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Building a Bird-Friendly Backyard Paradise for Your Feathered Friends
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items Thinking of turning your garden into a paradise for the birds? Here are some products for your consideration.
Budget permitting, a fountain (with a built-in bubbler) can upscale your bird-friendly garden.
Backyard Fountains
There is no more heartwrenching sound than that of a bird hitting a (clean) window. Anti-collision UV-proof decals, window stencils, or suncatchers are worthy deterrents.
Bird Anti-Collision Products: Reducing Window Strikes
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Squirrels are tenacious creatures. They amaze me with the time and effort they will expend in overcoming “squirrel-proof” devices!
Bird Feeder Poles
Also known as Oriole feeders for those songbirds can enjoy a varied diet of jam and fresh fruit (orange). Keep these refreshed daily – you don't want rodents or other (larger) sweet-toothed creatures partaking and wrecking the party!
Bird Feeders (Jam & Fruit)
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If you want Blue Jays (or corvids in general – including ravens and crows) to show up in your backyard, peanut bird feeders are a must.
Bird Feeders (Peanut)
Unless you want squirrels to help themselves, a squirrelproof bird feeder is indispensable (they will find a way around simple squirrel baffles--trust me on this one!) Feeders with roofs or rainguards (to protect against the elements) and easy-to-cle...
Bird Feeders (Mixed Seed)
I use a combination of basin and upright hummingbird feeders in the backyard and around the house. For durability, I prefer glass and metal to plastic.
Bird Feeders (Nectar)
Suet that hasn't been eaten for more than a few weeks should be thrown away. They can cause mold to grow on suet feeders (especially on the ones with wooden housings).
Bird Feeders (Suet)
Bird suet and mixed seed comes in many sizes and shapes, from conventional balls to bells, to highly inventive ones like owls and birdhouses. Whatever you choose, catcher trays are a necessity!
Bird Food (Suet/Mixed Seed)
Make it easy for bird parents to gather their nestbuilding material, if it's not readily available.
Bird Nesting Material
Get a birdbath with a sturdy, heavy-bottomed base (in case the raccoons come a-knockin', and I do mean a-knockin'). Consider placing round smooth stones in fountains that may be a little deeper in some spots for smaller birds.
The stained glass bir...
Birdbaths
Peep shows (of the natural world) that we humans actually want to watch!
Birdhouse Cams
Get nestboxes with holes appropriate to the size of your infanticipating birds. Easy-to-clean, light-colored or unpainted ones are best.
Birdhouses: Raising the Next Generation in Safety and Style
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You do not want to attract rats or mice to fallen seed or suet. Birds are messy eaters, so a catcher tray is a necessity.
Birdseed Catcher Trays
No sense in setting up birdhouses that may be taken advantage of by cats or raptors. Invest in a predator guard.
Predator Guards for Birdhouses
Birds are used to being wet – these rain guards are more for protecting unsheltered seed, suet, and nectar feeders from the elements (rain, snow) that could lead to the buildup of mold. I prefer metal or recycled wood rain guards.
Rain Guards & Umbrellas