Urban vs rural gardens

12 years ago

Hello everyone. I just discovered this forum and really enjoy it. I was wondering if most people on this site that get alot of birds are rural dwellers. I live in a small city and my yard has some trees and shrubs and the neighbors have trees and shrubs as well. I can attract some birds like goldfinches, chickadees, siskins, robins, grackles, etc. and lots of HOSP in the summer but the only thing that I seem to attract in the winter are HOSP and a single chickadee or 2 sporadically. The chickadee was coming every day but only comes sporadically now for some reason since Christmas. We have had an unusually warm winter (I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada) and I'm wondering if that is keeping some birds away. However, I talked to a couple of people who were rural dwellers and they have all kinds of birds coming. Do you think rural settings attract more species and numbers than urban settings? I jokingly told my husband I wanted to sell our city home and move onto an acreage in the country so that I could see more birds (I don't think he'd agree to that though). Anyway, it's been really discouraging this winter. I've put out BOSS, suet, seed bells, peanuts and a good quality mixed seed and all I see everyday are the HOSP. I sure would be excited if something else would show up. I did get a redpoll one day and a downy woodpecker. They ate at the feeder (had it to themselves), but never came back.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
Hmn..I feed birds in both locations and I see not much different in species, I see more quantities in the rural setting. The urban has allot more people feeding birds and that's why it's sporadic in times...it all depends who has the better buffet.
It seems your'e doing just about all you can, the house sparrows is a concern, allot of these make other birds not wanting to come, I don't have any out in rural....I think my neighbor is feeding them. Get a thistle feeder [bag or swinging feeder] most swinging feeders the house sparrows don't like, you'll get more Pine siskin and redpolls,..anything what can hang on to the feeder. I only feed black sunflower seed, thistle seeds and suets, all in swinging feeders.
molanic
12 years ago
In my experience it is all about location, location, location. We are in the suburbs with very few "natural areas" left nearby. So we really try to fill the yard with "bird-friendly" trees, shrubs, etc. We also have several sources or fresh water at varying levels available year round, and use no chemicals of any kind in the yard. I put out black-oilers and suet for winter, and hummingbird feeders and fruit for orioles during their season (we donÃ¯Â¿Â½t get many but it doesnÃ¯Â¿Â½t hurt to try).

During spring and fall migration we get the best birds, but they are just passing through. You have to be looking out the window at just the right time to catch them, because they donÃ¯Â¿Â½t stick around long and most of them arenÃ¯Â¿Â½t interested in feeders anyways.

The house sparrows are here year-round, in slightly smaller numbers during summer though because I donÃ¯Â¿Â½t put out seed then. Anyone who says if you just feed black-oilers or use certain type of feeders you wonÃ¯Â¿Â½t have house sparrowsÃ¯Â¿Â½must have dumb sparrows. :) They are very adaptive and will eat just about anything from anywhere.

Right now we mostly have house sparrows too, they are out there everyday. There are also some juncos, a group of 4 chickadees, a pair of mourning doves, and a pair of cardinals that are regulars. Occasionally in winter we will see some woodpeckers, crows, a nuthatch, goldfinch, some house finches, the occasional hawk. There are also the periodic infestation of starlings that looks like a scene from "The Birds". Any other winter birds would be a once in a season type event. One year we had a group of pine siskins stop by for just a moment, another year it was a yellow-rumped warbler that hung around for a bit.

I have family up in rural Wisconsin that live right on the edge of the woods. Back of the house is a large wooded area, front of the house overlooks hills of farmland and meadows. No special bird plantings, they do use chemicals, and have just a birdbath and a couple of feeders on the deck. Never saw a single house sparrow, pigeon, or starling there. You look out the window and it looks like the pictures on bags of bird seed. All good birds, all the timeÃ¯Â¿Â½ and A LOT of variety. It is pretty wild to be eating at the kitchen table and see an indigo bunting or a red-headed woodpecker just feet away from youÃ¯Â¿Â½no binoculars necessary. In summer they are swarmed with hummingbirds and orioles, and have actual bluebirds using the nestboxes!

It is my understanding that the house sparrows and other non-native birds are just very adaptive and do well in populated areas, while the native birds prefer natural areas.
Related Discussions
Casual Easy G[r]owing Gardeners vs. Careful Analytical Gardeners
Q
Comments (21)
Perhaps the clearest delineation I come across between gardeners can be found in the variation between how eager growers are to accept anecdote over science; or said in reverse, how diligent growers are in determining whether something can or should be taken at face value. How much we learn or how much we actually know about plants and gardening isn't necessarily related directly to the effort we expend to learn, or even to the effort we expend to gain what passes for experience. Experience is only valuable if we are learning from our errors and changing patterns so we don't make the same errors a second, third, fourth ..... time; and being bitten continually by the error half of 'trial and error' is actually one of the slowest ways to learn. It's not experience that has learning value if we are doing the same thing over and over again without improvement. I think experience is extremely overrated unless it's being used to validate previously acquired knowledge. IOW, learning by error and then changing 'something' in the hope of making things better is far less efficient than learning something from a reliable source and using our practical experience to validate that knowledge, or in some cases refute it as impractical for our application. Limiting our opportunities to learn to only those sources that are in accord with our personal views may increase the enjoyment we get from the affirmations we seek, but learning from a source that is concerned to the greatest degree possible with disseminating information w/o bias, puts us on the fast track when it comes to acquiring valuable experience, penultimately, and user-friendly knowledge, ultimately. I think it's pretty easy to take the measure of a gardener, at least on these forums, by considering how his observations and statements are qualified. The casual gardener is more likely to make broad statements and assumptions with little in the way of qualification; while the more analytical gardener understands that everything isn't always black and white, and illustrates the analytical side by thinking through his offerings to see if it holds water as a broad statement in all cases or if it needs qualification. As an example - the casual gardener might say, or accept on its face, the idea that because Mg is a critical part of the photosynthetic process, and that because banana peels or Epsom salts contain Mg, that adding either to your soil can only be a good thing. The analytic gardener understands it's not that black & white & qualifies the statement by saying it can be a good thing if the soil is deficient of Mg because they are both sources of Mg. Or, he might note that in the case of the banana peel, if there is no Mg deficiency, the excess may be (in the tiniest of degrees) a potential limiting factor that could be offset in other ways because of the addition of the OM. I don't think that analytic gardeners are necessarily better gardeners, but I think they have the potential to be better gardeners because they want to know 'why'. I also think that ambition has a LOT to do with how successful a gardener is. The diligent casual gardener will probably fare much better at harvest than the lazy analyst, illustrating that gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration; and the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. Al
...See More
New Urban Garden
Q
Comments (2)
Before you start planting: think about the hard landscaping and your advancing years (whether you're thirty or ninety - they're advancing!) Think about features you'd love to have - glasshouse or tunnel house, entertainment area, breeze-way, extra parking or a turn around, pergola or arches, decking, gazebo, pond, fountain, statuary or elegant pots, garden compartments and destinations. Think about how you will get materials to those sites - and what paving or four season walks you need to install so they give you best value. Think about clearing snow away and where you might need to pile it simply to get your vehicle to the road. If it makes a soggy patch, or an ephemeral wetland/rain garden, how would you like it to be? Or do you want to add a storm water drain? Do you want to install water capture tanks to help ease out drought and water restrictions? Where do your utility lines run? Do you have a septic tank? I don't know about your yard, but I do know that trees such as willows have these damp-finding roots and will be into places such as sewage pipes or leach fields leading to nasty bills Soon. If you plan to fetch foodstuffs from a store shed, tunnel house, or root cellar over winter - very safe footing and garden lighting are such a pleasure. Are they already there - or will you have to excavate to lay those lines for power and water? Look at the number of hose points in your yard. Do you need to increase them? Bring them up to working height? Garden shed and potting bench - is what you have working? Have you enough storage for pots, flats, media, chemicals, and amendments - plus yard tools? Plus, what every garden needs! - a nursery area and quarantine place for plants you need to check, or heel in while you prepare their sites, or grow on before transplanting. Or even a cutting garden, if you love to have flowers for the table or to give to others without disturbing the main garden displays. And protection from hungry creatures for your veg garden, as well as from hungry tree roots. It's easy enough to provide spot shade over summer. Much harder to cope with increasing shade and diminishing crops because your garden is maturing into a woodland. (Keep your neighbours' hedges and trees in mind, too.) Lastly: start keeping a daily journal, even over winter. Record the weather at your place, detailed, if you have the means whereby. What you planted. Where. Where you got it from. What happened to it, or the crop. Your running costs. Whatever else seems good to you to keep a record of. I absolutely guarantee you'll be very glad you did, several times a year. Before you think of planting. Because it is easier to map out those places and features in mind (and on paper) and then put them under grass or mulch, than it is to plant them in shrubs or treasured perennials, only to have to shift them or destroy them later. The other part is to pause until at least spring/early summer is through so you can see what you've inherited. There could be yummy clumps of spring bulbs and hardy perennials out there among the neglected bits. Then you can think about what style of garden you want, and how much work you want to do season by season.
...See More
relocating urban squirrel pests ; what I learned
Q
Comments (14)
Hi all, Here's something I read in the Bryan Eagle. Might be of help to y'all trying to save your pecan crop. It's from Neil Sperry. "Use sheet metal to keep squirrels off pecan trees Posted 4 days ago Dear Neil: We have a good crop of pecans this year. Is there anything we can do to deter the squirrels? A. I face the same issues, as do commercial pecan producers. If a pecan tree is free-standing, that is, not touching other trees, power lines, etc., you can put a sheet metal collar in place around its trunk. Keep it loose so that it won't girdle the tree over time. Much better yet, affix it so that you can put it in place in early summer and remove it after all of the pecans are down in late fall. Other than that, there is nothing legal that you can do. I personally don't do anything to harm my squirrels. We always have enough pecans to share. Things like reflective strips, fake owls, etc. may work for a short time, but eventually the squirrels catch on." Lucy
...See More
Urban living?
Q
Comments (24)
I purchased a rental house in an urban area and was there every day for 4 months and overnight several times. 1) Park in front of "your" house only. 2) Say hello to everyone and anyone, then don't look too interested... 3) Keep a weapon inside the front door, like a baseball bat or mace. 4) Switch your schedule around. Grocery shop or run errands after or before work on different days. People on a very set schedule may be setting themselves up for a robbery or home invasion. 5) Porch lights being turned off & on, on time...or have a timer for them is good. 6) Walking at night or early morning wear a flashing light, carry a flashlight, wear a safety vest. 7) Maintain your yard. 8) Curtains or blinds on every window. A must! 9) Know the watering schedule for sprinkler systems. Even if you don't have water rationing there are suggestions posted. Know the HOA rules & follow them, if there are any.
...See More

Urban vs rural gardens

Comments (2)

Konrad___far_north

molanic

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US