that birds will often eat the fruits before we think they are ripe.

Other important fruiting plants include Viburnum, junipers, hollies, greenbrier (or catbrier) and even poison ivy. But be sure to plant the latter two species in places you plan to enjoy from a distance.

Avoid planting oriental bittersweet, Russian olive, Multiflora rose or any other invasive species. While they produce fruits in abundance, they are called invasive species for a reason; they will rapidly invade and conquer the rest of your garden or yard.

Berry and seed-producing plants will not provide enough food for the birds throughout the year. Bird feeders are needed for that.

Sunflower seed, thistle seed, peanut hearts, suet and cracked corn are the best foods with which to stock the feeders. Wild birdseed mixes are not as good because they contain an abundant supply of millet and other grains that few birds will eat — most birds will toss them aside.

Placing bird feeders in the right place is important. The feeders need to be near trees and shrubs so birds can quickly escape into protective cover when predators appear. Feeders also need to be located in places where they can easily be filled and observed.

Avoid placing feeders directly in front of a window; birds injure themselves when they crash into the “sky” that is reflected in a window. Feeders are safer when placed at an angle to the window.

Squirrels may be considered nuisances when they eat a lot of the food put out for birds. It is almost impossible to place a feeder completely out of the reach of squirrels, but there are feeders that can keep squirrels from getting to the seed. The feeders may be surrounded by one-inch mesh plastic-coated wire that small birds hop through, or they may have mechanisms that close off the supply of seed when a squirrel perches on it. These feeders will also keep larger birds like cardinals and blue jays away.

Scattering some birdseed on the ground may keep squirrels from monopolizing bird feeders.

Providing water is the third aspect of attracting birds. Birds need to drink and bathe, and so they need shallow water. And that means shallow for a bird. If a birdbath has steep sides, it will need rocks in it to make sloping platforms so the birds will have easy access to shallow water.

It might be best to put your birdbath on the ground; otherwise it may break when dogs, raccoons or crows knock it over. A heater or bubbler may keep the birdbath from freezing in the winter, but removing ice and refilling the birdbath with fresh water may be easier.

Remember, the birds will visit if you provide shelter, food and water. If you build it, they will come. Anywhere.

Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant and bird tour leader living in Vineyard Haven.

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