Bird Watching

Bird Watching

The interest in watching birds and attract-ing them to the garden has grown enormouslyin recent years. Their beauty, song and activebehavior make birds the most conspicuous formof wildlife that lives in close proximity to man Their exuberant presence can transform thegarden from a collection of plants into a livelycommunity of interrelated life forms. Theysatisfy a human need for close contact with thewild things that share the planet with us.Organic gardeners value birds highly in theirrole as efficient predators of insects. A variedpopulation of resident birds will help to con-trol insect pests. Bird and insect populationstend to balance each other out, and birds willdisappear from gardens that are doused withpesticides and herbicides at every appearance of aphid and dandelion. The slate gray berries of the juniper will satisfythe appetites of some birds which might otherwiseturn to the garden for food. Organic gardeners areaccustomed to thinking of pests in terms .1balanced control rather than overkill, and theyhave taken an important first step in makingtheir gardens attractive to birds by refusing touse these poisons. The birds will increase itnumber and variety if a few other requirementsare met.

Birds have three basic needs for survival-food, water and cover. A well-stocked feedercan increase the garden's bird populationdramatically in winter, and a birdbath can bea busy center of activity during the heat ofsummer. These two amenities in combinationwith plantings attractive to birds as nesting site,shelter and sources of food will help to insure ayear-round population of birds in the garden.

Planting for Birds: In the wild, more spe-cies of birds will be found in the brushy areawhere woods and fields meet than will be foundin the interior of either the woods or fieldsthemselves. Ecologists call this phenomenon"edge effect," and when it can be duplicated onthe home grounds, a greater variety of birdswill be encouraged to take up residence there.One way to accomplish this is by surroundingthe lawn with a thick border of fruiting treesand shrubs. The wider and more varied in con-tent the border is, the better, but even a narrov.boundary hedge can make a garden more ap-pealing to some birds. A gradation of heightsin the planting will make it more aestheticallypleasing and more attractive to more species ofbirds. Some birds, robins among them, forageon the lawn; others like catbirds and mocking-birds prefer to nest in dense shrubbery; and stillothers such as orioles spend most of their timein tall trees. The outer edges of the plantingmight be framed by tall shade trees, gradingdown to small fruiting trees and tall shrubs.faced in turn by lower shrubs around the pe-peter of the lawn, which should be kept asopen as possible so the birds can be seen.Evergreens should be included in the borderbecause of their value as year-round cover.Mass them where a permanent screen is wanted,cr where they can serve as a windbreak for thecarden and house. This kind of mass borderwen lawn planting will provide birds with anabundance of nesting sites, a variety of habitats,ample shelter, and food in the form of insects,seeds and fruit. It can be installed over aperiod of years as the budget permits, and willmuse its owner little work once established.

Bird gardens are of necessity low-main-nance gardens because birds prefer things tone as natural as possible. Converting largeareas of lawn into islands and borders of shrub-bery cuts down on the monotonous chore ofcrass mowing. The shrubs and trees in the birdgarden might be pruned occasionally to induceformation of forks and crotches that can sup-port nests, but they should be allowed to growtogether, thicket fashion, to some extent. Closedipping of fruiting shrubs should be avoidedbecause it reduces berry production. Use theprunings as pea stakes in the vegetable garden,or to make a brush pile in some out-of-the-waycorner. Brush piles are attractive to ground-dwelling birds as resting and feeding areas.‘'ine and bramble fruits can be planted aroundthem to form dense thickets which are thepreferred nesting sites of several species.Leaves which fall in the shrub borders shouldnot be raked up. Leaf litter harbors manyinsects and is a rich foraging area for birds,and it will slowly decay into leaf mold, which isthe only fertilizer the shrubbery will need.Many common weeds will furnish valuableseeds for birds. The common annuals lamb's-quarters (Chenopodium) and pigweed (Ama-ranthus) produce highly nutritious seeds favored by many species. The plants can becut in fall, tied in shocks and placed nearfeeders or among shrubs so birds have accessto the seeds in winter. The purple black berriesof pokeweed are eaten by 28 species of birds.This plant can make a showy addition to theshrub border. Gardeners may rebel at allowingsuch pests as ragweed and poison ivy to getestablished in the garden, but both are ex-cellent bird food plants. Garden flowers aremost closely associated with hummingbirds,but many will provide food for other birds ifallowed to ripen their seeds. The colorfulsmall-seeded sunflowers, cosmos, China asters,marigolds, and zinnias are especially good.

Even though a planting devoted to birdsshould be kept as casual and wild as possible,it should be as carefully planned as any othermajor landscaping project. There are limitsto the amount of actual jungle that can betolerated, especially on small suburban prop-erties where there are usually finicky neighborsto contend with. Make a scale drawing of thearea to be planted, and lay out the planting onpaper before anything is put in the ground.While it is true that a great variety of plantmaterial means a great variety of birds, don'toverdo it by planting one each of two dozendifferent shrubs at random around the garden.Try to group at least three shrubs of eachspecies together, and repeat the groups at vari-ous places in the border. This will insure goodcross-pollination and fruit set, and will makethe border more pleasing to the eye by givingit a pattern. Choose plants that fruit at differenttimes so food is available most of the year. Alimited list of proven bird attractors follows.

Fruiting trees: cherry, crabapple, dog-wood, hawthorn, Juneberry (Amelanchier),mountain ash, mulberry, and red cedar.

Fruiting shrubs: autumn olive, barberry,bayberry, coralberry, elderberry, species ofholly, tatarian and Amur honeysuckles, pyra-cantha, spicebush (Lindera Benzoin), manyviburnums (see also VIBURNUM), and yew.

The following cultivated fruits can be usedin both the bird garden and kitchen: black-berry, blueberry, Nanking and Hanson bushcherries, sour and sweet cherries, currant,gooseberry, persimmon, 'raspberry, and straw-berry.

Hummingbirds will visit almost any flower,but they prefer tubular flowers in the red toorange color range. Some hummingbird mag-nets are: trumpet vine, trumpet honeysuckle(Lonicera sempervirens), red bee balm (Mo-narda), cardinal flower (Lobelia Cardinalis),and jewelweed or touch-me-not.

Species of birds which may be expected tonest in gardens east of the Mississippi are listedbelow. Residents of western states are urgedto consult regional bird guides for counterpartspecies found in the West.

Birds which need areas of open lawn with some shade or evergreen trees for nesting in-clude: mourning dove, starling, commongrackle, American robin, house sparrow, andchipping sparrow.

Species nesting in dense shrubbery are:mockingbird, gray catbird, brown thrasher.yellow warbler, yellowthroat, cardinal, purplefinch, house finch, American goldfinch, rufous-sided towhee, and song sparrow.

Rows or parklike stands of shade treesmight attract: eastern kingbird, northern oriole,orchard oriole, and warbling vireo.

Gardens in suburbs with established treesor gardens adjoining woods might attract:various woodpeckers, eastern wood pewee, bluejay, white-breasted nuthatch, black-capped andCarolina chickadees, tufted titmouse, woodthrush, scarlet tanager, and rose-breasted gros-beak.

Some cavity nesters which will acceptmanmade birdhouses built to their individualneeds and placed in the proper habitat are:American kestrel; screech owl; various wood-peckers; great crested flycatcher; tree swallow; purple martin; the chickadees; tufted titmouse;house, Carolina and Bewick's wrens; easternbluebird; starling; and house sparrow. Theeastern phoebe and barn swallow will nest onshelves or beams inside buildings. The wrens,starling and house sparrow are the least fussyand will stuff their untidy nests into almost anycavity they can enter.

If there are no natural sources of waterit the vicinity, a well-placed birdbath will addtreatly to the attractiveness of the garden forbirds. Almost any wide, shallow container withrough interior surface, gradually sloping sides,and a maximum depth of three inches will do.Place the birdbath out in the open away fromshrubbery which might hide lurking cats. Awaterlogged bird is a clumsy flier and makeseasy prey. Where cats are a problem, a pedestal-type bath is best. Otherwise, a naturalisticbath can be made by scraping a depression inthe ground and lining it with concrete. Thegleam and sound of dripping water will attractmore birds. A hose can be suspended fromoverhead tree branches and turned on justenough to provide a slow, steady drip, or abucket with a pinhole in the bottom can behung over the bath. Make the hole very smallinitially; it can always be enlarged if desired.The bucket can be camouflaged with bark, andit should be covered to prevent debris andbirds from falling in. During warm weather, apopular bath may need a daily refilling and aweekly scrubbing with a stiff brush to removealgae. It can be interesting to watch theelaborate preening ritual birds go through afterbathing. Keep them in view while they dothis by placing a few dead branches near thebath for them to perch on.

Attracted by the garden insects, eastern bluebirdswill nest in the hollows of nearby trees or in%omemade birdhouses nailed to fence posts.

Great migrations of birds to and fromtheir breeding grounds take place in spring andfall. The well-planted bird garden can be awelcome resting and feeding place for tiredmigrants during these seasons, and the seden-tary gardener busy with his own seasonalroutines can sense the wonder of this continent-spanning flow' of life as he watches them comeand go. Many northern birds looking for agood place to spend the winter appear in fall.These winter visitors together with the residentbirds can make the garden a lively place allseason if food is provided to keep them around.Feeder-watching can be one of the greatestpleasures of dreary winter days, and it is a goodway of becoming familiar with birds. The lureof a reliable food source overcomes theirinstinctive wariness and brings them out in theopen where they can be easily seen. The birdsmay become dependent on the feeder oncenatural food sources are used up, so if you start feeding, don't stop until winter is over.Any of the commercial wild bird feed mixes orfine cracked corn and sunflower seed willsatisfy the seed eaters. Suet and peanut butterwill attract additional species.

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