Ways to attract birds to your backyard

A few additional changes to your backyard can turn it into an oasis for you and your friends, and of course, the birds! Let us not forget the birds how tiny they might be. The first thing to do to attract birds to your yard fast is to provide plenty of food. But having a variety of birds coming to your yard requires you to offer several other bird-friendly features that include natural food sources, nesting sites, water, and cover. Look into what birds need most and add extra features that meet these needs. Then you will get your dream of having a great variety of bird species in your yard.

“It’s reassuring to know that the garden birds are there, even when I am not.” – Joe Harkness. 

Following is a complete guide on how to attract birds to your yard, fast! Because you can make your mental health better by many folds by the simple act of birdwatching. So, let us dive in and see what this article has in store for you. 

The right place makes all the difference. 

suitable location for your feeders and the birdhouse or a nesting place will attract birds to your birds fast. The location of your feeders will determine the variety of birds you will attract to your yard. Some birds are captivated and drawn to perches like nails are drawn to a magnet. So it is necessary to place a feeder next to a perch. Other birds like Cardinals are shy and prefer a natural cover, implying that they are not comfortable when a feeder is exposed and feel like being on the watch as they eat their food.

Plus, some birds are territorial about feeders so, use a spacing of about 3 to 4 feet between feeders to meet their need for space. I want to stress the importance of placing your feeders at a significant height off the ground to protect birds from predators like cats. Your landscape features can also help you decide where to place feeders. For instance, placing the feeder near brightly colored flowers increases your chances of attracting the Hummingbirds.

Food, food! 

“When life gives you crumbs… feed the birds” 

Food is a necessity for survival and, every living entity needs food to live and breathe. So, if you have food in your backyard, you can attract anyone to your backyard, be it a lion or a deadly snake. You just need the right kind of food. Let us stick to the small, cute birds for now. It is easy to attract birds with food, but there are some things to consider as discussed below. 

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A.   Optimal place and location to feed the birds

Birds need a safe place to feed. Build a bird feeding station and offer a variety of food. It is always necessary to supplement the natural food sources with artificial ones and have the right treats to entice more birds to your yard.

It would be incredibly frustrating for birds to overcrowd when feeding so you also need to have multiple feeders. Place food in different locations and levels in the yard to mimic the natural foraging opportunities that birds are exposed to in nature. This way, you can host an extensive, manageable, and all-you-can-eat buffet for the birds. 

B.   What more can you do about the feeders?

Think about the feeding preferences and needs of various birds. People mostly buy the widely available commercial seed mixes. Although some of these seed mixes will work well, some contain a lot of fillers like milo, buckwheat, and other grains. 

Alternatively, consider getting seeds in bulk from the store and making your mixture. This will save you money and ensure that your birds will get the most tempting food. In the end, it is not just about attracting the birds by feeding them, it is about feeling happy that you are doing something meaningful and worthy. This positive approach would help you feel better and as you feel better, you perform better, and you become better. 

“He who feeds a hungry animal feeds his own soul” – Charles Chaplin.

Provide Clean Water Sources

“Water is the driving force of all nature” – Leonardo da Vinci.

Birds while flying over long distances can get hungry and thirsty and if they find a place where both these things are available, with a lavish setting, they might decide to settle down in that place (after discussing it with the female birds of course).

The importance of a simple compound is not to be ignored. It attracts thirsty and tired birds to your backyard for clean water. 

Food is a necessity for survival and, every living entity needs food to live and breathe. So, if you have food in your backyard, you can attract anyone to your backyard, be it a lion or a deadly snake. You just need the right kind of food. Let us stick to the small, cute birds for now. It is easy to attract birds with food, but there are some things to consider as discussed below. 

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A.   How can you make water available for the birds?

You can provide water to the birds in several ways. Inverted trash can lid or elaborate small ponds are some of the simple and inexpensive ways you can consider. Most people, however, go for the commercial birdbath.

B.   Install a Birdbath

Installing a separate birdbath in your backyard can also help to attract birds as it provides a place for birds to enjoy the water. The birdbath needs to be shallow, around two to three inches so, the small birds do not drown in them. If you can build a small pond, it would help as well as helps the birds stay hydrated with plenty of water at their disposal and clean by bathing in the water whenever they want. The sound of water splashing can attract wild birds due to curiosity even from a distance. The birdbath is crucial to attracting birds but, in winters, the water in those baths can freeze up. To avoid it, you can go for a Solar birdbath that would not let the water freeze and provide birds with warm water in winters to increase the overall attraction even more. 

So, have you decided on getting a birdbath to attract birds to your yard fast? Here are some features you need to consider for a birdbath.

1.     The slides should slope gently.
2.    The average basin depth should not be more than one and a half inches.
3.    The birdbath’s finish should be rough cement or coarsely textured.
4.    There should be water in the bath all the time.
5.    If the water gets too warm in the summers, through in some ice cubes to keep it nice and cold for the birds.

The issue is to ensure that the water does not freeze in winter. Moving water is another secret to attract bird’s attention. It creates a highly attractive site for birds luring more wild and curious species.

C.   What simple tricks can you apply to create a moving water site?

1.        Use the trunk of a tree that is close to your birdbath or pool and fasten a garden hose to it and suspend the nozzle to give a few drops of water at a constant rate.
2.       Punch a nail-sized hole at the bottom of a bucket or large plastic bottle with water and hang it 4 or 5 feet above the pool.
3. Keep in mind that it is desirable to have multiple water sources or more than one birdbath to attract more birds in your backyard

Fix a Perching Stick in Your yard

Although natural landscapes are always best when it comes to providing perches, you can recreate a more natural setup using fallen branches. A perching stick in your yard provides birds with a safe place for resting, grooming, or for just enjoying the landscape.

Maybe your yard lacks the natural habitat like trees or bushes that can provide perches so you can set up the much-needed perching stick to attract birds. Place the perch a bit far from the feeder to avoid giving predators’ unnecessary advantage.

Installing a perching stick in your yard comes with extra advantages. It allows you to set it up in the most appropriate location for capturing a great image. Place it in a place with proper lighting and background for great pictures.

Use Roost Boxes to Shelter Winter Birds

Roost boxes protect birds from predators, extreme weather conditions, and low temperatures during winter. Just like birdhouses, roost boxes provide shelter to birds and are suitable for cavity-nesters such as bluebirds, sparrows, and chickadees.

However, roost boxes require certain design features to encourage birds to roost including,

1.  Less drainage and ventilation holes to preserve more heat.
2.  Positioning the entrance hole near the bottom instead of the top to avoid loss of rising heat.
3.  Installing interior perches to house more birds without smothering.
4.  Thicker walls to enhance insulation during winter.

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Including Birdhouses, I am written an article on Keeping your garden accessories safe and last for a long time. Make sure to read it as well.

Design a Bird-Friendly Landscape

A thriving ecosystem is a useful addition to your yard if you want to foster bird populations. Attracting a variety of birds to your backyard goes beyond supplementing the food and water sources. It is necessary to have a landscape design that transforms your backyard into a true home for a more diverse group of birds. You need to avoid some common problems that are found in landscaped yards including being too open and lack of shrubs, vines, and tangle of trees that are present in natural habitats. Work on the diversity of your landscape to increase the chances of attracting different bird species.

Consider these following tips, 

1. Create open areas surrounded by plantings. You can layer up the landscape by mixing large trees with small trees.
2. Use habitat edges will help you create an activity center for birds. For example, the meeting point of a flowerbed or hedgerow or where a hedgerow links up to trees.
3. Have evergreen trees and shrubs to give your backyard year-round privacy. This provides the birds shelter especially during extreme weather like winter.
4. Don’t rush to clear dead branches, tree stumps, and fallen leaves, or uprooted garden plants. They will be a source of food for insect-eaters or provide a home to cavity-nesters. Birds can also perch on dead branches and unpruned shrubs.

Keep Away Squirrels, Predators, and People from the Yard

You have to guarantee the safety of birds to keep them visiting your feeders in the backyard. Pests such as squirrels are likely to take over your feeders. Look for barriers like a baffle that will keep these pests and other predators away and give your birds a safe and comfortable environment to use your feeder.

You can buy feeders with different squirrel-proofing options. For instance, some feeders have a wire mesh put around food bowls. Other food sources for birds are weight-balanced to toss off squirrels. Another homemade solution is to grease the feeder pole with bacon to thwart their climbing attempts. It also helps keep people away from your yard first to avoid scaring birds away due to too much human activity. What else? People! may contribute to the destruction of the bird-friendly landscape you are trying to design in your yard. So, keep the unwanted people out of your life and backyard. Also, you being people, should stay away from the birds in the start to not scare them. Once they get familiarized with the place and surroundings, you may proceed to watch them from close proximity.

Provide a Nesting-Friendly Environment

Your surroundings can have a very important outcome on your preference for a place. A tidy setting would make you want to stay in the place and a messy environment is likely to make you annoyed. The same is true for birds, they are attracted to the spaces that make them feel at home. You can use this information to attract the birds by setting up your backyard accordingly.

How do you make your yard an attractive nesting site to attract birds, even those that will not use a birdhouse? Make sure that your backyard has materials that are useful in making bird nests by yourself. 

Materials such as pet fur, string, and hair will come in handy for birds to build their nests. The natural stuff lying around the yard can also provide materials for creating a familiar environment for the birds, such as grass clippings, brush piles, and weed fluff to construct a nest.

In order to make a nest, decorating your backyard according to the natural habitat of the birds can also help. native shrubs, flowers, and trees offer a natural nesting site and attract birds is a useful trick helping the birds attract in your backyard. 

Attracting Birds with the Right Plants

Select plants that offer different foods to birds that include seeds, fruits, and nuts. Also, have plants that grow with branches to provide nesting places or escape cover to birds. Birds are attracted to nature just like us, but unlike us, they do not really like nature for taking photos and sharing on their Instagram but, they actually like nature and are attracted by it. So, growing useful herbs, shrubs, small trees, and large trees can be helpful in attracting birds.

Different kinds of plants in your garden are preferred because birds have habitats different from each species. Birds also like densely grown shrubs and trees. So, this is something to be considered before planting them in your backyard. Native flowers and plants not only attract the birds but also help strengthen your local ecosystem. 

A.   The best varieties of plants to attract birds

Barberry
This plant would offer nectar, fruit, and protection to the birds. The common bird species that are attracted to the barberry plant include Songbirds and Sparrows. 

Daylily
This plant would provide plenty of nectar to the birds to enjoy. The birds that get attracted by the daylily are Hummingbirds.

Rose
Red pretty roses have a lot of sweet nectar and attractive color to offer the birds of species including Catbirds, Cardinals, thrashers, and sparrows. 

Tea Viburnum 
This plant gives birds the fruit, nectar, and protection in its leaves. It attracts the birds like Cedar waxwings and pretty purple finches. 

B.   The best varieties of Trees to attract the birds

Mimosa 
This easy-to-grow and maintain tree provides nectar to the Hummingbirds and attracts them.

Apple 
This tree would provide nectar to the plants and fruits to the humans. It can help you attach many birds like bluebirds, flickers, hummingbirds, finches, and more. 

Oak
This tree gives protection and nectar to the birds and would attract Robins, nutcrackers, thrashers, and grosbeaks. 

You can buy seeds of these plants and trees from a local store. In addition to attracting birds, you can help make our ecosystem better by planting trees and plants in your backyard and play your part in making this world a little better. 

Clean Your Feeders Regularly

Feeder maintenance is crucial if you want to attract birds and keep them safe. Attend the feeders to get rid of unused or moldy seeds that will be harmful and unattractive to birds. Check feeders regularly, and wash them using mild soap, dilute bleach, and warm water. Leave them to dry before filling them again with food. Remember to clean the area surrounding and below the feeder to protect ground-feeding birds.

A. Why is it important to keep the feeders clean?

The food in the feeder always needs to be fresh because if you cannot eat stale food, you should not want that for your birds. So, replacing old food and keeping the feeders clean is very important. As old food can make the birds sick and, it is not what you would want. 

Use Bright Colors to Get the birds attention

Use a variety of bright colors in your yard to get the attention of birds. Besides creating the allure, colors can help birds to attract a mate or to hide from predators. Increase the appeal of your yard by placing colors that can attract birds. Using feeders painted in a bright red hue will catch the eye of hummingbirds. Plus, you can have feeders in orange and yellow hues to draw Orioles and Goldfinches.

Also, artificial installments like feeders and houses can come in bright colors. You can also plant a variety of naturally vibrant flowers and shrubs that will lure birds.

Get a handful of insects

It might sound weird to you but birds like insects too because they are little packets of pure proteins. These squishy, crunchy on the outside and creamy, soft on the inside organisms can be very useful in attracting the birds. You can get rid of the unwanted insects and attract the birds in your backyard, a win-win situation for you. You can collect some dead or alive insects in a feeder or lay down a path leading to the main hideout of the insects for the birds to follow. 

Provide plenty of shelter

For the birds to leave their natural habitat and adjust to new surroundings, they need lots of care and a place that offers them shelter with lots of food and water. The greenery of the garden and the feels of safety and warmth of a small private plane for the birds can help. The best shelter for the birds is a birdhouse and, it can increase the overall attraction of your backyard for the birds. There can be sheets of cotton placed in the backyard or the birdhouse. The birds can sit in those sheets if the nights become cold and can feel warm and sheltered. 

Build the cutest birdhouse!

Birds coming to your backyard would come and enjoy the food, the surrounding, and the water, take a bath, sing and relax. But, after some time, they would want to relax and, if they were in a pair, they would need some privacy. So, if they can find a private place to chill out and relax in your backyard, that would seal the deal. 

A.   How to Choose the Proper Birdhouse Design

The design of a birdhouse needs to have wildlife needs in mind. A backyard that is the size of less than a quarter-acre can have a maximum of three to four birdhouses.

So how do you construct birdhouses to attract birds to your backyard?

1. The best material to use is wood since it is a poor conductor of heat, unlike metal that gets extremely hot when exposed to the scorching sun.
2. If you are looking for a rustic birdhouse, you can use rough slabs that still have their barks on them. Make the wall interiors rough or grooved to help the young climb with ease towards the opening.
3. Leave enough pitch when constructing the roof to shelter the walls from water.
4. The entrance needs to have about one inch of overhang for protection from driving rain. Plus, drill a few small holes into the floor to drain water that may still leak into the birdhouse. Include another set of holes or a slit close to the top of the box for ventilation. Screws are the most appropriate for constructing the house, making it easy to disassemble when cleaning.

“There is an unreasonable joy to be had from the observation of small birds going about their bright, oblivious business.” – Grant Hutchison

The birdhouse entry should be proportional to the size of the bird that you want to attract and near the top of the box. In simple terms, have a small house for small birds and a large one for the big birds. Small birds like Wrens and Chickadees require a space that is eight inches tall with a base of five by five-inch for living. A large bird like an owl will need a 24 inches tall house with a ten by ten-inch base.

The color choice has to be in subdued tones. But the white color will be appropriate for houses in a place with direct sunlight to reflect the heat.

B.   Hanging the birdhouse at a perfect height

The location and height you hang or place the birds’ birdhouse are also of paramount importance, as it should not be too high that you cannot even see the birds (there goes the meditation and therapy from birdwatching). Some birds might have Acrophobia (fear of heights, just kidding). Also, the birdhouse should not be too low so that a stray feline has access to all the birds and ends up enjoying a lavish dinner or lunch depends on the time it discovers the birdhouse. And, again, there goes the meditation and therapy from birdwatching. So, check the height and see if only you can access those birds. The height of the birdhouse is also crucial because you need to change the feeders in the birdhouse and clean it regularly as well. You must locate the birdhouse in an area with shade protection to avoid exposure to intense sunlight. 

C.   Bird species that use nest boxes or birdhouses

· Nuthatches
· Swallows
· Wrens
· Purple Martins
· Bluebirds, and 
· Flickers 
· Chickadees
· Titmice

Get yourself a Statue

No doubt that building a birdhouse or ordering it online sounds so fun and adventurous but, why not just get a statue with a fountain for birds to drink water and bath in summers. The fountain and its sprinkling water with sun rays falling on it, making the drops shimmer and, the birds bathing in those glowing drops would present the calmest and soothing view. You can tie small feeding bowls with ropes on the sides of the fountain and decorate these ropes of the feeders with beads and stones. You can decorate the fountain with fairy lights. So, in the dark, they would light up the whole backyard with birds enjoying a romantic setting with crumbs to eat and water to drink. 

If you are not in the mood to buy a fountain, you can turn any statue into a bird attracting site by hanging baskets with food and placing the bowl of water. You can also lay down a trail of food crumbs around the statue. It would make your statue come to life and increase the overall aesthetic of your backyard.

Learning from the birds

As you manage to attract birds in your backyard, learn from them and notice their habitat. You can observe how these birds eat, drink, and when the birds come down from their nests. How do they feel welcome and comfortable? Every species of living organism have different preferences and habitats. While watching and noticing their habits and patterns, you would be able to adjust to their routine. You can keep the food out when it is their time to eat. You can check what food they like by keeping a variety of foods at first and then switching the items they prefer accordingly. 

Do not let your food to go waste

This point is a pro tip saved for the last. If you have bread bits and pieces left from breakfast or leftover pizza corners that you did not want to eat, do not through them away. Instead, soak them in water and place them in the feeders for birds to eat. Birds love those soggy, gooey treats plus you can avoid the wastage of food. It would reduce your expense on bird food and, it would make you feel better that you are not wasting your food and money. 

Expert’s Advice

You can attract birds into your backyards by starting a feeding and habitat program. The basic needs for birds include food, cover, and water, and satisfying a combination of these needs will require planning and effort. In this complete guide, you can find simple hacks and tips that you can implement to increase the number of birds you see in your yard. This extensive article would help you trap the birds I meant to attract, the rarest of birds in your backyard. So, you can get all the therapy and photos for Instagram that you need. Get up and start working on a fun new activity with the family. Happy Birdwatching!

If you are still waiting for Birds in your birdhouse, I would also recommend you to read Frequently asked questions and concerns about birdhouses and bird keeping.