How to Attract Birds

Attracting birds to your yard is easy.  All you need to do is supply them with food, water, and shelter.

Food
Birds find food by sight.  The best way to attract the birds to a new feeder is to put out a black oil sunflower or mixed seed feeder.  Once they find your feeder, and this may take a little while, you can add to your feeder assortment.  Suet feeders, Peanut feeders, and Nyjer (Thistle) feeders are great additions to your feeding station.

Make sure to keep your feeders clean and filled.  Empty feeders don’t attract birds!  All seed is not created equal.  Beware of discount store or grocery store seed.  These mixes contain a lot of filler seed that the birds don’t like.  Check the black oil seed.  If it is cracked and dry it has probably already been pressed to produce sunflower oil and then resold as bird seed.  The dry cracked seed now has very little nutritional value to the birds.  If you like feeding the birds give them a seed that they will like and that is good for them.  You know the old saying …If you build it they will come, well the same is true for bird seed.  If you feed them well they will come, and stay, and nest in your yard!! 

If your seed gets wet and moldy throw it out.  We don’t eat spoiled food and neither do the birds. 

Water
Water is the next thing that you want to add to your feeding station.  Birds need to drink and bathe and having a source close by will help keep the birds in your yard. 

Make sure that the bath you choose is shallow enough and has a rough surface on the bottom.  If you find your bath is too deep you can add a stone to the middle to give the birds a place to stand.  Make sure that you keep your birdbath clean.  Birds will not drink or bathe if the water is dirty.  A quick brushing and refill of the bath will keep it clean. 

Beware of concrete and ceramic birdbaths; they will crack in colder climates.  But there are a number of wintertime solutions.  If you do purchase a concrete or ceramic bath turn the top over or bring the bath in for the winter if you are in a colder climate.  Then you can put out a heated bird bath or a plastic liner bath with a bird bath heater.  Either way the water in the bath will remain unfrozen.  The heaters and heated baths keep the water at approximately 35 degrees, just above freezing.  This is very important as birds will travel up to 3 miles to find a water source.  It takes an incredible amount of energy for a bird to stay warm and melt snow to get a drink.  Having an open water source near your feeders gives the birds a place to drink nearby and they will tend to stay close by. 
In the summer adding a dripper to your bath will increase its usage.  Birds are attracted to moving water.

Shelter
Provide shelter for your birds by adding bushes and trees to your yard.  The birds use the trees and bushes for shelter and nest building.

You can also add houses to your yard for the cavity nesting birds to use.  When you choose a nest box you want to make sure that the box has ventilation holes at the top of the box and drainage holes in the floor of the box.  There should be a hinged or removable access door on the box to be able to access the interior to clean the box out after the baby birds have fledged. 

Make sure that the interior of the box near the entrance hole is rough enough for the birds to get a grip when climbing out.  If the interior is too smooth try to rough it up a bit before putting the house out.

By providing food, water and shelter your yard will become a virtual haven for the birds.

Common Questions
When Do I ???

Clean Out My Nest Box?
-Clean out your nest boxes in the fall.  Make sure there are no bees nests.  If you use them for roosting boxes in the winter then check them again in the spring to make sure there are no mice nesting in them.  It's always a good idea to clean them again after the birds are done using them in the summer, as you may get a second family looking to use the box.

Put Up My Hummingbird Feeder?
-Around the Massachusetts area we always suggest April 15th as the date to put up the hummingbird feeders.  Remember "it's the only good thing about tax day!"  Check the Hummingbird migration map to see their progress.

-Put Up My Oriole Feeder?
-Around the Massachusetts area we suggest putting your oriole feeder out around April 29th.  The Orioles usually arrive in this area in the first week of May.  The orioles like to eat oranges and grape jelly.

-Stop Using Suet?
-Suet can be used year round provided it is the rendered prepackaged suet.  Suet from the butcher should only be used in cold weather because when the temperature rises above 40 degrees the suet can grow black mold and can cause the birds to get beak rot.  Beak rot softens the birds bill and they will not be able to eat.  Prepackaged suet comes in both treat which is a greasy suet and delights and dough's which are dryer and more cake like.  The delights and dough's will not melt in the summer heat.

-Stop Feeding The Bluebirds Mealworms?
-Mealworms can be fed to your Bluebirds throughout the summer.  You want to stop feeding them toward the end of August.  Having an abundant food source may encourage them to try to have another brood too late in the season. 

Put Out A Bat House?
-The best time to put out a bat house is in the fall or winter so that it can weather and be ready when the bats return in the spring.  You can also spray your bat house with a mixture of bat guano and water to scent the house, and get rid of the human smell.
Your bat house should be located 15 to 30 feet high, and in full sun.  The bat house needs to reach 104 degrees in order for the bats to roost in it.  That's why they like to be in your attic and behind the shutters...its nice and warm there!

Put Out Water?
-Water is attractive as well as necessary to the birds.  Misters and drippers added to the bird bath in the summer create moving water and attract the birds to the bath.  In the winter having a heated bird bath will bring a number of birds to the area,  especially during a harsh winter when all of the water sources are frozen.  Birds have to use a tremendous amount of energy to melt snow and ice to get water.  Having a heated bath keeps the water open for them and can help them survive during the cold winter months.  A heated bath is thermostatically controlled and keeps the water between 35 and 40 degrees.  Just enough to stay unfrozen.

Stop Feeding The Birds?
-You can stop feeding the birds at any point.  It is a myth that the birds will starve if your feeder goes empty.  Birds only get about 5 to 7 percent of their food from any one food source.  So if you are going away for a time, don't worry about the birds, they will be fine. The only time having your feeders full is really critical is when the weather is really bad, an ice storm for example.  It is difficult for the birds to find food in those conditions so the feeder is very helpful.
We feed birds for our own pleasure.  It is pleasing and calming to us to watch the variety of birds that make their way to our feeders.  If you feed the birds year round you will notice the birds that only are here during the summer months, and the birds that are in their brilliant, and beautiful breeding plumage. 
Bird behavior is also interesting to watch.  Why is a bluebird eating seed as well as mealworms? She must be hungry!  Look at the elusive brown creeper who suddenly decided that he really likes your suet, and is there all the time, just for your viewing pleasure.

Hummingbird Nectar

1 cup table sugar
4 cups water

Boil the water and add the sugar.  Heat till dissolved.  Once the nectar is cool you can save the surplus in a bottle in the refrigerator.

Do not use honey or artificial sweetener, artificial flavoring or artificial coloring. The chemicals in the artificial products can harm the birds. 

Butterfly Nectar

1 cup table sugar
8 cups water

Boil the water and add the sugar.  Heat till dissolved.  Once the nectar is cool you can save the surplus in a bottle in the refrigerator.

Do not use honey or artificial sweetener, artificial flavoring or artificial coloring. The chemicals in the artificial products can harm the butterflies.
Some butterflies respond to overripe fruits.  Place pieces of pear, banana, and cantaloupe on the feeder but do not allow them to become moldy.