There are many benefits to attracting birds to your backyard. Apart from the beauty of watching wild birds perch and nest, birds can also eat pesky insects like spiders, mosquitos, and flies. They also help pollinate plants and control weeds — so, if your backyard includes a garden, birds can help bring it to life.
Though many are used to seeing birds come for a short while then go off again, others want to attract birds to stay for a longer period of time. Birdscaping your yard is the act of incorporating elements that birds like into your backyard to encourage them to nest and live there.
How to do this? It starts with a few basic elements: food, shelter, and water.
Food
Providing food for birds can be as simple as investing in a bird feeder or two. However, you’ll want to make sure that you take care not to allow squirrels, chipmunks, and other animals to take off with the food. You can do this by buying covered bird feeders without perches, so these pests can’t access the food and placing your feeders away from any trees or fences.
You can also plant fruit and berry bushes in your yard, which will provide both beauty and benefit for the birds. Did you know that birds can see color better than humans? So, brightly colored bushes will attract the birds, who recognize these colors as signifiers of nearby food.
Shelter
Most people know that birds live in nests. But you can encourage birds to build nests in your yard by giving them space and materials to do so. If your yard has lots of trees, you may not need to invest in a birdhouse. But if you are lacking in safe areas for nesting or want to add a birdhouse as a fun decor item, getting one is a good idea.
To help them build their nests, you can even leave out materials for them. Things like strips of cloth, string, and even small clumps of pet fur can be used to build a bird’s nest.
Water
Finally, our avian friends need water to survive. While a birdbath can be a fun addition to your yard (that can also be a design staple), there are other ways to incorporate water if you want to put in a little more effort.
Adding a water feature like a pond, fountain, or waterfall into your backyard can also become a fun way to provide water for birds in an aesthetically pleasing way. Some families will even find birds pecking at a backyard pool!
For more ways to provide a home to our winged neighbors, check out the following infographic.