Sunday, December 16, 2007

Incoming - Discovering Nature With Bird Houses and Feeders

It is very important to have a bit of nature in your life every day, and putting bird houses, bird baths, and bird feeders is a great way to bring nature to you. Birds are naturally attracted to the colorful flowers that provide them with food and shelter. By adding additional food, water, and housing, the birds will truly love your garden and return to the garden for years, making it a permanent residence for some. The birds will especially flock to the extra food and shelter in the wintertime.
Water is very important to birds, and moving water sources and water features, bird bath are especially attractive to them. The simple act of laying a hose out in your yard and turning on a small stream of water will attract a variety of birds to your yard right away.
A great way to provide a source of non-moving water for the birds is to have a bird bath. Make sure you use a non-reflective surface because birds can be scared away by shiny objects. If you have a stone bird bath and your neighbor has one made of metal, you will quickly notice that all of the birds will be in your yard and not your neighbor's.
The combination of moving water and a bird bath is an even better way to attract birds. Specialty bird baths are made that slowly bubble water up in the center of the bath like a fountain. The water does not spray out from the bath, which would scare the birds, but it moves enough that the birds notice and are attracted to it. Many birds will be attracted to drink and play.
Pay close attention to the birds playing in the water. Watching them splash around can be a hilarious sight!
With all of the fun that the birds are having, they are going to want to move to your garden so that they can live by the water source. Providing several birdhouses over time will create housing for plenty of birds, no matter what their species or size. It is better to have too many houses so all of the birds that want to live there can, then to have just one or 2 houses for a large number of birds. This low supply and high demand condition will cause territory battles between the birds.
With water and housing in your garden, the last thing the birds need is a consistent source of food, which you can provide through plenty of bird feeders with several types of food. Different types of food will attract different types of birds. It is most important to have the feeders in the winter, since flowers in your garden in the spring and summer provide a natural food source. In the winter, your feeders can help keep the birds alive through the rough conditions.
It is natural for birds to come back to the same living and feeding areas each year. You'll notice the same birds year after year, with the addition of new birds all the time as well.
All of these birds eating can create a mess of bird droppings in your yard and garden. The best way to deal with this is to put the bath, feeders, flowers, and houses in the same area, so that the birds will mostly stay in that one section. By doing that, you can still watch them easily, but you won't have to clean up your entire yard or deck.
Keith Markensen explores the world of backyard landscape ideas and he shares his decades of landscape experience at www.Plant-Care.com where practical professional plant and landscaping advice is always online.

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