How to create a bird-friendly environment around your home

As I was sitting at my computer thinking about what to write in this week’s column, I thought of my mother standing in the kitchen with her old red coat and boots, filling our homemade suet feeders with homemade suet that would be placed outside. It was snowy and cold outside and my mom was doing her part to make the birds’ lives a little better.

You have to remember that back in those days, mothers saved the bacon fat and other fat in a container in the refrigerator and later turned it into suet for the birds in the winter. I remember that the feeder was just a pine branch/log maybe 3-4 inches in diameter in which we drilled holes about 1.5 inches in size and placed a small stick below the hole that the birds could perch on.

That got me thinking about how we can go about creating a more bird-friendly environment around our homes. All we have to do is simply provide the creature comforts we all crave: food, protective cover and an inviting spot for raising a family for our feathered friends. This involves providing a diversity of trees, shrubs and other plants, as well as ground covers and vines that will offer a complete package for backyard bird habitation.

Understanding a bird’s food preferences will help us determine which plants to grow. Different plants will provide for different needs, whether that bounty is in the form of seeds, fruits, nuts or nectar, as well as for a host of plant-munching caterpillars and insects. A garden filled with a mixture of plants producing flowers, seeds, berries and nuts will always attract the largest number and variety of birds.

For example, seed-eating birds, including goldfinches, chickadees and towhees, will seek out seed heads from an assortment of flowering plants and ornamental grasses. Any daisy-like flowers such as sunflowers, asters and black-eyed Susans, in addition to rudbeckias, zinnias and echinaceas, would be good choices. Finches, sparrows and nuthatches are a few of the birds that will flock to marigolds, cosmos, coreopsis, goldenrod, phlox and a wide selection of salvias. Hummingbirds are happy with nectar from bee balm, geraniums, veronicas, delphiniums and penstemons.

It is important to remember that birds are attracted to seasonal food. They will stay longer in your garden if it contains plants that flower or fruit at different times of the year. For example, hollies and roses provide winter fruit while serviceberries and chokecherries offer late-spring berries. Blueberries and mulberries bear summer fruit and honeysuckle and pyracantha round out the fruit season in the fall.

It is important to provide plants that give shelter or a safe haven from predators, protective cover from harsh weather, or a cozy spot, whether to nest or just settle in for the night. That can appeal to just about any bird, regardless of food preference. But a plant that provides food and shelter is really a winner.

Pine trees provide evergreen shelter enjoyed by many birds as well as nourishing pine seeds favored by chickadees. Low-growing junipers not only hide birds from imminent danger, but also offer an insect buffet for ground insect feeders such as wrens, towhees and juncos, in addition to providing a bevy of berries for titmice and waxwings. Some vines and shrubs (like Virginia creeper, clematis, service berry and privet) are also multifunctional plants. Towhees, larks and sparrows enjoy the seed heads of their spent flowers, while fruit-eating birds such as robins, thrushes and tanagers will gorge on their berries. These vines and shrubs also provide a safe haven for birds.

As you develop your garden, consider grouping your plants in layers. You’ll be creating a multilevel habitat of food and shelter for a variety of birds, whether they feed on the ground, in trees and bushes, or in the air. Include fruit-bearing shrubs, deciduous trees and evergreens of all heights in your upper layers. At ground level, consider planting ground covers as well as petite perennials and annuals. Fill the layers in between with perennials, annuals, ornamental grasses, and low-growing shrubs.

Water for the birds is another necessity with a birdbath in the summer and a heated water source in extremely cold winter weather.

Then sit back and enjoy the diversity of birds that will be found in your new habitat.