“Birds teach a great life lesson. All you have to do is listen to their song.”

Bird watching can be therapeutic, seeing birds with beautiful colored wings, singing and chirping songs that we can’t comprehend. It’s also meditating, getting out of the hectic routine and enjoying the scenery in nature’s embrace can help us fight off stress, tensions, and depression. While it is a very useful activity, keeping birds in birdhouses is an activity that asks for dedication and attention. It needs taking care of those wonders of nature with all heart and love. Some important queries and concerns that can arise in your mind that are necessary to address are as follows: 

Here is my article All about birdhouse – a complete guide – How to Attract Birds to Your Yard Fast. In this article, I mentioned all the techniques and tricks to get birds in your garden.

Does the location of the birdhouse matter? 

Probably the most cardinal query is the location of your birdhouse for sure. It is important because the right place ensures many things for your birds like:

●        There can be many predators of your innocent little birds like cats that can easily climb high places and get free food. A squirrel can launch itself like a bomb from a cannon to at least 6 feet off the ground and can easily jump from one tree to another.

●        So, it is important to keep your birdhouse and feeder at an optimal and secure location to avoid these attacks. 

How to find the perfect place for the birdhouse? 

Some important points that you can consider are as follows:

Analyze your area

Stand in your garden, backyard, outdoor space to check for the optimal point. Where the cat and squirrel won’t reach the birdhouse and feeder. If you like watching birds go about their morning routine while you have your breakfast, you need to position the birdhouse at the point where you can easily see them from your porch or patio. Also, see the sun and its angle with the possible location of the bird feeder. You do not want to get your eyes all watery with sun rays directly invading into the eyeballs while watching birds.

Finding the quiet and serene point of the garden with no disturbance. 

Birds just like grandma’s need peace and quiet. They are both cute but get easily distracted by little sounds. So, it is important to keep your birdhouse in the quietest and peaceful corner. If your location of the birdhouse coincides with a park or street in which children play or too much traffic passes through nearby, then you might want to relocate it because there would be very little to no birds attracted because of the noise. 

Create a natural habitat to attract birds

It is important to create a natural and perfect surrounding for the birds to be attracted and have a feeling of home. It is also important to have trees and shrubs in the area because birds can easily hide in the dense leaves and stems when attacked by predators. So having natural growth of trees would not only make them feel near their habitat but also protect them. Just be careful not to place the feeder too near the trees, cats and squirrels can climb and jump onto the feeder through the trees so that’s not right. Just keep the birdhouse at least 8-10 feet away from the trees to ensure safety. And also, the feeder should be on proper height so the predators can’t jump up to them. 

Don’t place the birdhouse in the extremely dense area 

It’s true that birds need seclusion and peace but do not place the feeder in too much of a dense area. The dark might scare them, and it can be difficult for them to fly in case of a predator attack because of too many hurdles. So, take this into account. The sunlight is also important for birds to live and breathe so make sure they get their needed sunlight and freedom of movement and not be suffocated in too much depth of an area.

In which season do birds relocate to the birdhouse?

Fall is the time when birds usually migrate in large groups and they would love some pretty birdhouses to refuel their energy, rest up, breed, and maybe start living there permanently. During this time, it is important to get your birdhouses ready to welcome the guests. The bird feeders should be restocked with favorite seeds and crumbs and water should be warm for the birds to enjoy and get nestled in comfortably. If you want to get some birds into your yard, fall is the time to fall off from the couch and get a move on. 

What is the reason birds get attracted to a birdhouse? 

There are many different aspects that you can target to attract birds. The first thing they see is the color of the birdhouse. Vibrant and colorful all high in the sky attract the birds from afar. Some sounds mimicking the chirps of birds can also be helpful as it would make them at ease with the surroundings. Some tasty seeds and water are always good, no doubt! There are many seeds and bird food but the most common is black oil sunflower seeds. They seem to be every bird’s favorite. Some colorful options for a birdhouse are as follows. 

What are the suitable places to keep the birdhouses?  

The first and foremost important place for your birdhouses is in your backyard so you can watch birds from the comfort of your home. If your backyard is big enough to have lush trees and fountains to make a haven for the birds that there is no other thought. Just your backyard would be enough to keep your birdhouses. Some other important places that can be useful are:

Golf courses

According to a rough estimate, Golf courses account for 2 million acres of area nationwide. They can be an important site for nesting. They can help revive the almost extinct species of birds as golf courses seldom get disturbed, just during the games. Just plant some trees, a site for clean water, and crumbs for birds and it is ready. 

Cultivated fields

If you happen to have a small field of crops near your home that might be the best place to keep your bird feeders. These crops would provide enough space for birds to hide from predators and enough sunlight exposure. Birds would also get food in the form of crop crumbs and insects that come for food in the crops. Cultivated crops are the easiest and low maintenance sights for bird feeders. 

Where to keep bird baths and bird feeders? 

Birdbaths are perfect to be placed in the shade where the water will be cold for longer. Place it under the trees if you can. It would get fresh cold rainwater to accumulate into the bath and you won’t have to worry if you forget to refill the birdbath. Placing natural rocks in the birdbath would help because birds would be able to stand and drink and not get wet. It is important in winters when there is cold weather. For winters, however, there are automatic water heating bird baths too if you are interested. You can also create a water dripping system to make water trickle down from a heightened source, this attracts birds. Some choices for bird bath are:

For bird feeders, it’s the same protocol. In summer, place the feeder under the shade in a cool area and in winter, place it in a snuggly surrounding with a warm piece of cloth around the feeder to attract and keep the bird cozy. You can also create a trail of crumbs leading towards the feeder that would also attract the bird to your yard. As discussed earlier, black oil sunflower seeds are a popular choice among birds. Also, keep the feeder at a height so the birds can enjoy their meals in peace without any possible threat of a predator. 

How to decorate the birdhouse to make it more bird-friendly? 

There are a lot of options to make your birdhouse more attractive. First are the colors. Different birds get attracted to different colors. For example, red and pink colors attract Hummingbirds, blue attract Bluebirds and Jays. Orange color attracts Orioles and Hummingbirds. The yellow color attracts Warblers and Goldfinches. So, you can customize the color according to the choice of birds you want to attract. 

You can also use some nature depicting decorative elements in your area to make the birds more acquainted with the environment. Also, use some actual nature elements like soft green grass, leaves, flowers, feathers, pieces of fabric, and moss. This would make the birds feel at home even being away from home. 

I would also recommend to read my article Keeping your garden accessories safe and last for a long time.

Some general questions that can come to one’s mind about birdhouses and bird feeding

Should I be worried if I see a hawk lurking around watching the birdhouse in my yard? 

Predators and prey are a natural part of life. It’s a mechanism that needs to work for the normal life cycle. The mortality in birds is somewhat high but so is their birth rate and survival in harshest conditions. They can easily grow on the bare minimum. So, if a hawk is roaming around, there is nothing to worry about. It’s nature at work. But if the hawk’s presence bothers you, you can stop feeding the birds in the feeder where they must come out to eat and somehow transfer their food into the birdhouse, so they stay tucked inside safe and sound. Or you can change the location of the bird feeder and bird bath.

Why are the birds not feeding on seeds during the summer? 

Most birds reduce their intake of seeds and other bird food because they quench their hunger for proteins with a real protein source, insects. The squishy crusty and slimy organisms are the favorites of birds. During summer the insects come out of their hiding places and hence become bird food. In winters birds are also relaxed and show little activity and interest to hunt and eat the already available food, and their intake of easy food increases. So, there is nothing to worry about. You can reduce the food you put out and save your money while nature is at play providing natural food to the birds. 

Where and how can I store bird food if it’s not being used? 

Storing bird food is pretty easy. You just have to locate a cool, moisture free and sunlight-free place. The space of storage should be rodent-free otherwise they would just eat the food themselves. One way to avoid the rodent attack is to use storage bins to keep and store the food for a longer time. It would not only save your money for buying new food but also avoid wastage of food. 

How to keep the bird feeder safe from squirrel’s attacks? 

Just like the birds, squirrels also like to eat seeds and can get tempted to eat them if they spot them in an area. If they succeed in reaching the feeder. It would also disturb the birds so, to avoid the situation, it is important to take some useful actions. 

●        Firstly, hang the feeder under the shade of the trees at a height. The hanging feeder should be small so that the squirrel if it reaches up to it cannot stand on it to eat the food. While birds can easily do so on a small feeder. 

●        Add springs to the hanging support of the feeder. The spring would bounce up and down with the weight of the squirrel but not in the case of birds as birds are light in weight. 

●        Some automatic bird feeders close if they detect a threshold of weight is crossed. Of course, birds would be safe even in groups because of their less weight.

Experts’ advice

Bird watching is a very useful activity not only therapeutically but also aesthetically, increasing the beauty of your garden, backyard, golf course, field, or wherever you place the birdhouse. These birdhouses and birds will make you fall in love with the wonders that nature comprises. Happy Birding!