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Make your garden a haven for backyard birds

Create a bird-friendly habitat in your yard with food, water, and shelter.

You can do more to welcome birds to your garden than hanging up a feeder and calling it a day. If you want to turn your backyard into a bird sanctuary, you can also plant native plants that provide food and shelter. Installing these additions to your backyard can help restore wild bird populations and provide a resting place for fall migrants. Some natural ways to meet wild birds’ needs for food, water, shelter and nesting areas include.

Providing food

Most backyard bird species fall into the category of eating seeds, nuts, berries, nectar eater, insect eater and omnivorous. Ideally, each food category should include a variety of food sources to support wild birds. Fill bird feeders, add native plants to your landscape, and let perennials plant seeds in your summer garden to provide a bountiful food source for hungry foragers.

Hang a feeder. In winter, it is especially important to provide additional food sources when natural food sources are insufficient. Local feed stores usually carry a wide selection of seeds, nuts, and mixtures.

The best option is to choose a mixture suitable for the wild birds in your area, such as sunflower seeds, millet, thistle, or hemp. Supplement your seeds with calorie-rich suet solid raw animal fat available at your local butcher.

Add native plants to your garden. Native trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses can be a real asset in supporting wild birds. Look for native species that produce fruits, nuts or seeds those birds like, such as California natives, Oregon grapes and black elderberries.

Incorporating native plants into your landscape will also welcome native insects and provide tasty food for insect-eating animals such as chickadees and other songbirds.

Send your plants to seed. Wait until summer perennials sow seeds in the garden in the fall. Bean flowers, sunflowers, thistles, zinnias and many ornamental grasses produce seeds that help support native birds.

Sunflower seeds are particularly rich in oil, which helps fuel birds on long-distance migrations. After your sunflower blooms, leave the seed heads on the stem and wait until the seeds are fully ripe.

 

Provided by water

Providing clean water for drinking and bathing is often the first thing that attracts birds to your garden. Many bird species prefer bathing in shallow water rather than deep water tanks. Find a bird bath that is only 2 to 3 inches deep, or add a flat rock in the center so your bird can easily
escape.

An outdoor fountain placed in a garden bed will attract more birds than one placed on a tiled patio. The surrounding foliage provides safety and a place for the birds to quickly hide from predators.

Even a simple stone basin filled with water can provide a much-needed drinking water spot for above-ground supplies. Keep water levels at peak levels, especially on hot days when birds need water most and water evaporates quickly.

Create space for shelter

Landscapes with large decks, exposed patios, and neatly manicured lawns can seem like a danger zone for shy birds like wrens, thrushes, and sooty sparrows. Providing cover in the form of tree canopies, branching shrubs such as hawthorn and quince, and hanging vines to cover walls can be essential in creating a shelter.

Consider creating a variety of hiding places in your garden for birds to find shelter. Create a large lawn by using mixed shrubs and perennials in the borders and planting small trees, such as apple or dogwood, in the lawn.

Leave the margins as is. Consider roughing up an area of your property a bit. If your backyard is deep, allow your blackberries to roam, giving birds a place to hide and feed under the bushes. If your property borders a natural river or surrounding countryside, keep the edges pristine for a bird- friendly habitat.

Inviting birds to the nest

Many wild bird species migrate to nesting boxes in your backyard. Although they do not build nests until the following spring, it is a good idea to place bird boxes during the fall and winter when birds are looking for places to breed.

Just like smart home buyers, birds are also picky about where they nest. If you are trying to attract a specific bird species, check with your local garden store for advice on nest box entrance size and height above the ground.

Provide nesting material. Leave fluffy seed heads on plants or place pieces of wool, thread or fabric to help birds find a soft nest.

Take it one step further

Join the Great Healthy Yard Project, sponsored by the RDKLandscaping, and pledge to keep your garden free of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers that can have harmful effects on wild birds.

Get In Touch:

Contact us about your project ideas and our team will be in touch with you within 24 hours! We are in the business for over 5+ years and Buffalo’s Top Rated.

RDK Landscaping – For more inspiration, visit our site. 

Experts in tree removal, stump  demolition, stump removal, tree trimming, tree mulching, tree pruning and emergency tree removal  in Buffalo, NY

Read our Reviews!!

Todd Wilhelm
Todd Wilhelm
2024-10-01
Had sod installed at my house in Amherst. Job done very quickly and well. Highly recommended. Will be using them again for spring 2025 project.
Md Mia
Md Mia
2024-09-27
RDK Tree Service removed a large maple by the power lines. It was definitely not a easy job. They did the job safely and did it rather quickly. I will definitely recommend them for your tree services.
Bike Lover
Bike Lover
2024-09-27
Residing in Buffalo NY, and needed to remove a large tree in the backyard and front yard. The crew did a fantastic job with removing it along with the stump. We are so impressed. Thank you RDK!
selvachandran saravanan
selvachandran saravanan
2024-09-25
Did a job here in my rental property in Amherst of removing two 60-70ft pine trees with stump removal and prepped an area for parking. RDK Landscaping is the one you should go to with your tree and landscaping/hardscaping needs. They are just the best overall!!
jackary Rootis
jackary Rootis
2024-09-24
I highly recommend them. Great crew, Super easy to work with. They’re doing a great job out here in East Amherst. Not only did I use them, but my neighbor and their son did as well and we couldn’t be happier.
DIANE Abram: Toot-Toot Daycare
DIANE Abram: Toot-Toot Daycare
2024-09-21
I hope these pictures speak for itself. I had called couple of companies to my property in Northampton, Buffalo, but only RDK Landscaping had come out so quick to give a quote for a project we started and couldn’t finish. They were so quick, efficient and had completed the project in about 2 days. They did a beautiful job, and answered all my questions throughout the entire process. I am so very thrilled about the results and could not recommend more! They are doing wonderful projects.
Dan Duggan
Dan Duggan
2024-09-19
RDK Landscaping did an amazing job! We had 8 dead ash trees at our property in Clarence that needed to be taken down given their proximity to the house and garage, in addition to two trees close to the power lines. I was very impressed with how quickly Roy and his team responded, came out to the property and got the job done. I would highly recommend them!
Andres Martinez
Andres Martinez
2024-09-14
Everybody at RDK Landscaping was a pleasure to deal with, we had a big project with them to clear up some really overgrown gardens beds around our garage, they went above and beyond making our space useable again. Once the project was complete they made sure to clean everything up and even cleared some weeds we had on our driveway that we hadn’t even mention to them. Can’t recommend them enough and will be calling them first for any future landscaping projects.
Esther Guess
Esther Guess
2024-09-12
The guys were quick and effective at getting all that ivy down. Great work!

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