How to Design a Bird Garden

Watching birds in your garden and hearing them sing is one of the most pleasurable ways to enjoy nature at home. A well-designed bird garden--one that provides food, water, shelter and nesting places-- invites the greatest number and diversity of birds. The key to success is growing a rich mix of plants that are useful to birds.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Incorporate favored food plants

1. Grow a diverse variety of plants that flower and fruit at different times of year. This provides a continuous supply of food, including flower buds, fruit, nectar and seeds, as well as the insects attracted to plants.
2. Plant a variety of trees. Maples are a good source of buds, flowers and seeds for evening grosbeaks. Pine cones are relished by pine siskins, pine grosbeaks, chickadees, nuthatches and others. Oaks attract a large array of birds, including chickadees, titmice, cardinals, hermit thrushes and woodpeckers.
3. Include several types of shrubs that produce bird-attracting fruit. Some of the best large shrubs for birds are serviceberry (Amelanchier), dogwood (Cornus), viburnum and chokecherry (Prunus). Smaller shrubs are inkberry (Ilex), fruit-bearing junipers, currant (Ribes) and gooseberry (Ribes).
4. Select showy perennials that offer birdseed or nectar for hummingbirds. Examples of the former are California poppy, columbine, purple coneflower (Echinacea), coreopsis and goldenrod (Solidago). Hummingbird favorites include columbine, red-hot poker (Kniphofia), cardinal flower (Lobelia), bee balm (Monarda), penstemon and salvia.
5. Grow annuals with abundant seeds such as ageratum, amaranth, bachelor's button, calendula, cosmos, marigold, sunflower and zinnia. Let the flowers fade and set seeds.
6. Edge lawns with shrubs that provide leaf litter, where birds such as brown thrashers, towhees and white-throated sparrows can scratch for insects. Plant native grasses to provide seed, and fruit-bearing ground covers such as low-growing forms of bearberry (Arctostaphylos) and huckleberry (Vaccinium).

Add water for drinking and bathing

7. Provide a consistent supply of fresh water throughout the year. In addition to attracting regular visitors, water lures birds that otherwise may not visit your garden.
8. Add birdbaths with bird preferences in mind. The vessel should be shallow--no more than 3 inches (8 cm) deep--with a gradual transition from shallow to deeper water. A roughened surface gives birds a good foothold.
9. Keep water ice-free during winter in northern regions. Use a thermostatically controlled, heated birdbath or a submersible heating element.
10. Add drips or splashes to increase a bath's appeal to birds. Other options include minimisters and drip spouts designed for use in birdbaths, or a commercial birdbath with a built-in fountain.
11. Build a pond or pool that has a shallow area with a nonslip surface for bird access. You can adapt a preformed pool by laying flat rocks at the pool bottom to serve as a landing pad that will elevate birds in deeper water.

Provide shelter and places to build nests

12. Arrange plants so that tall trees tower above lower-growing shade-tolerant trees and large shrubs. Plant shrubs as a bridge from tall plants to flowers and ground covers. Many plants that are good food sources also offer protective cover.
13. Grow evergreens--such as firs, pines, hemlock and spruce-- to provide cover from weather extremes year-round. Evergreens offer a place for resting and conceal young birds while providing escape from predators.
14. Plant hedges to provide both protective cover and nesting places. Birds prefer informal, unclipped hedges with a mix of several types of fruiting shrubs.
15. Plant vines on arbors or along a fence. Tangles of grape vines, for example, provide nesting areas and protective cover as well as bark for nesting material used by cardinals, catbirds and purple finches.
16. Incorporate deciduous shade trees into the design. On hot summer days, birds gravitate to the shade provided by maples, oaks, sycamores and the like.
17. Turn prunings and fallen branches into brush piles. Birds seek cover, food and sometimes nesting places in brush. You can place the brush in an out-of-sight corner of your property and construct it from a mixture of deciduous and evergreen branches.
18. Leave a dead tree standing (if it's not in danger of falling). These snags provide nesting cavities for woodpeckers and other birds. Plant a vine at the base of the trunk to dress it up.
19. Add nest boxes to attract cavity-nesting birds, such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and wrens. Make sure the boxes are made with the entrance hole and interior dimensions sized for the type of bird you're trying to attract.

Tips & Warnings

• Add bird feeders to your garden. Supplemental food is not essential to birds, but it increases your garden's power to attract them.
• Use nontoxic solutions to rid your garden of pests. Pesticides are deadly to birds. See 106 Prepare an Organic Vegetable Garden.
• Contact your county agriculture extension or type "gardening [your state or region]" into a search engine for more information on choosing plants appropriate to your region.
• Choose a safe location for birdbaths. Although some birds prefer baths at ground level, a pedestal birdbath provides some protection from cats. Place baths in the open, away from hiding predators, but near trees and shrubs that offer cover and escape.
• Don't use antifreeze in birdbaths to keep water thawed: It will kill birds and other animals.
• Dirty feeders with a buildup of old seed can spread diseases among birds. Clean the feeders regularly, using a solution of 1 part household chlorine bleach to 9 parts water.

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