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Caring for and Attracting Birds to Your Garden

By Marie Hofer, Gardening editor, HGTV.com
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Inspired by leading architects, these modernistic teak birdhouses have stainless-steel hardware and are easy to clean.
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Feeders like this one have a device that blocks access to the seeds if the bird (or animal) is too heavy--hence, squirrels are excluded.
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Make a low-budget but attractive birdbath.
Even if you didn't just plain enjoy watching them, having plenty of birds around makes great ecological--and gardening--sense. And they're pretty easy to take care of. Give them a steady supply of good, solid food such as black-oil sunflower seeds, some shrubs and trees that provide berries (and fast getaways from predators), and a bath to splash in, and they've got it made. Add some dense conifers and nesting pouches for cold-weather protection, and they're in heaven.

Food and Shelter

Feeding and Bathing
To Stop or Not to Stop?
Caring for Your Wild Birds
Birdfeeding Tips
Homemade Birdfeeder
Birdhouses 101
Gourd Birdhouses
Accents for Birds
Attracting Hummingbirds
Feeding Hummingbirds
Enriched Bird Food

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Hollies, like this longstalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa) serve birds in several ways--as a food source, as cover and as a nesting site.

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A native shrub provides nectar for a hummingbird. If you're pleased with the wildlife sanctuary you've created in your backyard, find out how to get it certified.

Plants for Food and Shelter

Birds need places to hide, to nest and to stay warm; offer them a few broadleaf evergreens and dense conifers. When you're adding berry producers to the yard, plan on selecting varieties that supply fruit at different times of the year. Include those shrubs and trees--like winterberry, bayberry, hackberry and some viburnums--whose fruit ripens late or that only become appealing to birds after all other fruit is gone.

Creating a Wildlife Sanctuary
A Bird-Friendly Yard
Growing Food for Birds
Attracting Hummingbirds
Attracting Birds and Butterflies
Shortcuts to Birds
Creating a Winter Haven for Birds
Very Merry Berries
Winter Berries

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Birds prefer shallow birdbaths--no more than a couple of inches deep. Here, a former birdbath top rests on a stump. If there are cats around, keep your birdbath away from foliage.
Other essentials

A consistent water source is critical, of course, both for drinking and bathing. Place the birdbath in a clear space, at least 10 feet from ground-level foliage where ambush by lurking cats could pose a hazard (and if you own a cat that's free to be outdoors, be sure to put a bell on him). In summer, change the water every few days--or float a Bt (Bacillus thuringensis israelensis) doughnut--to control mosquito larvae.

Ultra-Easy Birdbaths
Birds and Housekeeping
Terra-Cotta Birdbath

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