Attracting Birds To Your Garden
To attract birds to your garden, you’ll need to provide water, food and shelter. Below are the provisions you will need for attracting birds.
Birds will visit your garden if there’s plenty of food available, so the first thing to do is get up some feeders.
Then you need to provide natural food, cover and nesting sites.
Bird Baths
You probably want to accommodate various kinds of birds. A good rule of thumb is that a bird bath with a depth of two inches is ideal for larger birds like cardinals, grackles, and blue jays.
Smaller birds will go in depths of about one inch.
You don’t have to buy an actual bird bath. You can also use shallow containers like pot saucers. If you are using a flat container such as a pot saucer, you can add rocks for birds to perch on.
After you set out your container/containers of water, watch for a few days to see if birds are using it for bathing and preening. Then make improvements based on your observations.
Keep an eye on your bird bath to ensure it doesn’t freeze over in winter. When defrosting it do not use salt. Salt can kill the birds.
5 Ways To Attract Birds To The Bird Bath
- Keep the water fresh
- Clean the bird bath regularly
- Give them something to perch on, like a rock that is partially above water
- Maintain a temperature like heat in winter; and on hot days use blocks of ice
- Add moving water to attract them
Bird Feeders
If you put more than one feeder in various places, more birds will come. Some birds are comfortable with crowds but others like their privacy.
Position your feeder a few feet from a tree or bush. This gives the birds a staging area where they can wait before swooping in.
Locate your bird feeders at different levels. Sparrows, juncos and towhees usually feed on the ground. Finches and cardinals feed in shrubs. Chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers feed in trees.
Once you start feeding birds in the winter it is best to stick with it. Birds in colder areas need more calories and will come to depend on you. You can offer a variety of seeds in separate feeders.
Keep your bird seed in a cool dry place.
Install native plants to attract birds to your garden
Offer native plants as a year-round source of food. This can be in the form of seeds, berries, nuts, and nectar.
Check out recommended native plants by region and state here.
Try to recreate the plant ecosystem native to your particular area.
Top 12 Native Plants for Birds (According to Birds & Blooms)
- Asters: many native perennial species, such as calico aster, heart-leaved aster, New England aster, sky blue aster, smooth aster, white wood aster
- Black-eyed Susans: short-lived Rudbeckia hirta, including the rustic-colored mix known as Gloriosa daisy, and perennial R. fulgida
- Blue anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
- Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)
- Calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
- Blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.)
- Liatris
- Lupines: many native species, such as the famous Texas bluebonnet
- Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera)
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Sunflowers, annuals and perennials (Helianthus, all species)
- Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Bird Houses
You want to have your bird houses set up before breeding season.
- In the south, place your nest boxes by February.
- In northern regions, place your nest boxes by mid to late March.
If possible provide a 2 inch roof overhang to prevent cats from being able to reach into the birdhouse. Drill 1/4 inch holes in the bottom for drainage.
Most birds will be happy to have their birdhouse between 6 ft to 15 ft off the ground. You want to be able to reach it by ladder for cleaning.
Attracting Birds For Apartment Dwellers
If you live in an apartment building or don’t have a yard, you can still attract birds.
Window feeders can be attached to a window with suction cups.
Hanging baskets containing certain flowers will attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Hummingbirds are attracted to brightly colored flowers that are tubular and hold nectar. They also love the color red.
There are many ways to attract birds to a small space garden or apartment setting. Even a container shrub is suitable for a nest.
Plants to attract hummingbirds and butterflies: Petunias, salvias, geraniums, verbena, lantana
Eliminate insecticides in your yard
Following organic practices helps wildlife. Insects are the primary source of food for many bird species and are an important source of protein and fats for growing juvenile birds.
Keep dead trees
Dead trees provide cavity-dwelling places for birds to raise young and as a source to collect insects for food. Some will also seek shelter from bad weather inside hollowed out trees.
Build a brush pile in a corner of your yard
Start with larger logs and top with smaller branches. Some birds will hunt, roost or even nest in brush piles.
Remove invasive plants from your wildlife habitat
Many invasive plants out-compete the native species favored by birds, insects and other wildlife.
Check with your local U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension System office for information on plant species to avoid.Â
Reduce your lawn area
Lawns have little value to birds or other wildlife. They also require more energy for mowing, applying fertilizers and watering.
Instead, consider a garden in either your front and/or back yard.
Buying Bird Seed
Buy bird food from reputable sources. This ensures that the seeds can provide the required levels of energy. And that they’ve been grown with the environment in mind.
Never put out desiccated coconut as it swells inside a bird’s stomach. Also avoid providing sugary treats and cooked oats, which can dry and solidify around beaks.
Reduce the opportunities for predators like cats and sparrowhawks by placing feeders where the birds can spot danger easily.
Avoid using garden netting, especially during the breeding season. Place feeders away from your house to minimize the risk of birds colliding with windows.
Keep cats away
If you have problems with cats, electronic deterrents should repel them from bird feeding areas.
Place feeders away from low cover that could conceal a cat. They are predators that rely on cover to sneak up on their prey.
Check your nest boxes each winter. Remove old nests and clean the boxes with hot water to kill parasites.
Change nest box location to attract birds to your garden
Choose a diversity of nest box types and move those that prove unsuccessful.
If you’re struggling to attract birds to a nest box, you might find that quite a small change in location or aspect can encourage birds to nest there.
Do not use too many of one type of nest box, especially tit boxes: multiple options will confuse them.
Sterilize feeders
Remove moldy seed from feeders and sterilize them regularly to reduce the risk of spreading diseases.
Clean them more frequently when there are lots of birds in your garden and/or when you suspect that some are sick. Watch for lethargic birds that are sitting around with their feathers fluffed up.
To clean your feeder, take it apart and use a dishwasher on a hot setting or hand wash either with soap and boiling water or with a dilute bleach solution. Use no more than 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.
Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry before refilling.
Feed your birds twice daily in severe weather
Stick to your feeding routine once you’ve started. The birds will become accustomed to it and rely on you.
By feeding birds year-round you’ll give them a better chance of survival.
Ensure the post supporting your feeder is smooth and straight as this will make it much more difficult for cats and squirrels to climb. Adding a sloped baffle to your feeder will keep squirrels off-balance.
By using some of these methods, you are sure to attract birds to your garden. It may take a little while for they are cautious. Be patient.
A greatly useful post, Brenda. As well as the last few that you’ve sent.
I have just started feeding the birds again after not doing so for a couple years. I do so enjoy watching them from the table where I eat breakfast. I am still working on finding the perfect feeder, though. I want something that has a protective roof to keep the rain and snow off the birds and the seed. I designed one–quite a simple one–but haven’t found anyone to build it for me yet. I am not a power tool-using gal!
I am so ready for Spring to be here so I can do stuff outdoors without freezing! I want to be better prepared with my bird feeders and baths next fall than I was this year. So bring on the sunshine and warm temps–whoever’s in charge of that!
That is wonderful that you can get birds to come –even to a small patio—there is nothing like birds to put a smile on your face. AND they are highly entertaining, I think. xo Diana
I had to laugh at the birdbath ( not happily, though! 🙂 New neighbors have FOUR little yippy dogs… and one day when Koopa, my son’s pit bull was here….I had him and my two older dogs outside. and they let their four out.
Those four came out barking like crazy and Koopa went nuts ! He wanted to go play! He was trying to get under my fence and almost made it and went I went after him he was running back and forth along the fence with the little dogs and BOOM! Right in to my bird bath and there it went into or so pieces
I enjoyed this post so much. You, and your readers, posted such good advice. We have lots of birds come to our feeding stations, but I wish we had cardinals here. We do have lots of (bossy) blue jays though, and we even welcome squirrels and chipmunks. Not only do I enjoy watching, so does the dog!
I have several bird feeders and the birds (and squirrels) are quite active at the feeders. I do need to add a bird bath and once seeing the wet cardinal in your photo, I am going to set one up this weekend. What a neat picture! The first picture is almost funny — looks like the cardinal is looking at the water, knows he needs a good bath, but is really checking it out first.
Thank you so much for the posts this week on planning and setting up gardening space. I have enjoyed reading your suggestions and looking at the photos.
this has been a wonderful series Brenda! thank you.
actually I enjoy all your posts. well… some of the books aren’t my cuppa tea!
but I even enjoy your reviews! and little Abi and Charlie… I could see pictures of them every single day and feel happy!
Here is a link for a hummingbird migration map: https://www.hummingbird-guide.com/hummingbird-migration-spring-2018.html#spring-migration-map-2018
To feed the hummers, mix 1/4 cup sugar in 1 cup water. Just bring it to a boil. Cool before filling the feeder. Do NOT add red food color as this harms the hummingbirds. Be sure to clean and refill your feeders a couple times per week. They will grow mold. To attract more hummingbirds, hang multiple feeders – they are territorial. Have fun observing the action.
Birds never visit my birdhouses or at least I never catch them at it. But, we get lots of birds dropping by the garden.
Thanks for that list!
On the birdbaths, remember to change the water regularly to keep mosquitos from breeding.