Attracting birds to your garden with bird feeders is a great and economical way to control pests in your garden.
Bird feeding enables you to enjoy wildlife up close.
Try sitting or standing in your backyard near a bird feeder and listen to the singing of the birds and watch their antics as they feed or fight over the food.
Getting started with backyard bird feeding is easy, depending on the type of birds you want to attract to your garden.
If you want to attract hummingbirds, just hang a hummingbird feeder containing sugar water or nectar outside a window and soon you will see the little hummingbirds flocking to feed.
To attract wild birds fill a bird feeder with wild bird seeds which are readily available at most stores that sell garden supplies.
To attract a large variety of birds, put out separate bird feeders for each food type.
For example, use a house feeder for sunflower seeds, a tube feeder for thistles, a house or platform feeder for millet, a hummingbird feeder for nectar.
Get a bird field guide to help you identify the different types of birds that come to visit your bird feeders.
How to care for bird feeders? To increase the life of your bird feeders, it is important to maintain and clean them.
Clean the bird feeders at least every few weeks to get rid of bird droppings, moldy or wet seeds and to prevent the growth of bacteria such as salmonella.
Hummingbird feeders need to be cleaned at least weekly, but preferably two or three times a week.
Wash the feeders in a bucket of warm soapy water.
Adding a cap full of chlorine bleach to the warm soapy water would be beneficial too.
Rinse well before filling the feeders with nectar or sugar water.
Where to hang bird feeders? It depends on where you want to watch the birds from.
I have a hummingbird feeder hanging just outside my dining room window where I can watch the little hummingbirds feed as I am eating my breakfast! You can hang a hummingbird feeder outside your kitchen window or out on the patio.
For other bird feeders, you need to take into consideration several things.
Pick a site where you will not have to worry about discarded seeds and bird droppings.
Put your feeders where the squirrels cannot reach them.
Consider getting a squirrel-proof feeder or a feeder mounted on a pole with a baffle and placing the pole at least 10 feet away from any trees.
Remember too that the feeder needs to be placed out of reach of the neighborhood cat or dog.
Be sure the cat or dog is wearing a collar with bells to warn the birds of the close presence of the cat or dog.
Many a bird has lost its life to the paws of a stealthy cat! By taking into consideration some of the above ideas, you will be able to truly enjoy a great backyard birding experience.