Spring means the arrival of flowers and greenery, but it also means the arrival of spring birds too! If you want to attract more birds to your yard this spring, take a peek below at some helpful tips on how to attract spring birds. You will find that with just a few steps, you can create a yard that is bird friendly and inviting.
One helpful tip to bring birds to your home today is growing native plants. With Audubon’s Native Plant Database, you can find the best plants for the birds in your area. Growing bird-friendly plants will attract and protect the birds you love while making your space beautiful, easy to care for
Birds and native plants are made for each other, thanks to millions of years of evolution. Large, colorful fruits feed birds and, in return, birds spread the plantβs seeds far and wide, supporting whole ecosystems. Native plants are also important hosts for protein-rich native insects like butterfly and moth caterpillars, which nesting birds need to feed their growing chicks. For their part, birds have shaped their entire life cycles, including their migrations and feeding habits, around plants.
Sparrows love thickets and tall grass, so plant patches of blackberry thicket and wild grasses to attract them. Blackberries and wild grasses offer fruits and seeds as food, and they also provide nesting habitat, shelter from harsh weather, and foraging grounds where sparrows, along with other birds like warblers and chickadees, can hunt for insects. Willows, sagebrush, and other dense or shrub-like native plants are also good for attracting these birds.
Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Scarlet Tanager are attracted to elderberries and sunflowers. Sunflowers attract a wide variety of bird species, and so are practically bird feeders that you can grow in your yard.
Colorful finches are attracted to the colorful flowers in the daisy (Asteraceae) family. Daisies, which include sunflowers, thistles, and asters, produce the small seeds favored by finches, and also the downy fibers used to line nests.
Hummingbirds love sweet nectar and wildflowers are a perfect way to bring these tiny birds into your garden!
Donβt forget birds love fresh water to drink and bathe in. Provide fresh water in a bird bath (if you installed a winter heater now is the time to remove it) and add a feature to make the water bubble or trickle. These sounds will let the birds know the water is there. Having water bowls around the yard are also appreciated by birds.
***Flymeawaycreations Etsy shop started this year offering wildflower seed packets for anyone who would love to start a garden to help attract, hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees! Follow the link to see the packets (under $3& free shipping)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/676890803/wildflower-seed-mix-non-gmo-butterfly
There is a nice app that is easy to download onto your phone to help guide you on finding the perfect plants to attract birds in your area it the Audubon Bird Guide app and it is a free! You will have a complete field guide to over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Built for all experience levels, it will help you identify the birds around you, keep track of the birds youβve seen, and get outside to find new birds near you.
The-dirty-hoe.com 