Experts share 30 hacks to make your feeders irresistible to birds

If you’re eager to bring a symphony of chirps and colors to your backyard, attracting birds to your feeders is a delightful endeavor. Creating a bird-friendly haven not only provides you with a front-row seat to nature’s beauty but also contributes to the well-being of these feathered friends. In this guide, we’ll explore some tips and tricks to transform your outdoor space into an irresistible haven for a variety of avian visitors.

Offer a Variety of Foods to Attract Birds to Your Feeder

Delight your feathered friends by filling feeders with an assortment of seeds, suet, sugar water, and enticing fruits like oranges and grape jelly. Enhance the allure of your garden by strategically placing various feeder styles in different locations, maximizing the appeal to a diverse array of bird species.

Try Mealworms

Bluebirds and several other species eagerly enjoy live or dried mealworms as a delightful treat.

Birds Love Peanuts

Peanut pieces are a crowd-pleaser for chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays, and woodpeckers. Enhance the appeal by mixing them with seeds or hanging a dedicated peanut feeder. Blue jays, in particular, favor peanuts in the shell, displaying a charmingly discerning behavior as they carefully select the perfect peanut from the assortment. Keep an eye out for these fussy jays as they sift through multiple peanuts before settling on their preferred choice.

Remember Ground Feeding Birds

Certain birds that may not frequent feeders can still be enticed by scattering seeds on the ground around shrubs. This provides a more natural and ground-level feeding option, appealing to species that prefer foraging in this manner. Consider creating feeding areas near vegetation to attract a broader range of feathered visitors to your outdoor space.

Keep Track of Your Visitors

Enhance your birdwatching by observing seasonal patterns and learning about the habits of visiting bird species. Take it a step further by joining citizen science projects like Project FeederWatch, where reporting your sightings contributes to ornithological research on bird trends across North America.

Get Your Neighbors Involved

Expand the local habitat for birds by extending invitations to your neighbors to join in. By collectively providing more space, perches, and food resources, you can create an even more enticing environment, ensuring a greater variety of birds will be drawn to your feeders. Working together enhances the overall appeal and impact of your bird-friendly efforts.

Keep Feeders Clean

Maintain a healthy environment for your feathered friends by regularly cleaning and disinfecting your feeders. Discard any old or wet seed to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria. For hummingbird feeders, replace sugar water every few days, and do so more frequently in hot weather to ensure freshness and avoid potential contamination.

Use Plants for Shelter Around Feeders

Create a welcoming environment for birds by providing cover near your feeders. Plant evergreen trees, bushes, vines, or ground covers in close proximity to offer shelter and a sense of security for the visiting birds.

Additionally, enhance your avian-friendly habitat by incorporating native ornamental grasses. These not only add aesthetic appeal but also serve as valuable resources for both birds and butterflies.

Add Water to Your Landscape

While birds like robins may not be feeder visitors, they often enjoy bird baths. Ensure a clean and inviting space for these birds by maintaining bird baths regularly. In regions with winter freezes, consider using an electric or solar heater to prevent the water from icing over. This not only allows birds to stay tidy but also provides them with a vital water source on icy days, contributing to their overall comfort and well-being.

Maintain a Four-Season Habitat

Transform your yard into a bustling neighborhood hub for birds by going beyond feeders. Extend your hospitality year-round by offering a continuous supply of food, shelter, and water, even during warm weather. Opt for seed- and berry-bearing plants to attract hungry birds, selecting varieties that peak at different times throughout the year. This thoughtful landscaping approach creates a sustained and diverse backyard buffet, ensuring your outdoor space remains an inviting haven for feathered friends throughout all seasons.

Leave a Little Garden Debris in Winter

Consider delaying a thorough fall cleanup to allow birds, such as goldfinches, to benefit from seedpods, leaf piles, dropped fruit, and other natural materials that are typically cleared away earlier. Providing this foraging opportunity not only offers a natural food source for birds but also contributes to the ecological balance of your garden. Allowing these elements to persist a bit longer supports local wildlife by creating a more diverse and resourceful habitat.

Offer Nectar Feeders

Nectar feeders, filled with a sugar-water solution, are especially attractive to hummingbirds and orioles. These feeders mimic the nectar found in flowers and are a vital energy source for these birds, particularly during migration seasons.

Install Nest Boxes

Providing nest boxes or birdhouses in your yard can encourage birds to breed and raise their young nearby. Different species prefer different sizes and types of boxes, so offering a variety can attract a diverse range of birds.

Provide Perching Sticks

Placing perching sticks near feeders gives birds a place to rest and survey the area before and after feeding. This can make your feeding station more appealing and safer for birds.

Use Different Feeder Types

Different birds prefer different types of feeders. Tube feeders are great for small birds like finches, platform feeders attract a wide variety, and window feeders offer close-up views of birds for indoor enjoyment.

Offer Fruit in Winter

During winter, natural food sources are scarce. Offering fruits like apple slices or raisins can provide essential nutrients and energy for birds during these tough months

Create a Brush Pile

A brush pile provides shelter, protection from predators, and a potential site for foraging. It can be especially beneficial during harsh weather conditions.

Avoid Using Pesticides

By avoiding pesticides in your garden, you maintain a healthy population of insects, which are a crucial food source for many bird species, especially during the breeding season.

Plant Berry-Producing Shrubs

Berry-producing shrubs like holly or juniper not only provide food but also offer shelter and nesting sites. They can attract birds like robins and waxwings, especially in winter.

Provide a Dust Bathing Area

Some birds, like sparrows and finches, prefer dust baths to water baths for cleaning their feathers and removing parasites. A patch of dry, fine dirt or sand can serve this purpose.

Install a Dripper or Misting System

Adding a dripper or mister to your bird bath can attract birds with the sound of moving water and help keep the water fresh, which is particularly appealing during hot weather.

Offer High-Fat Foods in Winter

Foods high in fat, like suet and peanut butter, provide much-needed calories and energy for birds during the cold months, helping them maintain their body heat and energy levels.

Plant Flowering Plants

Flowering plants not only add beauty to your garden but also attract a variety of insects and provide nectar, which in turn attracts insect-eating birds and hummingbirds.

Use Reflective Tape or Decals

Placing reflective tape or decals on windows can help prevent birds from colliding with the glass, as they reflect ultraviolet light which is visible to birds.

Offer Calcium in Spring

Providing a source of calcium, like crushed eggshells, during the spring can be beneficial for female birds, helping them form strong eggshells during the breeding season.

Keep Cats Indoors

Cats are natural predators of birds. Keeping cats indoors, or supervising them while outside, can significantly reduce the risk to birds in your yard.

Provide a Variety of Seed Types

Different bird species have different preferences for seeds. Offering a variety of seeds, like sunflower, millet, and thistle, can attract a diverse range of birds to your feeders.

Use a Feeder with a Tray

Feeders with a tray or a catchment area below can reduce the amount of seed that falls to the ground, keeping your feeding area cleaner and reducing waste.

Offer Roosting Boxes

Roosting boxes provide birds with a warm, sheltered place to stay during cold nights. They are similar to nest boxes but are specifically designed for communal roosting.

Light Up Feeders at Night

Illuminating your feeders with a soft light can attract nocturnal birds and also allows for bird watching during evening hours.

Create a Natural Habitat

A garden with a variety of native trees, shrubs, and flowers creates a natural habitat that offers food, shelter, and nesting sites, making it an ideal environment for birds.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Article Sources:

birds and blooms

flickr

To learn more read our Editorial Standards.