How to attract more birds to your garden and help them thrive
Q: What can I do to attract more birds to my garden?
If you are interested in attracting birds to your property, I’ll assume that you want to provide the conditions that will allow the local birds to thrive. Many people will put out hummingbird feeders, bird baths, and bird seed dispensers, but never bother to regularly clean and refill them. This haphazard approach can cause more harm than good by allowing diseases to spread or encouraging bad feeding habits.
Happily, there is a better way.
Birds (and other wildlife) need a food source, water, cover from predators, and nesting sites. For most desirable species, these are simple to provide in a natural way.
Most songbirds need either nectar, insects, or fruit for food. (I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you don’t want to see vultures in your backyard.)
Most species of hummingbirds, as well as orioles, love nectar-producing flowers: Aloe, penstemon, salvia, and agastache (hummingbird mint) all have colorful nectar-producing flowers. Planting and maintaining these drought-tolerant species is much easier than continually cleaning and refilling hummingbird feeders.
Insect-eating birds, such as wrens, bluebirds, bushtits, and warblers, can be tremendously helpful for ridding your garden of pest insects. The best way to help these birds is to refrain from spraying insecticides indiscriminately. Perfectionism is incompatible with gardening, so don’t aspire to exterminate every single pest insect.
Fruit and berries nourish scrub jays, waxwings, finches, grosbeaks, and bluebirds. We see many of these species visit our garden to steal our blueberries, but we don’t mind because they are fun to watch.
A water source is essential to attracting birds, especially since we live in such a dry climate. I like to place shallow saucers with about an inch of water in several locations throughout our garden. I add a few pebbles to make the water accessible to butterflies and bees as well. The plastic saucers work perfectly fine and are inexpensive, so you can buy several and place them at varying heights throughout the garden. Try to locate them near overhanging branches so any visitors can feel secure and are able to retreat quickly if a predator appears. The sound of running water will really bring in the birds, so investing in a solar-powered pump or two is worth the expense.
Nesting and shelter sites are important as well. Refrain from overpruning trees, and don’t prune after late January if you know that birds are nesting. Many birds establish their nests and start laying eggs in late winter, so watch for this activity so you don’t inadvertently disturb them.
Los Angeles County
mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/
Orange County
ucceocmghotline@ucanr.edu; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/
Riverside County
anrmgriverside@ucanr.edu; 951-955-0170; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/