What fun it is to anticipate the return of birds after a long winter and to watch them raise their young. Indeed, it’s the very image of spring! While winter birds, with their colorful plumage and interesting behaviors, are a joy to watch, songbirds, with their melodic calls, are a special treat in the home landscape. Once your garden offers exciting places for these feathered friends to nest, eat and drink, you’ll soon enjoy a host of visitors and be able to observe them in their various life stages and activities.
White-crowned sparrow is one of several sparrow species with similar appearance and overlapping region ranges, from the Arctic to Mexico.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
A male Eastern bluebird is brightly colored; the feathers of its mate are mostly gray.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
This flock of house finches quickly can empty a feeder of its seed. Check yours frequently, and clean and refill it often.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
A mated pair of mountain bluebirds strip aphids and seed from wild anise.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Fledgling wrens will soon develop their adult coats.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
“Songbird” is a commonly used classification without any scientific standing for a group of many different types of birds. Birds in this category often have brightly colored plumage and have beautiful songs or other endearing qualities – quickness, boldness, odd ways of flying and so forth – giving each species a distinct personality and charm that’s especially treasured.
Virtually all birds “sing” to some degree. Their songs fall on human ears much differently than on those of another bird. We love their musical lilt and apparent abandon. But what that birdsong says in its pitch, duration and construction is quite specific to the birds found in its area. Females may hear the siren call of a suitor, males may hear a warning from another bird with a territory to defend, a sentry may voice concern about a passing predator or a mother may call to her chicks.
Songbirds are carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous, depending on the species. Providing each with its specialized diet can add balance to your garden landscape. Some songbirds are ground dwellers or ground foragers, hunting for grubs, insects, worms and fallen seed. Others burrow into the ground in search of grubs and worms, including flickers, robins sparrows and thrashers. Some birds eat seed and berries from atop stalks or limbs – the finch, waxwing and wren are good examples – while others such as jays, mockingbirds and thrush eat insects from perches on foliage. Shrikes and thrashers pry insects from crevices; grosbeaks, mockingbirds and nuthatches crush and crack nuts and hard-shelled seed; and flycatchers, martins and swallows are specialized hunters that hunt and eat insects on the fly.
You can also supplement food supplies by setting up bird feeders. If you particularly want to attract smaller birds, cover feeders with a cage of hardware cloth. Suet, hung out in mesh bags or spread into bark crevices in a hanging log, is a good winter attractant for carnivorous birds. Change it frequently as the weather begins to warm, then discontinue it after trees sprout leaves and flower.
To attract songbirds, your garden must include food plants to which they’re particularly drawn. Some smaller bird species like thistle seed; plant some – or let it grow naturally, as the case may be – for the avian harvesters to enjoy. Other songbirds enjoy the seeds of coneflower, cosmos and sunflower. Sow some of these plants for birds to harvest naturally as the flowers fade.
Songbirds also feast on berries and fruit, especially blueberries, cherries, mulberries and the bramble fruits. Thorny canes make safe perching spots, while medium to large shrubs and small trees offer suitable perching and nesting areas. Many small birds like purple finches and wrens actually choose to build their nests in hanging baskets – breeding pairs sometimes return to the same nest year after year – so hang out a few baskets for everyone to enjoy.
Because of all these varied bird species, their preferences for eating, and their differences in diet, your wildlife landscape should offer a wide selection of plants to entice and satisfy every charming songster.
Hearing birdsong is one of those ethereal experiences that transcend and reward you. Welcome these feathered friends into your garden, and your garden will be one filled with sweet harmony.
