Make Birds Feel at Home

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Jun 22, 2006

Do you have lots of good bird shelter in your yard? I'm lucky to have a green space next to my house - an undeveloped piece of land that's designated public parkland. It isn't set up as a park, but is just left alone, and it includes a long curving spinney of mixed evergreen and hardwood trees, a grassy meadow, and a gently sloping face of rock covered with lichens, mosses, and blueberry bushes.

The green space is a haven for birds, and the edge of the spinney lies about five feet from my home office window. This is where I have my main bird feeder, and a quiet shady path bordered by hostas and other shade loving plants. Around in the back, there is a tall thick spruce tree (the one pictured with my recent article Creating Shelter for Birds). The lower branches of this tree sweep right down to the ground, providing lots of shelter for birds at ground level. Small song birds continually pop in and out of the higher branches at all times of the year.

I'm certain that Finches, Juncos, Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Robins nest in my yard, or in the spinney, every year. This year, for the first time, I was blessed by a pair of Song Sparrows (he of the daily window attacks), and I'm hoping that the brush pile I casually created out of tree trimmings and plant cuttings has provided them a nesting spot that is safe from the numerous domestic cats in the neighborhood.

I could have done a more careful job on the brush pile: a proper brush pile has carefully arranged spaces around the bottom to serve as entrances for birds and other creatures. I just heaped it up with sticks lying in all directions - it probably works, but could be better. I can't take it apart now and start over for fear of disturbing some comfortable creature.

One thing I have never done is hang out nesting boxes, and I think I'll do some research to discover how to build a nest box for one of my common visitors. If I get it put up this fall, it will be ready when the birds are next spring. In my next article, I'll share some wisdom on providing the perfect nest box for your favorite bird.