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

[GodBlessUSA]

Have you seen any of your neighborhood Herons lately?

[GodBlessUSA]

For anyone interested. Pale Male, 2 eggs have hatched and a third is about to. :)

Famous Palemale has his own website.;) Great photos and info!

http://www.palemale.com/

[Dysart]

Love the story of Palemale. Saw the PBS documentary a yr or two ago and kept up with all the rancor about his nest site from certain ppl in NY. I'm pleased that they have been allowed to keep their homes nearby.

Maybe I should start a website about my Mockingbird pair. First, I shall need a catchy name. Maybe Bolddude and Princess. Incidentally, they are already raising another family and attempting to run the juveniles from the first clutch away but they are not going quietly.

[Dysart]

Them are right purty flowers ya got there. I have dandelions round my place and they are doing very well indeed. :)

[MamaTexan]

Oh, WOW! You have some amazing flowers!

Still not much in the flower dept around here. What little was coming up in the rose bed had a major setback-- called a goat.

He's lucky to still be breathing, and the roses are trying it again, but it's SO blasted hot they'll be puny at least till fall.The vegis are looking good though. We have little okra, and the squash and tomatoes are blooming away.

The Mockers are regular evening visitors there. They love to swoop down from the fence and fly away with a fat wiggling insect....(works fer me!:)

I just cant get over your gorgeous flowers!! Isn't that pink flower an orchid, or a bromeliad (sp?) of some kind?

We're still trying to cull the trees and clear brush, so it's going to take a while for us to figure out where the shade will even be. The next project will be the pond, IF poor hubby can squeeze it in somewhere!

LOL

sweetliberty, I sure wish I had a solution to your grackles! Their not a problem out here, and the only way I've managed to get rid of them was to shoot them repeatedly with a BB gun :(

[MamaTexan]

A vermilion flycatcher.

That is one beautiful bird!

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks MamaTexan!
The pink is a Hybrid Tea called Dainty Bess. It looks like that because it's just beginning to open. :) My Texas Blue Bonnetts are popping up! I can't believe they took! They will make me think of you, because of you, I decided to plant them. :)

It is frustrated when something ruins our roses! I hope that goat moved on! Last year, we had caterpillars that ate all through my rose buds. It was a bummer. They are here this year but I found a solution and they are doing minimal damage. You must be disappointed.

I wish I had a veggie garden. My neighbor does and he is very generous, so at least I get to enjoy fresh veggies! What are you growing in veggie garden? :)

What is cull trees. Meaning pruning? That sounds like a big job for you and hubby. I was thinking of getting one of those ground bird baths and putting rocks to boarder and plants so it looks like a natural water. I would love to have a pond but it seems like a lot of work. Although, it's beautiful and well worth it! My friend had one done and I could sit in her yard forever. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

It's great that people fought for Pale Male. Seeing them there with their nest and babies, makes that win terrific! Figures, some of the main figures fighting against pale male were liberals, wanting them removed. Wonder why the supporters of the extreme environmentalists wanted them removed? LOL!

That would be great to see a website of your Mockers! You already have the fantastic pictures and stories. They are so entertaining. I miss the Mockers very much!

It's really weird in my yard. Few birds. Mockers left. No bird is touching the fruit/jelly. I never had this happen before. This afternoon, I went out in the back with our dog. She had her tail between her legs sniffing around and ran to the door. Hmmm, what's living in my yard? I rather have the Mockers attacking me. :(

[MamaTexan]

My Texas Blue Bonnetts are popping up!

Bluebonnets! Hooray!

I'm glad they're doing well, since they're a beautiful but easy to maintain flower :)

What are you growing in veggie garden? :)

For vegis, we have tomato, corn (white and yellow) onions, carrots, okra, radishes, broccoli, cucumbers and zucchini, patty pan, and straight-necked squash.No Jalapeno or bell peppers came up. We're still trying to get in sync with the weather in the area, so next year, we'll plant at the end of February.

What is cull trees.

Our house sat empty for several years and became quite overgrown. We still have tons of cedar trees we want to clear from the back, but have to decide which ones will best act as a barrier between the neighbors and our house.

Then the others come out...... probably wind up being about 30 trees in all.

[rustbucket]

I'll bet you don't have one like this in your backyard. They nest down in far South Texas.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

A parrot,that is so neat!

Thanks for sharing!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I have seen them of and on.

The King Fisher is absent this year,but I saw some Quails the other day on my way home from work,they were courting each other.

Of course I didn't have my camera with me!

[MamaTexan]

I'll bet you don't have one like this in your backyard.

Nope. It WOULD be neat if I did!

Hubby has told me a couple of times about a parrot nesting site in Austin, though. I'll have to ask him the address of it.:)

[sweetliberty]

Nope. Don't have one of those.

[Dysart]

Nice shot of the Parrot. I have heard that there are a few flocks of them in S Texas. They would be quite a sight for me, no doubt about it. Was this near Harlingen?

I did have a Parakeet at my feeder last winter though--clearly an escaped pet.

[rustbucket]

The picture of the red crown parrot was taken in Brownsville, Texas, at the old Fort Brown motel. The picture was taken about 5 years ago.

We discovered this spring that the motel had been sold to Texas Southmost College, and they had turned it into an exercise/conference center. We parked in the parking lot and wandered out to where we had seen the parrot before. I saw a parrot flying overhead but it didn't land. The college apparently has taken out some of the dead trees where the parrots stayed.

While we were there we did see a large flock of wild green parakeets flying fast in big circles overhead. They made a lot of noise. They too apparently nest in Brownsville and some of the other Valley cities. Here is the one decent shot I got of the parakeets -- most of the time they went by so quickly I couldn't get the camera to focus on them.

We heard that there were parrots in Harlingen too. We stayed in Harlingen one night but didn't see either parakeets or parrots.

From what I've heard, US soldiers in South Texas for the Mexican War reported seeing parrots as far north as Corpus Christi.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

This isn't a very good picture, but the barn swallows in the eaves of my house hatched. This is the mother hanging on to the outside feeding the babies. I think there are two. If you look at the left side of the nest, there is a yellow line, that is one of the babies beaks. They hang over the edge waiting to be fed.

Becky

[sweetliberty]

Oh how neat. Hopefully you can get pictures of their various stages of development.

[sweetliberty]

I am excited. I walked out the front door a little while ago to see a beautiful bird perched on the birdbath. Couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was a hawk or falcon of some kind. Things got mighty quiet in my yard for awhile after that. One squirrel almost looked like he was frozen upside down in the Tulip Tree for about 10 minutes...and not another bird in sight. Funny how they know when there is a predator about. Mixed blessing though. Makes me worry about the baby bunny I've actually gotten to eat from my hand.

[GodBlessUSA]

That's an excellent shot Becky! I see those birds around. I always try to take a picture but it's futile. They are always on the move! Must be great fun watching them up close. :)