Bird Friendly Gardens: Attracting friendly faces
Planting for habitat invites a variety of birds to the garden, and they are a welcome addition!
Not only will their individual personalities charm you, most will earn their room and board by helping to control insects.
A diversity of plants - especially native species - offer birds food, shelter, and protected nesting sites and material. Native plants also provide hosts for high-protein soft bodied insects essential for baby birds to get a strong start. Flowering plants offer up pollen and nectar not only to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, but also the feisty little ruby-throated hummingbird, the only hummingbird east of the Mississippi. Berries that become available in late summer/early fall have
the high fat content energy that migrators need for their journey, while berries low in fat last longer to provide later fall/winter emergency supplies.
Provide plant diversity and birds will happily make themselves at home in your garden all year long.
Not only will their individual personalities charm you, most will earn their room and board by helping to control insects.
A diversity of plants - especially native species - offer birds food, shelter, and protected nesting sites and material. Native plants also provide hosts for high-protein soft bodied insects essential for baby birds to get a strong start. Flowering plants offer up pollen and nectar not only to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, but also the feisty little ruby-throated hummingbird, the only hummingbird east of the Mississippi. Berries that become available in late summer/early fall have
the high fat content energy that migrators need for their journey, while berries low in fat last longer to provide later fall/winter emergency supplies.
Provide plant diversity and birds will happily make themselves at home in your garden all year long.
