subject: Making Your Garden Bird Friendly [print this page] It is not hard to make your garden bird friendly all it does take is time and effort on your behalf. Birds are decreasing in numbers so it is important to make sure that your garden can help the birds survive. During the winter many birds choose not to migrate leaving them to firth for food and water throughout the freezing temperatures.
Plants form a large part of everyones gardens but for the wrong reasons. Most people care about the way the plants looks and how it smells but it is more important to make sure that the birds will like these plants. The plants that birds do like are the ones that provide food for the; these include plants that give off seeds, berries and nectar. These are vital just so there is plenty of food for the birds to eat. As well as plants for food it is recommended that you get some plants that can provide shelter for the birds. These can be big bushes that have big leaves so that they can hide from rain and snow. These bushes may provide a place to nest for the birds as well meaning you may find little bird eggs in the bush.
Bird tables can be extremely helpful as a provider of food for the birds. During the months between October and April they prove very popular as the birds natural food is harder to find as the ground is frozen leaving food near impossible to get at. So your bird table should be well stocked up with food throughout these months but as well as this there should be a variety of food so that you can provide for more than one variety of bird. When positioning the bird table there are a few things that you should take into consideration, one thing is if there are there any paths nearby because if people are walking by the birds will be sacred to visit the table. In addition to this there are birds that are so shy they will not visit a bird table that is in a garden so you should also get a bird table that you can hang from a tree meaning it will be out of the way.
You should look into getting a bird bath for your garden. These can be a centre piece for the whole garden and they will not look out of place at all. Birds will use these all year round for bathing a drinking. Solar powered bird baths can provide heated water for the birds during the winter and these can be vital for survival. Throughout the winter the water could possibly freeze over if it is not heated but if you put small ball on the water its movement during the night will prevent the water from freezing. The water in the bird bath should be changed once a week as still water can attract disease and parasites meaning it is not safe to drink. To prevent this you can also get bird safe chemicals that can kill the diseases but also keep the birds safe. You should put a bird bath in the middle of a garden so that it is away from big bushes which can be hiding places for predators like cats. The bird bath should also be on a pedestal so that predators will find it hard to climb.
As well as bird baths and tables you should get a bird box. These provide somewhere dry for the birds to nest so that the birds can stay slightly warm and dry. These should be placed high up so that no predators can get near to the box as well as making sure the birds feel safe so they actually use it. If your bird box has a platform of some kind on it you should remove it. The reason for this is that it can provide access for dangerous predators. To stop squirrels getting close to the box every time you see one approaching you should spray it with a water gun as this can act as a deterrent without actually harming the squirrel. Finally the bird box that you do choose make sure that is made of natural materials and that it blends in to the surroundings as birds are more likely to use it then.
These are just some of the things that you can do to make your garden bird friendly. By doing this you can help stop the population of birds decreasing and you can help them survive. It will also help you introduce your family to wildlife which can be fun with small children.
