Do you encourage or discourage birds in your garden/yard?
Lars
8 years ago
including hummers
but other birds visit other parts of the yard
In Venice, I tried to discourage birds because they would eat a certain percentage of my figs, but I always had more figs than I could eat anyway, and so that was not a terrible problem. Here in Westchester, I do not have fruit that interests them, and so I am more likely to encourage them.
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Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
8 years ago
kristincarol
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What birds do you get in your garden and
Comments (34)We feed birds year round so have quite a few visit our garden throughout the year some of the birds that come to mind are... Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker and this year for the first time Hairy Woodpecker. Bushtits come in flocks to the suet feeder. Chickadees Both Rufus and Annas Humingbirds Several kinds of Sparrows Towhees Robins Juncos California Quail, although they have been in the neighborhood forever they now come into our yard several times a day, sit on our roof early evening looking in a window, drives Percy are house kitty nuts. Goldfinches only come into the garden if we put a feeder out by our back fence. Some years we have Pine Siskins others we don't. House Finches which nest in the Boston Ivy on our chimney. Most Januarys we have Varied Thrush visit for awhile. Flickers We used to have both the Violet Green and Tree Swallows nest in our garden these and the Barn Swallows we don't see any more. I'm sure I've forgotten some of the birds we've seen or have at the feeders but can't think of them at the moment....See MoreHow do you attract birds to your garden?
Comments (21)I started putting seed out for the birds in the winter only. But they hung around expectantly in the spring, so I've continued feeding year-round, adding a couple bird baths. The entire area behind our tall, wooden fence has grown tall and wild - it's an unmaintained strip of "public utilities" land, and has become a natural habitat for birds (and other critters). So we have our backyard and gardens and the birds come and go from behind the fenced area. I bought an Audubon bird field book and enjoy looking up new visitors. There's always a new bird to id. Over the years I've added many suet feeders that attract all kinds of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and sapsuckers. All of the other "regulars" enjoy the suet occasionally, too, and all of them eat from the suet feeders year-round, not just in the winter. The biggest attraction, though, comes by way of everyone's favorite food that I now put out regularly on the deck rail - at least all the insect eaters: I buy inexpensive jars of dry-roasted, UNSALTED, peanuts. I run them through my food processor until they are crumbly. I have yet to see a bird that doesn't come and gobble them up, including the woodpeckers and especially the cardinals. We have hundreds of cardinals. The best part is in the spring, when the mother birds cram as much crumbled up peanuts as they can into their beaks and fly off to feed their babies, then come right back for more. This goes on all day and it makes me feel good that so many babies are being well fed. We've had several bluebird and mockingbird families come to our deck, as the young'uns grow and learn to fly. Later in summer, the visits pare way down, so I know they're on their own now as far as feeding themselves with insects or whatever they'd eat naturally. They don't come around much at all during the summer. It's really fun and interesting - I didn't start this expecting to be a "birder", but I guess that's what's happened. During the early winter, we have many birds stop by that aren't usually seen in NC, on their winter migrations to someplace warmer. Sorry for the long post!...See MoreDo you plan for wildlife in your garden?
Comments (28)Apparently I'm in good company with my butterfly bed that's stuffed with all their favorites and my oversize collection of bird feeders in the crabapple tree. I designed the butterfly bed specifically to attract them and so far am happy with the end result. There's still lots of space to fill in but it's getting there gradually. My folks planted with wildlife in mind before me so there are dogwoods, mock orange, lilacs & others to attract birds. There's a 40 ft. x 30 ft. area of white hydrangea growing on the southern boundary the birds use as a sanctuary. They stop off in the lilac bush on their way to/from the birdfeeders & birdbath. I've counted as many as 25 junkos in the mock orange during snowstorms, all puffed out like little gray tennis balls. Every year wrens nest in each of the three birdhouses hanging in the crabapple tree. One morning this summer I noticed my motion sensor light had come on. When I peaked through the curtains out the front window, there was a red fox stretching as tall as he could trying to raise his chin over the edge to get a drink from the birdbath. I felt so guilty, I washed out a big bowl & set it on the ground beside the birdbath for him. I kept it filled the rest of the season. No rain fell here from June-October so the critters were thirsty along with all my plants. The foxes took over a former rabbit & woodchuck burrow, made it bigger & raised 3 pups down behind my 80 ft. row of blueberry bushes. Yes, they ate all the blueberries this year. Like I said, there was a really bad drought here in southern New England. I took a few pictures through the window screen when they came out to play in the early mornings: A few lucky shots of robins enjoying the ancient plastic birdbath under the crabapple tree: I think the Cooper's hawks that nest down in the woods at the back help keep the rodent & bunny populations under control but the chipmunks can be a problem. Esme the snake makes her rounds of the flowerbeds and takes care of whatever varmints use the hosta leaves to hide under from the hawks....See MoreEncourage or discourage - too Elvis?
Comments (35)"It's not really the blue, it's the fabric. The fabric looks like it's thread bare in many places. Even if you decorated so the blue would fit in, the fabric would still bring the room down." "Plus, they look soiled. And if they aren't soiled, who would want couches that *look* soiled when they aren't?" I do not agree with these comments. We have an old loveseat in a very faded but genuine cotton velvet. Actually, it's moved far beyond faded and into territory encompassing ripped. I don't know what the correct upholstery terms are, but it's got gathered fabric held or topped by fabric "buttons," and some of those are missing: one of my cats, when a kitten, would entertain himself by biting them off. Maybe I have skewed taste, but I think the loveseat looks perfectly fine in its room. Not to mention, it's a little ironic (to me) that, even while some people want perfectly perfect rooms, many others want the perfectly imperfect look of a room that has evolved over many years. I don't think one way is better than the other, but I do place myself in the latter camp. With the loveseat, when you look at the rips and tears, you can see the original late 1800s red damask showing through under the faded 1940s cotton velvet. One might think that it was a family heirloom passed down over the years. I do agree with pal that the loveseats are transitional. We have a sofa in generally the same style, although the arms on ours look to be higher and there's no skirt. And of course pal is correct: every piece of furniture should be in the taupe family. ;)...See Morecalistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
8 years agoMin3 South S.F. Bay CA
8 years agolgteacher
8 years agoI have bird feeders and a small fountain where they can get water. When I have blueberries, I put netting over the bush, but other than that, I welcome the birds. I've seen phoebes snatch insects out of the air.
Lars thanked lgteacher
gyr_falcon
8 years agoOur yard is small, but birds are encourage to visit. There are the hummers, of course. The common finches, goldfinches and house sparrows, mourning doves and Eurasian collared doves, towhees, wrens, bushtits, warblers, phoebes, ravens and crows, and migrating what-nots. In the winter I feed the white-crowned sparrows; always miss their songs when they leave for the summer. Lincolns, song sparrows and various others show up. Once I had a rare Harris sparrow. The escapee parakeets, and spice finches stop by. I discouraged the spice finches when their numbers topped 25 at a time--those things eat more than any other bird I know of for their size. The little piggies! Orioles visit occasionally. And then there are the Cooper's hawks that show up frequently. They go through periods when they will perch on the fence every day for a week, looking for the unwary.
The urn water feature really attracts the birds. Even though I have saucers of water in multiple locations, invariably, the birds want to fight the flowing water by perching on the urn rim to drink. It is funny to watch them trying to master the skill.
Bluebirds nest in the front yard, which is amazing considering we are in the middle of a tight-packed residential community! I would have thought it to not be bluebird nesting habitat at all. But they do, and often successfully fledge two broods per year. I pamper them with meal worms and Ochna shrub berries.
Harris Sparrow Nov 2012Mourning Dove
Lars thanked gyr_falcongyr_falcon
8 years agocalistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
8 years agogyr_falcon
8 years ago
CA Kate z9
8 years ago
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