Birdscaping Tips To Turn Your Yard And Garden Into A Bird Haven

From a bird's eye view (pun intended), the world has gone to rot. The urban sprawls, the agricultural operations, and the deforested lands have deprived them of their prized habitats and their lives — an argument supported by Cornell Lab's 2019 findings of over 2.9 million birds vanishing in the past half-century. But these sweeping declines can be reversed if you choose to embrace "birdscaping," an approach where you thoughtfully design your landscape around the needs of the feathered species. As it turns out, you don't need a massive area to create a thriving bird haven; even patches measuring ¼ an acre suffice (the average American yard is about ½ acre wide per Today's Homeowner).

Although the golden question is "Why bother?" That's because birds are central to biodiversity. Without them, plants will have a hard time pollinating and building climate-resilient mechanisms. Pesky critters will run amok in your home and garden. Worse, you'll lose your connection with Mother Nature, a relation critical for healthy well-being. So, to not miss out on these benefits, plan a yard that offers the complete package of shelter, food, water, and nesting spots. Native plants, bird feeders, water features, roost boxes, and snags are some of the major requirements, as we discuss below. However, don't turn your yard into an ecological trap by overusing pesticides, letting your cats out, or mowing the turf mid-season, or you'll be left wondering why birds are avoiding your yard.

Approximately 40 million acres of American soil are devoted to turfgrasses. This is unlikely to change anytime soon, given 94% of the population (per Angi) continues to partake in pyrrhic cerebral duels with their neighbors over who has nailed down the manicured look the best (49% think they did better). Sadly, birds don't have the same opinion and will avoid your green patches, all the while opinionating "Wow, so dead." Now, there's no debating lawns make valuable entertaining spaces, and watching pets chase frisbees and children stargaze is an unparalleled pleasure. Plus, they're a great asset for erosion control and improved water absorption on slopes.

But that's where the buck stops at the ecological end. Lawns don't support wildlife, especially birds, as there's no food (you're likely mowing them before they set seed). They worsen the situation since maintaining their lush look requires copious amounts of pesticides and fertilizers — things birds abhor. So, what's the way out? Carving out a non-functional area of the lawn and replacing it with bird-friendly, berry-producing, native plants. Creeping juniper, bunchberry, and bearberry are good examples. Doug Tallamy, a conservationist, told Sierra that "If half of American lawns were replaced with native plants, we would create...[a] national park nine times bigger than Yellowstone." But if you aren't willing to jump ship, give in to your lazy tendencies and attract more ground-feeding birds like sparrows by keeping grass long (aka mowing infrequently).

Although birds aren't completely dependent on the plant-based, bud-to-bird buffet you've laid out for them for food, they appreciate some help during late winters when such supplies are exhausted. However, the food must be to their liking and accessible at their feeding height. Safe exit routes are appreciated. Naturally, a single bird feeder cannot cater to the demands of a diverse legion of feathered chums.

So, intersperse several feeders in your garden at varying heights, holding distinct food based on the common visiting varieties. For instance, raised feeders attract blue jays and purple finches, but northern cardinals and starlings are drawn to ones placed at shrub-level heights. Similarly, most woodpeckers and Northern flickers flock to suet-based hanging feeders. Conversely, ground-feeding birds, like juncos, sparrows, and common grackles, avoid feeders, other than tray feeders. They would much rather you create a false slope by heaping soil and marking it with a stone. During the growth season, it could support seed-producing plants and insects (thanks to the rock); during frost, you could spread a few seeds of your own accord.

Size matters, too. Small birds pivot toward tube feeders, while the bigger ones prefer hopper feeders. Moreover, all bird feeders should be placed close to cover, but no closer than 15 feet lest squirrels have their way, so birds have an escape route. But in smaller yards, the feeders should be within 10 feet of the home's windows to minimize damage if the bird flees.

Most birds are on the lookout for nesting materials, like straw, yarn, and animal hair, around spring to build a home to lay their eggs and watch their offspring soar to the skies. This presents a brilliant opportunity to invite in an array of different feathered varieties. You just need to keep a supply of such materials in their sight line, perhaps in and around the feeders or over herbaceous shrubbery. 

And, if you've got space to spare, you can choose the best type of birdhouse for your yard based on the birdies you want to invite over. Remember, only secondary-cavity nesters value birdhouses, as they love to hole up in an abandoned cavity if they can't find a natural hollow. Great-crested flycatchers, mountain bluebirds, and tree swallows fall under this category, although northern flying squirrels might gate crash the party, too. It's important to get the location, mounted height, and size of the birdhouse right. To put this into perspective, tree swallows want a house near a water feature, but chickadees like your woody trees. Similarly, some demand their houses be hung from a freestanding metal post at a height of five feet with predatory guards on. Moreover, to ensure complete privacy, each birdhouse should be 25 feet away, limiting the total to 10 for every acre.

Despite your best efforts, some trees in your yard can begin dying in part or fully, either of natural causes or because they sustained excessive damage from fire, lightning, animal action, or disease, calling their safety into question. Unless they're located too close to your home, pose a risk of toppling over and damaging the structure or adjoining plantings, consider leaving the dead trees (the snags) in their place. Or, err on the side of caution and cut them down to 15-foot-tall stumps to entice birds and other wildlife — you can also brace them with cables.

Given their intense "fixer-upper" predisposition, the woodpecker species, including the near-threatened red-headed woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, and pileated woodpecker, fancy drumming into the dead wood to create their nesting cavities. This rouses their reproductive tendencies, too. Likewise, other varieties like American kestrel, tufted titmouse, black-bellied whistling ducks, Carolina chickadees, and some owls take up residence in a snag's cavities.

Decaying, soft snags also serve as excellent foraging grounds. Most birds, especially nuthatches and woodpeckers, love to pick off insects homing inside the tree holes. Predatory birds, including falcons, owls, and raptors perch on top of the snags to screen the area for prey. Band-tailed pigeons and swallows use the dead stumps as highway rest stops. You might even snag a front view of the dating-and-mating show put on by trilling songbirds.

If you've conditioned yourself into keeping the gardens tidy and organized and balk at the idea of preserving the fall mess, fret not because brush piles are your new best friend (for birds, too). Small birds, including Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, warblers, and black-capped chickadees, treat nature's woody potpourri as their winter Airbnb. This way, the snow-capped brush traps heat, rendering much-desired warmth to the roosting birds. There is another fascinating aspect to brush. Birds of prey play their waiting game sitting opposite these piles since they're used by small mammals as hidden tunnels. Some foraging birds may also flock to it in hopes of encountering conifer or birch seed droppings. 

Making a brush pile is a breeze. Simply gather the limbs you pruned during the fall and stack them by size — the shorter logs sit atop their longer companions. Throw the bare Christmas tree and the dropped leaves into the collection if you like. Don't be alarmed if overwintering sparrows or ruffed grouse commune nightly in the pile — they're just trying to keep cozy. To up the ante, decorate your yard with roost boxes; nuthatches and bluebirds will populate them in no time. Alternatively, you can repurpose your birdhouse for winter birds by taping its drainage holes and moving it to a sunny spot.