For Our Feathered Friends
We enjoy watching the birds that flit about our garden and visit our feeders all year long, but they bring special joy during the long cold winter here in NE Ohio. In addition to putting out feeders and bird baths, we have also been working on improving the natural habitat for our feathered friends. After ten years of doing this, we are finally seeing a wider variety of birds in our garden. Each year we see new birds, this past year after making a small clearing in our side yard we saw Rose Breasted Grosbeak for the first time. We have birds of all shapes and sizes from tiny wrens to great horned owls and everything in between.
Why should you consider putting out food and water for our feathered friends? The number of songbirds has been declining in our country because of habitat loss and other factors. It doesn't matter where you live, the birds are feeling the pinch from loss of food sources. In the suburbs most people do not have seed producing plants in their gardens, or they cut them back to clean up the garden in fall instead of letting them stand to provide food throughout the winter. In rural areas, the mowing of the ditches and huge monoculture farms reduce the available natural feeding area. Providing a bird feeding and watering station in you garden will help greatly in keeping the population of birds healthy. You'll be rewarded not only with the beautiful birds in your garden but they will also provide top notch organic pest control during the growing season.
If you add a food and water station for the birds in your garden, it won't be long before you'll want to start identifying the different kinds you see. You can use an on-line resource like The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, but having a few books on hand is very convenient. That way you can compare the birds you're seeing right outside to the photos or drawings in the book. We have 2 favorites: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America and The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. These books live on our coffee table near the window from which we see our birdfeeder. We find ourselves flipping through them often to identify new birds we see or to read about the ones we have already identified.
If you want to add a bird feeding nook to your garden but don't know where to start, check back this week and next. The Your Day Blog will be For the Birds for the next few weeks. I'll be talking about bird seed, feeders, water stations, ways to attract a wider variety of birds, and more. If you have already developed a great bird feeding station in your garden, stop by and share your tips for all those that are just getting started!
Do you have a bird feeding and watering station in your garden?
Other posts in the Feathered Friends Series:
For Our Feathered Friends
For the Birds: Feeders & Seed
For the Birds: Fresh Water
For the Birds: Other Food Sources
For the Birds: Houses and Shelter