The wonder of birdwatching and even just their presence is extraordinarily fascinating. Which is why almost everyone wants to lure them near. Even you!
Don’t worry…
We’ve got you covered with a complete guide to the material’s your yard needs to be physically tempting.
Bird Feeder
These are your primary stepping stones to attracting birds. With a feeder, those wild birds near you don’t need to waste their energy foraging for food anymore.
The birds you’ll be attracting and feeding will depend on the type of feeder you provide. Of course, you can’t expect to see a cardinal on your nectar feeder, can you?
If this is your first time purchasing one, your go-to feeder is a hopper style. These tend to attract a wide variety of birds and give them comfort and safety through its perching areas.
Positioning
Have you ever wondered how the wrong positioning of bird feeders can lead to no visitors at all?
Well for one, positioning your feeders near shrubs and trees would entice more birds since they know that they have a quick hiding place just in case a predator comes along. However, placing it too close can invite rodents such as squirrels, it is crucial to prevent them from attacking the birds, stealing food, or even destroying your yard.
The location of the feeder can also appeal to different birds. For example, if your feeder is too exposed, it will appear alluring to some but would also deter the birds who prefer a natural cover.
Setting your feeder near or on your window will prevent the birds from window crashing and severing themselves. Aside from that, it could also help you birdwatch indoors.
If you’re buying a lot of feeders to win over different and many birds, you should remember not to place them less than three feet apart. Aggressive birds such as blue jays tend to dominate over a feeder and bully the other birds around. This is why you should always place them at a fair distance from each other so that all birds can enjoy your feeder.
Feeder Hygiene
Imagine having to eat in the same dirty plate with the same saggy and stale food for a week or more… Doesn’t sound fun now, does it? What makes it worse is that it wouldn’t only be you eating on that same plate. This is how things would be for your birds if you don’t maintain your feeders.
Every single bird that visits on that feeder can potentially bring bacteria and diseases. It can also become a breeding ground for germs and parasites. And if you think about it, it’s not like you’re helping them out but harming them instead.
You can maintain your feeders by replacing stale and moldy seeds, you should also discard fresh food after a few hours of being uneaten. And most importantly, scrub your feeders every five days using a solution of dish soap, water, and bleach.
Bird Food
Aren’t we all guilty of purchasing cheap bird food?
And aren’t we all victims of it being a complete waste? The truth is, these cheap bags of bird food only contain filler seeds and other things that birds don’t eat such as milo, wheat, and oats.
You’ll be surprised to find yourself buying high-end bird food and alluring twice as many birds as you usually get instead.
Here are some of the best bird foods and seeds you should try:
Nuts
Shelled or not, these would definitely delight a lot of birds. You can even just cover your plain seeds with peanut butter and see random birds enjoying it. Nuts will invite birds such as magpies, titmice, and blue jays.
Sunflower Seeds
Black Oil Sunflower seeds are the best seeds to feed wild birds, striped sunflower seeds are good too. These would tempt many songbirds, chickadees, and cardinals.
Suet Cakes
Basically, if you wish to provide your birds with a dessert that contains a high amount of energy and is easy to digest, you should definitely buy a suet cake. They appeal to nuthatches, wrens, and woodpeckers.
Millet, Nyjer, And Other Small Seeds
Not all birds are a fan of the famous sunflower seeds. Birds like finches would be happy to see these small seeds more than they would towards any other seed.
Nectar
Birds like hummingbirds don’t eat seeds or other bird food, all they eat their whole lives is nectar, fresh or homemade. Other species would also try the nectar too depending on the feeder type.
Fruits
Lots of birds enjoy eating fruits along with their seed mixes. Fruits like oranges, apples, and grapes cut into smaller pieces are their favorites.
However, fresh food requires you to clean the feeders more often, you should also only give them an ample amount only to make sure that they don’t intake too much glucose.
Bird Bath
Almost all bird enthusiasts have a bird feeder in their yard, but not everyone offers a fresh and consistent supply of clean water. You may be thinking that birds don’t need water that much, but if you think about it, having an easily accessible water source helps a lot.
Water doesn’t only quench their thirst but also makes sure that their beaks don’t dry up and crack. And since you’ll be giving it to them in a birdbath, they won’t only be able to enjoy splashing in the water but remove dust and parasites off their feathers in an easier way too.
So to attract all the birds you can get, you’ll be needing only the best looking bird baths available.
Add Motion
Stagnant bird baths are boring!
They won’t really be attracting as many birds as you imagine because not all birds would know about it or would even be interested at all. The motion your birdbath makes will not only be intriguing to the birds’ eyes but will also make sounds that birds would be curious about.
If this is your first time purchasing a bath, you can try adding a dripper, mister, or a circulating pump to it. Yet, if you want to go all out, a waterfall or pond would do well.
Have A Heater
Winter will eventually come. And when it does, your birdbath would no doubt be frozen, well you can’t expect the birds to bathe in freezing water or ice.
You can just break the ice and replace it with fresh water every 3-4 hours, but that would be a lot of work, which is why a birdbath heater is important. Birds tend to need water more in the winter to stay alive and well, so providing them with such an important thing would definitely make your birdbath their hotspot.
Maintenance
No one wants to take a bath in the same dirty water with everyone else.
In a few days, your birdbath would basically be gross, it would have a shade of green with a disgusting smell, which would eventually turn into a breeding ground for germs and mosquitos. Not to mention that birds remove their parasites there, meaning a parasite could go from one bird to another.
You will need to change the water every night or every other night and scrub it really well every week.
Bird Shelter
Feeling safe also contributes to a bird’s wellbeing. Any form of shelter would give them the protection and escape they would need anytime. And if birds don’t feel safe enough in your yard, they most likely won’t come back.
From extreme weather conditions, protecting their young, to predator attacks, shelter is always important.
Trees And Plants
Not only are these their most comfortable natural shelter, but they also double as a rich source of food. Trees and plants are the most familiar shelters to wild birds while also contributing to the local climate and lessening your responsibilities of maintenance.
Perching Areas
Some bird feeders and baths don’t offer enough perching places for birds to rest, play and preen on. There are bird species such as blue jays that require a lot of perching places, basically, if they can’t jump, cross, or move around a perch because it is too small, they would end up hating it and never coming back.
These also help them in scanning your yard to know where they would take off next or if there is danger ahead. You can purchase perching sticks, feeders with a wide perching place, or simply have bushes around your yard.
Be careful not to place them near feeders (except if they’re attached to it of course) since it could act as an upper hand for predators, cats, and rodents.
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