Monday, July 13, 2009

How Garden Decorations And Birdhouses Can Attract More Birds To Your Backyard

Add Beauty and Charm To Your Outdoor Living

If you have already put up some birdhouses in your own backyard, you are probably wondering how you are going to attract and get more birds to come and visit your birdhouses. This article provides some ideas that you can easily implement to attract more birds to your backyard and your birdhouses.

First, as with humans, food is always a popular way to attract birds to your birdhouses and your backyard. You can provide different kinds of food to cater to different types of species of birds. Some of these food include nectars, small insects, fruits, nuts and seeds. In addition to these food sources, you should also always provide fresh water to the visiting birds. Bird baths and small ponds are some good ways to provide the visting birds with water.

The fastest way to a bird's heart is through its stomach. By providing food and water to the birds, you are performing bird feeding. Bird feeding is also a great way to observe different species of birds and their respective unique characteristics. Bird feeding is particularly important to birds because it provides them with a source of food and water during periods when food and water are scarce such as winter time. However, bird feeding can be done all year round as it supplements the visiting birds with their food needs. As such, its a great way to attract more birds to your birdhouses and backyard.

So how can you use this knowledge to attract more birds to your birdhouses and backyard ? For one, you can choose a safer spot in your backyard and set up a simple feeding station. The spot you choose should preferably be away from predators. You can take some precautionary measures to make the chosen spot safer like installing a ultrasonic cat deterrant and making sure there are no food near the spot so as to avoid attracting hungry animals. You can encourage birds to visit your feeding station by placing bird food in different areas around the feeding station. You can then vary the distance and shorten it as time goes by.

As mentioned, you don't have to build or buy an elaborated feeding station. The most important factor that your feeding station should have is the ease in which you can maintain it. It should be easy to refill, it should display the food prominently to birds, it should also hold a reasonable amount of food so you do not have to keep topping it up with food and finally it should be able to hold more then one bird at one time. Some of the simple feeding station you can consider buying would be the tube-feeder in which the seeds stay dry and its design prevents spillage of food or you can choose the hopper type of bird feeders which dispenses food automatically when they are needed.

As for water, it is essential if you want to attract more birds to your birdhouses. Garden fountains are a great feature to add to you garden, not only will the sounds of water gently flowing attract more birds, they will also give you a good reason to hang out and relax in your backyard too. You should note that different species of birds have different requirements of how deep they like their water source to be. For example, some species of birds like small puddles while other birds like bird baths that are relatively deep. Providing various depths of water will attract different species of birds. However, do take note that your water depth should not be more then 2 inches deep as some birds may drown and do not choose a bird bath with an elaborated and striking pattern or design at the bottom of the bath as it may confuse the birds and discourage them from using the bird bath.

Besides all the points mentioned above, you will want to add other decorations to your backyard to make it a more comforting environment for you to enjoy, as well as attracting birds. You can add some Gnomes, Windchimes, Garden Plaques, Stepping Stones, Outdoor Solar Lighting, Welcome signs to greet your guests and more. A great place to find all these garden decorations is Birdhouses Plus

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Benefits Of A Bird House And How To Choose The Right One




If you are a keen bird watcher, you should seriously consider placing a bird house in your garden. A bird house is a good approach to bring a little bit of nature closer to your home. Perhaps you reason that you can go to zoo or aquarium to enjoy nature. You even can spend some days to go hiking to achieve the same thing. However, it is always pleasurable to be able to enjoy nature from the comfort of your home. Furthermore, by placing a bird house in the garden, at least you contribute to the environment by providing an essential place for birds to nest in.

Choosing the right bird house for your garden

There are many types of bird house that you can choose and sometimes it can become confusing to choose the right one. In this case, the first thing that you should consider is the size of your garden. If you have a large garden, then you can choose a big bird house that can accommodate many birds. On the other hand, it is better to have a small bird house if you only have a limited space.

Another consideration in choosing a bird house is where you want to place it. If you plan to attach the bird house to an existing tree, then it is better to choose the small one. On the contrary, you can choose a big bird house if you plan to have a stand alone bird house instead.

Bird house also comes in different designs and thus you should select the one that can complement the existing exterior design of your house. A bird house will function as a decoration in your garden and thus you should match its appearance with the surrounding environment.

After you find a perfect bird house for your garden, you should also consider the type of birds that you want to attract. You should make sure that the bird house can accommodate or suitable for those birds. Afterwards you can go to local and pet stores to find the right bird seeds to attract birds. In this case, you should know various types of birds in your local area. If a particular type of birds is not available there, it is impossible to attract them even if you buy seeds and prepare a bird house for those birds.

You can prepare special seeds for foreign birds if you know for sure that your area is part of their migration route. It will be interesting to watch these new birds for a change after you watch the same ones for considerable amount of time.

If you have placed the bird house in the proper location and fill the bird feeder with enough seeds, then it is time to relax and enjoy the sight of birds that visit your garden. It is fun to watch these birds play and raise their families. If you have children, this can become an excellent opportunity to educate them about local wildlife. You also can teach them the importance of conserving the environment for our future generations.

If you get bored with the existing bird house, you can customize it or even build your own bird house. You can start finding bird house plans from the internet and choose the design that you like. Make sure that you have tools and necessary skills to make the bird house though. After you find a perfect plan, you can buy necessary materials and start making the bird house. This is also a good project that can be done by the whole family during the weekend.