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]

I know. I have a love hate relationship with the Hawks. They are so impressive and beautiful but . I hope your bunny will be alright. How big was this bird? BlueJay Size/Crow size?

Wow! The Rabbit is eating from your hand. That's has to be the best! It truly is amazing how the birds know of a predator in the area.

[sweetliberty]

Oh, this bird was considerably bigger than a large crow.

Yeah, the bunny is neat. He has gotten a little closer each day. Today he actually ate the graham cracker from my hand. There are lots of bushes where he can run for cover, but he does spend a fair amount of time in the open. There are some very chubby chipmunks about too, not to mention a gazillion squirrels. My yard would make quite a buffet for a hungry predator. Wish they'd cultivate a taste for Grackle!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Wow, a hawk:). That would really be something to see that close:)

I got a little bit better shot of my momma barn swallow. I finally caught her looking at me. the babies are just too small to see in pictures.

Becky

[sweetliberty]

I can't see much. Maybe it's just me.

[sweetliberty]

Got a picture of it today.

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[sweetliberty]

I have lots of juvenile Downies....and they are bold little things. In the second shot, he got annoyed waiting for me to leave and decided to just pretend I wasn't there.

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[ken21]

i enjoy watching grackles.

[sweetliberty]

"i enjoy watching grackles"

Good! I have a whole bunch of 'em I can send you!

[Zacs Mom]

Wow ~ this must be a bumper year for Downeys!
I've never before had so many young ones brought to my feeders


They are fun to watch...

...but they sure are tough to photograph!

BTW ~ I thought some of you fellow birders might enjoy this wonderful image a friend recently sent me



"The Master's Hands"

[Temple Owl]

I had a great Father's Day weekend. I took my grandson fishing in Ridley Creek State Park (Suburban Philadelphia). We caught a mess of blue gills. He forced me to take them home and cook them. That's what Pop Pops are for. Meanwhile we both saw and identified a red wing blackbird, a beautiful Blue Heron, and blue bird in his bird house. We grilled the blue gills and Grandson thought they were great. At home, we were filling the bird feeders and ooops, the bag broke and sunflower seed went all over the ground. I ought to make such mistakes more often. We were visited by cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmouse, catbirds, grackles, and wrens. There are a pile more coming to our feeders that look like sparrows, but I just can't tell the difference. I think some are finches.

[Gardener]

Wow!! Thanks for the ping on this thread. I have a backyard habitat too and enjoy watching the birds. Now I've got to spend some time catching up on these threads! :)

[sweetliberty]

My Downies are probably about the easiest to photograph because they will let me get so close. My problem is my camera. The delay on it screws me up and I can't see what I'm shooting half the time. That, and it just doesn't do right in many lighting situations.

That really is a neat image you posted.

[sweetliberty]

Glad you found us. Enjoy. There is a lot of good information, pictures and chat.

[GodBlessUSA]

That is so fantastic! I'm so jealous. :) I think it's amazing you got a picture at the same time as feeding that little guy! Thanks so much for posting this picture. I saw a bunny tonight while walking. He just stayed still. I think it's funny how they don't think we can see them. He was in plain sight. LOL!

Great shots! Your birds are getting use to you they are going to pose for you soon! There were a lot of birds tonight. Downy came with a Juvenile. Redbellys have been coming and leaving with suet in their beaks all day today. I'm so happy to finally see them all coming back. One titmouse too. I miss them so much while they are gone nesting. I guess the Mocking birds decided that wasn't a safe place to nest but they are coming back for food.

[GodBlessUSA]

That's a beautiful picture, The Master's Hands, Zacs Mom!

The Downeys are finally starting to show up again here too. There are a lot of juveniles here this year also!

[Dysart]

Darling shot of the Bunny. How'd you manage that? Have you named her yet?

Downy WP are nifty little birds and make cooperative photo subjects. I have a pair round here but haven't seen any juveniles around the property.


One of my Juv Mockingbirds has taken to peeping in my window- I swear- he sits for up to 30 minutes at a time perched on the ac unit looking around the room. Sometimes he flys up there and never touches the food, just hangs out!

[sweetliberty]

That bunny has taken to coming towards me when he hears me talking to him. I guess he has started associating me with the daily handout of graham cracker. He's still cautious though.

I got the picture holding the camera in one hand and the cracker in the other.

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[Vicki]

I love the wild rabbits, but I have a cat that loves to kill them. Last year she killed an entire nest. She's already killed one this year. My cat knows that I get very upset when she kills the rabbits. I wish I could make her stop.

Last weekend my husband and I went fishing and we saw 4 bald eagles. We saw one of their nests and could hear the babies from the lake. We also saw hawks and cranes. Also there are these little birds that fly very low to the lake and occasionally take a quick dip into the lake. Very interesting day.

[Zacs Mom]

Your bunny is so sweet & petite! How neat he comes close enough for such great shots!

I have two bunnies hanging around my yard, too...except they aren't wild bunnies. They are escapees from one of my neighbors' yards. I'll bet I've caught and returned six bunnies to these folks over the past 10 years. I'm not sure why they keep bringing home these bunnies .... they never seem to care about the ones that get loose! If I don't caught the bunnies and return them to these folks they just ignore em. Go figure.

The little guys are cute as they can be ~ my only real problem with them is that they delight in lunching just outside the ceiling to floor window my dog likes to lay next to to watch the world go by ..... every time those bunnies show up, he goes ballistic!!! The bunnies aren't afraid of him so I usually have to close the curtain in order to get him to quiet down.

[sweetliberty]

My cat is too old and lazy to bother with bunnies or chipmunks. Oh, he might get a twitch every now and again, but then I think he forgets what he was twitching about.

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