How to attract birds to your yard

Birds always make a backyard a little more pleasant and attractive. Sometimes they just visit on their own, but with a little bit of work and planning you can attract a variety of birds that will enjoy your yard as much as you enjoy the birds!

Feeding the birds is the easiest, most obvious way of attracting various birds. An above-ground feeder can be stocked with several types of seeds. Songbird seed is available as well as large seed with sunflowers to attract the larger birds.

I happen to enjoy wild ducks and have a male and female that come to my yard at least once every day. They just came on their own. I saw the couple eating some of the seeds that had been knocked to the ground by the crows. I have since learned that ducks like corn and that birdseed mixes containing corn pieces will attract them.

“My” ducks, which are mallards, began to visit in the spring of 2006. They continued their visits until about November, then disappeared. I thought they were gone for good, but this March they reappeared! I am almost positive they are the same ducks.

If there isn’t any birdseed left for them, they will waddle up to my backdoor and peck on the glass (it sounds like they are knocking on the door). The first couple of times they did that I went to the front door thinking that someone was knocking!

When I go out to the bird feeder with my can of seed they will wander off a bit to the middle of the lawn, but as soon as I re-enter the house they will come to eat. My indoor cat likes to sit and watch the ducks eat. Sometimes when they are done they will just sit on the seeds as if to protect them!

Attracting birds is easy, too. It sometimes takes a while for them to find your food, but once they do, they become regular visitors. Birdhouses of various sizes will encourage the birds to actually nest in your yard.

Fountains are also attractive to birds. I have a three-tiered fountain outside the window of my study and small yellow-headed sparrows and other tiny birds go for the smaller tiers and the larger birds drink from the pond base. (Keep your fountain running during the day or it will become a breeding ground for mosquitoes!)

Hummingbird feeders are inexpensive and can be found in most grocery and hardware stores. The hummingbirds in my yard will go for the feeder but also seem to be attracted to the “red apple” groundcover.

Birds like to hide, so growing plants in a variety of heights will ensure that all birds have places to hide. A green lawn is nice, but there is nothing in a lawn that will attract or keep the small birds in your yard.

Many people don’t think trees provide much food for birds, but evergreens with their berries and cones are a good food source. Birds also like the trees’ high boughs for building nests.

Keep a field guide in the house so you can begin to identify the various birds in your yard. I use the “Birds of California” guide by Stan Tekiela. It is clear and easy to understand, with large color photos and a map to show their range. It also lists the various types of food eaten by the individual species. It was through this book that I discovered mallard ducks like corn. No pet shops I called seemed to know the food preference for ducks.

One way to choose plants for your yard is to take hikes and go bird-watching, paying attention to the type of plants to which certain birds are attracted. If small leaves fall in your flowerbed, leave them instead of raking them. This will add nutrients to the soil and provide hiding places for small insects that are eaten by birds.

In my yard I have a mix of green lawn, bushes, flowers and a tree. Accented with the fountains and birdfeeders, it seems to attract birds. I have regular visitors in my yard now: hummingbirds, hooded orioles, small goldfinches, red-winged blackbirds, California quail and some kind of redheaded songbird. Once in a while a snowy egret comes to visit. The birds know that there is food, water and shelter for them (and no predators), as my backyard is fenced and the cat watches from indoors. This is good, for both the cat and the birds!

For helpful suggestions on bird-attracting plants, visit http://www.laspilitas.com/bird.htm, the official Web site of Las Pilitas, a San Diego County native plant nursery located in Escondido. In addition to listing the birds attracted, the site also offers each plant’s genus/species, common name, part used and season. For example, it mentions that the Western Redbud plant attracts hummingbirds and goldfinches, which eat its seeds, and that the Wild Strawberry attracts ten different species of birds, including the California quail and the Western Scrub Jay.