Creating A Bird Sanctuary In Your Yard

March 5, 2005 | sweetliberty

[sweetliberty]

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As it turned out, the previous thread on this topic generated a lot of interest and several people recommended doing it as a regular thread, so here is the second installment.

How you go about creating a bird sanctuary in your yard, or outdoor space, will depend on a number of givens, some which can modified, and others over which you have no control. One of these is geographical location or climate zone. If you live in the Colorado Rockies, you are not going to attract Cardinals, no matter how many black oil sunflower seeds you put out, and if you're on a beach in Florida, it's a pretty safe bet that there will be no snow buntings visiting your yard, the cornucopia of insects notwithstanding. Of course, if global warming keeps encroaching on us, we may soon find Alaska overrun with Parrots and Flamingos, but, I digress.

Within any given area, there are a variety of habitats, so no matter what your specific location, it is possible to vastly increase the types and numbers of birds in your immediate environment by modifying your habitat to make it more bird friendly to a wider array of birds native to your region.

Another "given" is your available space. If you live in a cottage in the woods by a stream, you will obviously have a lot more options available to you than if you live in an urban apartment with nothing more than a small porch or balcony. Of course, I think the majority of us live somewhere between those extremes. The point is, even if you have nothing more than a porch, you can still make it bird friendly, thereby increasing your enjoyment of these highly entertaining creatures. If you don't even have so much as a porch, I would suggest moving!

The purpose of this thread is to share ideas for maximizing our outdoor spaces to make them appealing to birds and butterflies, to share our experiences and knowledge or expertise, photos and resources. The discussion is pretty free-flowing and may expand to include gardening, landscaping and related topics. The direction the thread takes will really be up to the FReepers who post on it. We can focus on a different topic every week or two, or just keep it open and casual, updating the thread periodically. The main thing is that we learn and have fun.

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Link to previous thread: Attention Bird Gardening Enthusiasts

[MamaTexan]

How neat! It's such fun to watch all the birds and other wildlife around the lake, but it's a shame they weren't more cooperative!

We've had a Heron (of some kind) flying over almost every evening, but it's so close to dusk, all you can see is a long beak with long legs trailing after. :)

[MamaTexan]

Good mornin'!

Don't worry...the hummers WILL find you (even if they do seem to take their own sweet time about it :)

The Goldfinches have left (again), along with the yellow/black unidentified bird. Hopefully they'll come through again so I can get a picture.

Still have loads of Mockingbirds. House Finches and Chickadees have been showing up at the feeders with their young-ins, and so many Cardinals it's unreal.

Mama & Papa Woodpecker are still here. It would be GREAT if I could get a glimpse of baby woodpeckers!

A few hummers still in residence..... but only one Blue Jay!

I wonder if the Jay is unmated, or if there just super territorial?

Well, I'm off to mow the back pasture. Got to get it done before 1. It clears up & gets HOT, or 2. Decides to go on and rain.

I'll check back later! :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Morning Beachn4fun! I hope you enjoyed your weekend! LOL, That picture and caption of Arnold is funny. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Posted to the wrong thread. That's something I would do. LOL!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Morning sweet liberty!

Great pictures!

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Morning Mama Texan
I read that even though Jays look the same to us that they all have one different unique feature and they can tell each other apart. Just how do they know these things? :)

They are usually in a larger group right now or paired off. I read they are one big happy family with hierarchy. Though, many of the juveniles are pushed to move onto thier own family. Maybe your Jay hasn't made his family life yet. I've read this but do not know how reliable the source is. I'm going to look into it, as I just adore the peanut grubbing Blue Jays. :)

I hope to get a Hummer. I dug out another garden bed. I have a lot of garden beds now, with much just for the Hummers. They are crazy if they don't stop by. LOL!

Don't work too hard in the pasture. I wish I had pasture. I have to move someday to a more rural setting. I don't belong here. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Great shot! I love those type of birds. LOL! Neat.

LOL, you wanted to throw him overboard! I know what you mean about annoying kids when birding. I went once and had a bunch of kids with their parents on the same path, just creating noise and very poor behavior, that if any bird was around it certainly was gone from fear by the time I got there. My daughter and son always knew the deal when we went on nature/bird walks. They enjoy it so much because they know they get to see more when they behave.

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Mrs. N! How are you? I thought this picture was cute!

LOL!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.
Great picture!

I am doing fine!

[beachn4fun]

LOL

[Vicki]

My hummingbirds seem to have disappeared. I don't know if it is all the rain we've been having or the new syrup I put in the feeder. It was a concentrate and perhaps I did not mix it correctly. I miss them!

[MamaTexan]

You're right. It could be a younger male. I haven't seen enough Blue Jays to tell the full grown adults from the juveniles like I can the Cardinals.

Hummingbirds may be small birds with tiny brains, but once they discover what a lovely set up you have for them, you'll get more than you can imagine!

[sweetliberty]

I mix my own food for the hummers and change the feeders every other day...one part sugar to 4 parts water. I boil about 2 cups of the water, dissolve the sugar, and use cold water for the rest to fill a 2 quart container. That way, it is usable right away.

[Dysart]

I went out to the country today and visited with another bird lover as luck would have it. They had all sorts of feeders, of course. Said they have lots of Hummers.

But the most interesting thing was that they had a House Wren nesting in their carport inside a a Christmas reef hanging on the wall. He pointed it out to me and and I looked inside and saw the tiniest eggs I've ever seen-- each one about the size of a small marble. (I didn't take pictures this time) I can just imagine how small the hatchlings will be.

[GodBlessUSA]

That is amazing. That is a sight I'd love to see. I can't imagine how small they would be either! I have heard the House Wren around here but I haven't seen them back. I hope they come back to nest.

I'm happy Catbird returned on Sunday. I have two places for food. I hope Mockingbird doesn't discourage the Catbird.

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks! I hope so. I would love to have more than I can imagine! :) I know someone who lives fairly close that has regular visitors so it's not impossible. I'll never give up. :)

Blue Jays are sometimes tough to figure who is juvenile or not. They usually show up at the feeder and they are quite grown. I only know because it's the one screaming for food flapping the wings. I mean begging screams. They are so funny. LOL!

[Dysart]

I'm currently using a Canon A60 camera. It's okay but I really need a more powerful zoom. This one goes to 7.5x and that's just not getting it done.

Anyone using a more powerful digital camera that you can recommend?

[sweetliberty]

"Anyone using a more powerful digital camera that you can recommend?"

Any help here, ladies? We want something that will do a good job of photographing birds, not the wasiest of subjects. We're talking something with a decent telephoto lens and with fair detail. Is there such a thing with a digital?

[sweetliberty]

Anybody interested in learning more about hummers should pick up a copy of the May/June issue of WildBird magazine. I guess they do an annual Hummingbird issue and this is it. There is a lot of neat stuff in there including favorite hummer stories, hummer ID, planting for hummers, etc. GodBlessUSA, you would love it...and definitely get a few pointers on making your yard irresistable to them.

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[sweetliberty]

Check out the nesting Screech Owl cam...