Written and compiled by Fred Jaicks
Watching and listening to songbirds in your backyard can provide both entertainment and enjoyment for your family. Birds require a certain environment to ensure that they remain healthy and comfortable. If elements are missing from a backyard habitat, songbirds may not visit and stay in an area. By learning details about songbird habitats, you can attract them to your yard. Make your yard more comfortable for birds with these tips, and make your yard more comfortable for humans by getting a quality umbrella with an elegant umbrella base for shade.
Blue Jays
Blue Jays have bright blue feathers and a crest. Blue Jays typically live in forests, parks, and backyards. Because Blue Jays prefer acorns, they often live in or near oak trees. The Blue Jay diet includes nuts, seeds, fruit, insects, eggs, and even small animals. To attract Blue Jays, offer acorns and other foods they like to eat. Plant oak trees to provide a food source. Plant pine trees because Blue Jays like to nest in these trees.
Cardinals
Cardinals may live in a backyard year-round. During the winter, Cardinals feed on red berries. Stock a bird-feeder with sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, or cracked corn to attract Cardinals to your yard. Cardinals will also eat cracked peanuts and suet. Cardinals like to nest in leafy trees or shrubs to conceal their nests.
American Goldfinch
Goldfinches will typically remain in a habitat throughout the entire year. To attract Goldfinches to your backyard, hang mesh bags containing thistle seeds. Goldfinches also enjoy eating sunflower seeds. Tube feeders have a design that appeals to Goldfinches because of the numerous perches. Goldfinches may even sit upside-down on a perch while eating.
American Robin
American Robins migrate to warm areas during the winter. You might attract Robins to your backyard for part of the year if you live in cold regions or for the entire year if you live in a warm region. Robins need only a few trees in a backyard habitat. You might attract Robins to your yard if you hang a birdhouse. The birdhouse should be roughly 7 inches by 8 inches, and you should hang it between 6 and 15 feet above the ground. Robins are sometimes more comfortable with man-made homes than other birds. You never know; you may even see a robin exploring the ribs of your patio umbrella.
Sparrows
Sparrows are a common and nondescript bird species. These small birds will eat weed seeds out of a garden, so a natural flower garden may attract them to your backyard. Fill bird-feeders with sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn. Provide a bird bath on the ground for sparrows to use. Sparrows usually prefer dense shrubs as a living habitat.
Tree Swallow
Tree Swallows eat insects, so they typically live in open areas near water. If Tree Swallows can’t find insects, they will also eat berries and seeds. To attract Tree Swallows to your yard, erect nesting boxes about 5 feet off the ground for them.
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Blue Jay – View images of Blue Jays and learn basic information about their habitat preferences and behaviors.
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Attracting Songbirds – This web page includes information about how to attract Goldfinches to a habitat area.
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Attracting the Beneficial Tree Swallow – This publication offers detailed information about Tree Swallow behaviors and habitat preferences.
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Landscape Plants that Attract Birds – This publication delves into how to add plants to a yard that will attract birds.
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Supplemental Bird Feeding – Learn about the feeding habits of different bird species to decide which birds you wish to feed in your yard.
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Song Birds in the Urban Forest? Trees Make It Possible – This web page offers suggestions for planting trees to create an enticing bird habitat.
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Selecting Trees and Shrubs to Attract Birds – Learn about the various habitat layers that birds need in their environment.
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Landscaping for Wildlife – This publication presents guidelines for creating a landscape that will bring birds to your yard.
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Landscaping to Attract Birds in South Florida – South Floridians can learn about what to plant in a yard to attract birds native to Florida.
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Attracting Birds to Your Yard – Review the comprehensive list of birds and the plants they prefer on this web page.