Migrating Bird Species and Bird-Friendly yards

One of the rewards of keeping your bird feeders up past March is get an up close and personal visit from bird species that are either migrating through, or strictly seasonal visitors.  Most birds passing through won't pass up a quick stop at your seed or suet feeders, or even your bird bath.  If your yard is already "bird-friendly" (more on that below), then the bursts of activity at your feeders by year-round birds are likely to give your yard curb appeal to birds looking for a place to set up shop for the summer.  And if you're really lucky, they may even nest if the habitat provides all the right necessities.

This Towhee is often found foraging
for bugs in leaf piles on the edge of
woodland areas.

Gone are the Juncos who camp-out all winter by the feeders, sometimes literally sleeping on them through the night.  But the trade off for their northward migration is an abundance of new species like Grosbeaks, Blackbirds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Bluebirds, Towhees, and others. 

This spring I opted to keep the feeders full - if for no other reason, I like to use up the remaining seed since it often goes stale if not used up thereby making it totally useless.  Birds, like people, will not eat stale or rotten food.  So you might as well use up what's left in the 50 pound bag because it won't be of much use by the time the winter rolls around again.

Obviously, there are alternatives to keeping your feeders full through summer to attract birds, and that includes keeping a bird bath clean and full during the Spring through Fall season, and planting a variety of bird-friendly plants in your yard. Some plant varieties that are good sources of food and shelter include:

Wild Strawberry, Evergreens, Bayberry, Hackberry, Virgina Creeper, Blackberry, Beech, Birch Trees, Cherries, Dogwoods, Elderberry, Hickory, Holly, Maple, Blueberries, Mountain Ash, Oak, Pines, Red Redar, Red Mulberry, Serviceberry, Spruce, Fir Trees, Viburnum Shrubs, Sumac, Virginia Creeper, Wax Myrtle Shrubs, Winterberry.  And also seasonal plants such as Sunflowers, and others that provide birds with nutrition.

You may be also included to plant fruit trees such as apple, peach and pear which are also appealing to certain bird species that incorporate fruit into their regular diet.  Much to some gardeners' dismay vegetable crops also provide birds with an assortment of goodies to feast on.  Before you become to turned off by the notion of our feathered-friends raiding your garden, remember that birds also dine on mosquitoes, and other pesty insects that cause harm to crops, lawns, and gardens.  When you go to plant vegetables, remember to plant a little extra - some for you (netted/caged) and some for our feathered friends, and you will reap the rewards ten-fold.

I would be remiss if I forgot to mention planting for our Humingbird friends which dine on plants rich with nectar.  In this category you may wish to plant bee balm, delphinium, snapdragons, petunias, lilac, clematis, fuchsia, nasturtium, morning glory, eucalyptus, foxglove, lantana, horse chestnut, and Japanese honeysuckle, trumpet creeper, buckeye, Turk’s cap lily, and flame azalea.  Humingbirds are a particularly interesting bird to watch as they whirl through the air at lightening speed between nectar feeders and plants, sure to give you hours of enjoyment.

Hopefully, if you were planning on a little landscaping this year, you might try to incorporate a few of the plants proposed above which will give your yard depth and color, and help provide our feathered friends with shelter and/or an additional food source as part of our natural habitat.

I plan to post articles over the next few months on a number of plant varieties and will provide more detail about the benefits of certain species.  I'll also be picking up where I left off with bird species found in the Connecticut region.  Hopefully, some of these articles will be of some benefit to you.

Random Selection: http://www.randsel.blogspot.com/