For the Birds: Help Your Local Birds

Black-capped Chickadee really into its cooling bath.
Photo by Craig Kerns

By Christine Southwick

Water is probably the most important item you can provide - clean and cool in the summer, liquid in the winter. Water can be as simple as a large dish, or it can become a dramatic yard feature. Running water, like a fountain or mini stream will draw in more resident birds and even migrants flying over, needing a refreshing stop.

Black-headed Grosbeak, male
Photo by Craig Kerns

Plant trees and native bushes for food, roosting, and hiding places for most of our local birds. 

Keep large trees (dead trees made-into-snags are vital for larger cavity birds) for nesting sites, and plant native serviceberry trees and/or crabapple trees, or other fruiting native trees like Indian Plum and bushes like Snowberries. 

By planting native vegetation, local insects, which birds need to survive, will be found and controlled by our native birds. Birds are great pollinators which help fruits and even flowers.

Think about creating your yard as a Certified Wildlife Habitat to help compensate for major habitat loss—the most dangerous cause of loss of birds—both in numbers and in species.

Golden-crowned Kinglet juvie note the gape coloring
Photo by Craig Kerns

If you have insects that are eating some of your plants too fast, spray them off with water, hand pick, or buy beneficial insects, and attract more insect-eating birds into your yard with water and habitat. That will make both you and local birds happy.

Pesticides kill an estimated 72 million birds each year! So don’t use pesticides. They aren’t good for birds, kids, dogs, cats, or the environment.

Western Tanager, breeding male just passing through, stopping for a much needed drink
Photo by Craig Kerns

And please, watch for cats. Spray them with water if they come into your yard. They will learn to go elsewhere, at least when they see you.

Cats are an invasive species which kill approximately 2.4 billion birds EACH year!

As a cat owner, I love my cat(s). Most cats will easily adjust to watching birds through windows, and chatter away and swish their tails. I had one cat that really wanted outside. I built a successful small enclosed outside area with a cat door access so it could go in and out of the house unassisted. 

My cats and I are happy and the birds are safe. So, for the few cats that insist on going outside, that is a do-able solution that also keeps cats safe from our neighborhood coyotes, cat fights, and being hit by cars. (There are fancy catios available if you prefer.)

Seed and suet also help birds and make bird watching a delight. Suet can be used all year around and helps provide protein when the bugs are sparse—especially welcome while hungry fledglings are learning to hunt bugs.

Previous For the Birds columns here