How to Create a Bird Habitat

In winter, birds appreciate a supplementary food source.

Get your kids off the computer, get your spouse off the phone. Everybody has a reason to look out the window when you have a bird habitat in your own back yard. Watching birds is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the country, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and no matter where you live, local birds are looking for food, water and shelter. The Audubon Society notes that birds' needs are not much different from our own and that, by offering regular supplements to their usual diets, you will attract numerous bird visitors.

Things You'll Need

• Scrap wood
• Four flat rocks about the same size
• 2 bird feeding dishes with water drainage holes
• Potted plant saucer or similar shallow dish
• Piece of cut branch longer than saucer
• Wild bird seed
• Sunflower seeds
• Suet seed balls
• Trees or wood cuttings

Instructions

1. Choose a location for the bird habitat that you can get to easily in any weather. Select a spot that is visible from your house and, ideally, near trees or bushes that will provide protection for the birds from predators.

2. Build a feeding platform by placing the flat rocks under the corners of the scrap wood. Alternatively, use a large wooden spool or a small table. Although birds will eat food you place on the ground, the Fish and Wildlife Service advises that it is better to feed them on a raised platform to prevent exposing them to bacteria, pesticides and mold.

3. Place the bird feeding dishes on the platform. Position the saucer or dish for water near the feeders. Place the branch across the water dish to provide a perch.

4. 

   Suet balls can be used in any weather.

   Put the bird seeds and sunflower seeds in the feeding dishes. Use a separate feeder or dish for each type of food so that food isn't wasted by picky eaters. Place a suet seed ball on the platform or hand it in a branch nearby. Fill the water dish.

5. 

   Trees can provide birds food and a place to hide.

   Plant trees or bushes about 10 feet away from the feeding station If there aren't any. Alternatively, stack tree clippings in a heap to create a brush pile, which will also provide the required protection.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose which kinds of birds frequent your feeder by selecting the type of food you set out. The Audubon Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both offer bird food-preference lists.

• Provide many kinds of food to attract more species.

• To supplement your bird habitat, purchase hanging feeders, feeders that attach to post-tops or hummingbird feeders.

• Be sure that trees are far enough from the feeder to prevent cats from using them to lie in ambush.

• Change the bird water every few days and clean the feed dishes on a regular basis.

References

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Conservation Library: Backyard Bird Feeding
• Audubon at Home: Bird Habitat Necessities
• Audobon at Home: Safe Bird Feeding