Bird watching is a household activity accessible to all ages and walks of life with multiple benefits for humans and mother nature altogether. But most people rarely have spare time traveling long-distance deep into the forests to enjoy the pleasure of bird watching. Nowadays, a growing population of bird lovers is more inclined to do bird watching right in their backyards where they enjoy the company of their little feathered friends anytime they want without tedious hiking and traveling.
Here are some tips to make your backyard an inviting place for your little friends.
1. Provide Plenty of Food
One of the most effective methods to attract potential backyard dwellers is to provide them with stable and adequate food supplies. Birds could be easily drawn to a safe place with adequate food supplies and free from the threats of possible predators. Compared with hunting with uncertainties in the wilderness, seeking food in a rather safe and undisturbed place with a continuous food supply is obviously a better choice.
Various factors like food source, the location (whether it should be hung low in the bushes or high on the branches) and feeder type (colors, shapes, measurements, the materials used, etc.) and the birding environment will make a startling difference in what types of birds you would finally attract. But after all, the leading deciding factor will still be the food source. It’s been scientifically verified that food choices wield greater influence in determining what types of birds are attracted. Different species of birds have different preferences for specific kinds of food. For example, to attract hummingbirds, you’d better prepare some nectar-infused bread crumbles and sugary snacks. If you are stuck in uncertainty, black oil sunflower seeds are a fairly universal option for all beginner birdwatchers to get started.
If you wanna watch a wider variety of birds, you can mix different types of bird seeds together in the food tray or set up different feeders. But do get a squirrel-proof feeder to prevent vandalism since squirrels also show great interest in easy-to-access food supplies. Moreover, you can install a mini camera around the bird feeder to help you deter unwanted visitors and help you refill the feeder or replace the bird seeds when they turn soggy or go bad. This newly launched camera is completely waterproof, giving you great flexibility on where to place the camera. It can be directly attached to our specially made bird feeder or mounted on a freestanding metal pole. For more information, go check our new products!
2. Secure Water Supply
Another key contributor to attracting a wider range of birds to your backyards is the water supply. Though the majority of birds can get enough hydration from food, they still need adequate water supplies not only for drinking but for bathing and cleaning. Therefore, a birdbath can be placed in hot weather to allow those little creatures to clean their feathers and cool off.
Placing a birdbath in the backyard is truly a mutually beneficial decision for a better bird watching experience. A shallow-bowl birdbath would make a sound choice to ensure that birds of different sizes and species could comfortably perch on the edge while drinking and resting, and that birdwatchers have a better view from different angles. Birdbaths made of concretes or other stabilized materials are recommended to weather extreme conditions. In addition, it’s strongly discouraged to use a heated bath or chemicals to dissolve the ice in cold weather, because warm bathing and defrosting chemicals will only put your little friends at a higher risk of hypothermia.
3. Provide Birds with Shelter
One of the key methods to increase the attractiveness of your garden is to provide the wild birds with shelters like birdhouses or nesting boxes to create a bird-friendly living space and to attract nesting birds to make a permanent settlement in your backyard. A variety of ready-made houses of different measurements are available in the market, but it is still recommended to build a birdhouse with existing materials (drawers, teapots, boxes, etc.), which is a more cost-effective and eco-friendly decision.
Different species show different requirements for nesting so placing birdhouses with different measurements at different heights will greatly increase the diversity of birds in your backyard. Trivial details like the dimension of the entrance hole and the internal size of the birdhouse could totally make a difference to which kinds of birds are attracted. A small entrance hole would allow smaller birds in but keep larger ones out so as to discourage other creatures from taking up residence, and the internal size of the house largely determines the satisfaction and living comfort of potential dwellers. Consequently, to attract specific kinds of birds, the measurements of the birdhouse should be adjusted accordingly to meet their living requirements.
The location and decoration of the birdhouse also matter in attracting certain types of birds. Houses should be mounted at different levels according to the living habits of targeted birds, slightly downward facing away from prevailing winds to avoid strong breezes and heavy rains. And they should be mounted in a relatively open area where birds have a clear sight and flight path. Supporting materials like metal poles and PVC pipes can be added to help withstand severe conditions in extreme climates. A bright-colored birdhouse would be a strong appeal to birds but it’s better to cover it in camouflage and place it in a hidden spot away from potential predators like cats or snakes. But if you have a hazard-free backyard, you can totally go for any bold colors (but don’t paint it white, which is a warning sign to birds).
What’s more, to get a better perspective inside the birdhouse, you can install an outdoor WiFi bird box camera into it to watch nesting birds and newborn nestlings and fledglings remotely on your smartphone, tablet or PC. The camera is completely water-resistant and moisture-proof, giving you peace of mind in outdoor applications. Wanna watch birds on a bigger screen? Then try the TV bird box camera to watch how adult birds raise the young from the comfort of your living room after a simple plug-and-play installation. Whether you are tech-savvy or a tech-dummy, Green Backyard has offered a wide variety of bird cameras for selection to give you the most satisfactory bird watching experience.
4. Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard
Another major factor that determines whether a bird will nest on your property is the overall environment of your backyard. To create a bird-friendly backyard, you must stand in their shoes and look at things from their perspectives. It is never a snap overnight thing. Whether you want to do it for the sake of environment or animal conservation, or you are simply enchanted by the beauty of these little creatures, you need to put great effort into it. There are some tips you may find useful when creating an artificial habitat for those adorable visitors.
Growing plants that produce natural bird food will be of great assistance in attracting more visitors to your garden. If there are some dead trees, wasted trunks left in your backyard, leave them. They will make perfect materials for nesting and shelter for a vast majority of birds. Avoid any use of pesticides, which will only do harm to birds’ health and pollute the ecosystem in your backyard. Last but not least, a bird-friendly backyard should be one free of the harassment of predators. If you raise a cat in your house, you’d better keep a close eye on that naughty fella. If there are other creatures threatening the safety of your little feathered friends, you must take quick action to help them deter any potential danger as well.
Transforming the backyard into a bird-friendly natural habitat may be challenging for some. By doing so, you are saving numerous birds from the edge of extinction for climate changes and human exploitation.
