How to Make a More Bird Friendly Backyard

We all want to welcome nature to our modern life and lifestyle that is stricken with concrete and materialism. Sometimes a small thing, maybe a rain-soaked tree or a tweeting bird, may bring us back to nature.

And what if I tell you, you can enjoy such moments every day in your backyard?

Yes, you can welcome birds in your backyard and lure those little majestic creatures to your yard. But how? That’s what I am about to tell you. Brace yourself.

1. Nurture Local Plant Growth in Your Backyard

We can see various layers of plant growth across every natural region or area. The majority, if not all, of these layers, are utilized by birds for a variety of functions.

Like, creating a nest or singing from the upper branch of the plants. So, when planning your bird garden, keep in mind the vertical layers of neighboring native plant communities.

Plant towering forest-interior trees along the perimeter of your property, then understory trees, large shrubs, tiny shrubs, and groundcovers like bunch grasses and wildflowers as you got closer to the house.

Also, you may plant or foster the growth of vines once the plantings are well established. Set up islands of variable-height plantings around any giant trees you already have in your yard.

2. Lure Them With Seasonal Fruits

In different seasons, different birds require different types of food. Parent birds, for example, receive their energy from sweet fruits like blackberries, mulberries, and wild cherries throughout the long days of chick-rearing.

Early spring migrants such as bluebirds, robins, and thrashers rely heavily on such long-lasting fruits. Include a range of plants to help nourish the numerous birds that visit your garden throughout the year.

3. Give Them Forest-y Feeling

Birds belong to nature and nature is deep and inhabited by different elements. So, naturally, birds don’t perform well in large empty spaces.

Birds, as I previously stated, prefer a lot of foliage and plant life. There are a variety of items that will naturally attract birds to your yard and make it a more bird-friendly environment.

Reducing the size of your lawn has numerous advantages. It saves time and energy on lawn maintenance, as well as reduces the amount of yard debris that must be composted or disposed of in a landfill. You’ll also save a lot of water in the long run.

Instead of an empty lawn, fill your yard with bigger flower beds, more and more gardens new trees planted, ed, and don’t go cheap on various flower and vegetation “islands.”

4. Roots and Soil Moisture Should Be Protected

The majority of tree roots are found in the drip zone beneath the canopy of a tree, but they can also spread three times that distance.

As a result, tree-killing activities such as digging, paving, compacting soil, and adding more than six inches of soil above grade are all possible. Leave a big buffer zone around trees and utilize previous landscape materials to allow water and air to permeate the ground to conserve what you have.

Consider the needs of your trees before digging deep ditches or adding drain pipes to lower the water table. Cedar trees, for example, frequently die soon after projects are erected due to changes in the water table and root zone disturbance.

Some trees, on the other hand, may demand well-drained soil and may perish if excess water is directed to their roots.

5. Plant Vines

Virginia creeper, greenbrier, and poison ivy provide perches, nesting places, and leaf surfaces for insect-eating birds like warblers and kinglets to gather nice, plentiful fruit crops.

Wild grape, another famous bird-feeding vine, feeds at least 51 species of birds, and at least 16 species use the stringybark to help build nests.

6. Make Access to Water for Them

Birds obtain most of their water from their diet, although they will readily drink and bathe in open water sources. Birds in arid places like mountains and deserts are particularly drawn to such watering holes, although birds in the Northeast, Southeast, and Pacific coastal regions are also drawn to open water all year.

Birds require water not only for drinking but also to cool down in the summer heat while wintering birds like it when natural supplies become trapped in ice and snow and are no longer available.

Most land birds prefer shallow puddles and pools for drinking and bathing, and will effortlessly use birdbaths. Build baths on pedestals that will protect birds from predatory cats and are easier to clean than baths on the ground.

7. Say Goodbye to Toxic Fertilizers

There are things we can do to make our property more bird-friendly so we can enjoy the beauty that birds bring to our yards. One of the most crucial is to always use organic fertilizers and maintain a non-toxic lawn. Over 60 million birds perish every year as a result of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.

These chemical pesticides aren’t found in parks, natural regions, or a bird’s natural environment that hasn’t been tainted by humans. Many chemicals should be avoided in order to ensure a safe environment for birds.

8. A Brush Pile Goes a Long Way

Start a brush pile for your ground-dwelling birds, such as sparrows and towhees, by recycling decaying branches. It provides them with hiding spots as well as some shelter from the elements such as rain, snow, and wind. Begin with the heavier branches and work your way up to the thinner ones. If you have one, add your old Christmas tree.

9. If You Are Messy, You Are Going To Love It

Birds will adore you if you don’t clean up your yard and flowerbeds in the fall. Leave the dead seed heads on annuals, particularly daisy cousins like purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, and sunflowers, when they fade—goldfinches, redpolls, and other seedeaters will feast on the seeds.

Rake fallen leaves under your bushes to act as mulch instead of bagging them for disposal. They’ll be home to insects that ground-dwelling birds will discover as well. Those dead leaves, grasses, and plant stalks will be a gift for birds looking for nesting material in your yard come spring.

10. Provide Protection From Predators

Birds are especially vulnerable in the spring because they are fatigued from traveling and trying to lay eggs and rear their young. Assist them by providing them with a safe haven away from predators.

Consider the predators that live within your home: your pets. Keep bird buildings, nesting houses, and feeders out of reach of them, and keep them indoors or away from these areas as much as possible.

Bird predators include hawks, owls, raccoons, squirrels, and various larger and smaller birds and mammals.

11. Build a Bird Feeder

Bird feeders are beneficial to both birds and humans, and they’re also a fun DIY project. There are many commercially available bird feeders, but making your own allows you to have complete design control.

Are you at a loss for words? I have gathered some lovely ideas for you to copy or use as inspiration for your own project. In any case, the birds will be grateful.

Tea Cup

This recycled teacup and saucer is the epitome of a lovely DIY bird feeder. It’s a simple process that involves only gluing and hanging. Use a teacup and saucer that you’re willing to part with or purchase one specifically for this project.

Bottle reuse

Turn your next wine bottle into a bird feeder after you’ve finished it. If you don’t want to interfere with your gorgeous bottle collection, you may easily buy an empty one that will suffice.

With a meson jar

Is there anything that a mason jar can’t do? This feeder hangs a copper wire around the jar as a hanger, and the base is a repurposed chicken feeder.

Milk carton

Milk cartons are a great place to start when making a bird feeder. You only need to cut holes for the bird food and hanger, then decorate it. Any patterned contact paper can do, but this wood one looks great when hanging in a tree.

Popsicle

This DIY bird feeder project is great for kids, but it’s also fun for adults. This smallholder for the bird seeder is made out of popsicle sticks and glue. A huge tongue depressor is employed to provide a perch for the birds. Before hanging, these bird feeders can be painted or left unpainted.

Build Them a Home Aka a Birdhouse.

Do you have any scrap wood in your garage or shop? Why don’t you put it to good use? An easy woodworking project that parents can do with their young children is building a birdhouse. To learn how to make a birdhouse out of common household items, follow these steps.

Step 1: Cut the Pieces to Size

Cut the 1×6 board and 14-inch plywood pieces to size with a miter saw and the accompanying cut list. Along the top edge of the front and back walls, mark the center point. To make a peak, clip each top corner at a 45-degree miter from the center point.

Step 2: Make a Drilling

Make a mark on the front board 312 inches from the apex, centered on the breadth of the board. Create a hole about 134 inches in diameter with a hole saw, paddle bit, or jigsaw.

Step 3. Attach the Front and Sides

Place the two “sides” on their edges with a 434-inch-high edge facing upward. Apply glue to all of the edges. Place the front of the birdhouse against the walls, with the sides flush with the outside face of each wall. Drive 114-inch brad nails through the birdhouse’s face and into the edge of each side wall with a nailer.

Step 4. Include the Back

Turn the assembly over. Apply adhesive to the back of each side wall’s back edge. Place the birdhouse’s back on the sides. Nail the back and side walls together with 114-inch nails.

Step 5. Attach the Base

Apply wood glue to all four walls’ bottom edges. To make a ledge, place the base such that the back edge is flat with the back wall and the front edge extends beyond the birdhouse’s front wall. Nail each neighboring wall to the base with a nail.

Step 6. Assemble the Roof

Apply wood glue to the front and back walls’ peaks. Place the shorter roof panel on top of the longer ones, and flush with the peak’s tip. To keep it in place, nail it through the roof and into the front and back walls. Overlap the uncovered top edge of the first roof panel with the second roof panel. To finish the assembly, nail through the roof and into the front and back walls.

Step 7. Put on the final touches

Use exterior-grade wood filler to fill in all the nail holes. Allow drying. Using sandpaper, smooth out the assembly. Two coats of exterior paint or wood stain are required.

Step 8. Finish with a hanger

Drill a hole along the peak of each side of the roof. Pull a piece of string through the front opening using pliers after pushing it down through the hole. Pull the end up against the inside of the roof and knot it. To make a loop, repeat on the other side. (Alternatively, use an exterior-grade hook or forgo the hanger entirely and place the birdhouse on a stable surface.)

Some Dos and Don’ts

Make sure to build a bath with a shallow slope because most birds are short-legged and avoid deep water.
In the summer, scrub the bath with a stiff brush every few days, don’t forget to add water as needed.
make sure the bath is no more than three inches deep in the deepest parts.
Make sure the water is clean, as birds can drink from your bath as well as bathe in it, and when they are not bathing, excrement and algae can amass in the water.
Birds are particularly drawn to pools with dripping water; they like to perch on the drip source and sip the water drops before they fall into the pool.
A variety of devices are available that tap into garden hose supplies to create a continual dripping effect.
Birds bathe and drink in the winter as well as the summer, so make sure your bath does not totally ice over in the winter.
Add warm water to the bath several times a day when the ambient temperature is slightly below freezing.
To supply a consistent water source at lower temperatures, you’ll need to install electric heating equipment.
Because ceramic baths can shatter when water freezes, it’s preferable to use cement or granite birdbaths in the winter.

So, there you have it. Now you know how to make your yard more bird-friendly.

May your life and yard always fill with tweeting.