how to attract rare birds to your garden

Birds are a must for any backyard. They provide natural insect control, beautiful songs, and an educational experience for children and adults alike. Plus, it can be lots of fun to track just how many different types of birds you can welcome to your yard.

Many homeowners have a backyard bird feeder or even a bird bath. But there is so much more you can do to welcome birds and improve your land overall as a wildlife habitat. Interested in learning how to attract birds to your yard? We have the tips you need to create a backyard birding paradise.

Peanuts: The time-tested favorite is still effective, particularly for the siskin, a tiny finch with green, yellow, and black feathers. Additionally loving peanuts, great spotted woodpeckers are becoming more and more common visitors to garden birdfeeders.

If you wish to draw a variety of birds to your garden, you should also think about the following foods:

Whether Goldfinch numbers hold up in 2010 is still up in the air. However, given how common garden birdfeeding is, it’s likely that numbers have held up better than during previous harsh winters when millions of birds perished from starvation.

Full of vitality, these are particularly well-liked alongside another tiny bird that thrives in gardens, the long-tailed tit. In winter they may also attract blackcaps.

Mealworms are adored by mealworm robins, as well as blue and great tits, particularly during this time of year when they have hungry chicks to feed. The jay, another exotic garden guest, also enjoys mealworms.

7. Offer Opportunities for Nesting

After you’ve mastered the art of drawing birds to your yard, you’ll need to figure out how to keep them there. Encouraging birds to construct nests in your yard is one of the best ways to guarantee a steady stream of birds throughout the year.

how to attract rare birds to your garden

You can give birds nesting materials in addition to creating a friendly environment with plenty of food and shelter options, plants that are friendly to birds, and dependable water sources.

Just add small, organic material pieces to an old feeder or empty suet cage, then hang it for birds to find. For creating nests, dried weeds and leaves, grass clippings, and even pet hair work well. Additionally, because they are all organic materials, they will naturally break down and prevent litter from piling up in your yard.

1. Find a Bird-Friendly Corner of Your Yard

Selecting a corner of your yard to concentrate your efforts on is the first step in getting birds to visit your yard. Place feeders, bird baths, and other accessories where you can observe birds from the comfort of your own home. But you also need to make sure there’s enough vegetation and cover close by so that birds feel secure enough to venture out. Since birds can be territorial, you should distribute bird food and shelter to attract as many birds as possible to your yard.

how to attract rare birds to your garden

FAQ

How do you attract pretty birds?

Simultaneously offering sunflower, thistle (aka Nyjer®), peanuts, fruit, jelly, suet, and mealworms will attract the greatest variety of bird species to your birdscape. You can also purchase bird feeders and bird seed blends that increase the attractiveness of your backyard for specific species you’re interested in.

What attracts birds the most?

Native flowers, shrubs, and trees are great choices because they will naturally attract birds that live in your area and strengthen your local ecosystem. Birds are also drawn to bright colors (especially the color of their own species), an attraction that comes from their breeding instincts.

How do you attract predatory birds?

Providing tall, mature trees for perching or nesting can bring buteos like Red-tailed Hawks to your yard. Leaving snags or dead trees welcomes cavity nesters like Screech-owls. Alternatively, if leaving up a dead tree close to your home is unsafe, you can put up nestboxes.

What food attracts different birds?

Mixtures of peanuts, nuts, and dried fruit attract woodpeckers, nuthatches, and titmice. A relatively few species prefer milo, wheat, and oats, which are featured in less expensive blends. Suet (beef fat) attracts insect-eating birds such as woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.