Saturday, Sep. 27, 2008

A Bastion for Birds

When Jackie Mogan moved to a brand-new home 3½ years ago, she landscaped with the idea of attracting birds. It worked.

Although her back yard is only about 12 feet wide and 50 feet long, it is a haven for birds, with plants that produce seeds, berries and flowers; it includes several feeders, a birdbath and a small, two-tiered fountain.

Sparrows, finches, scrub jays, cedar waxwings and mockingbirds are just some of the birds that visit Mogan's yard. A mourning dove has built a nest atop a decorative baker's rack near the house, and Mogan sees hummingbirds year-round.

"Even a tiny garden can attract birds,: says Mogan, a Fresno County Master Gardener who teaches classes on how to bring birds into the yard. "It has more to do with what you have in your garden than the size of it. By adding lots of different types of plants, from trees to shrubs to ornamental grasses, you're attracting lots of different types of birds into your yard -- and the plants provide food, shelter and nesting sites."

Mogan's backyard includes purple coneflower, redbud, honeysuckle and a strawberry tree. She also has butterfly bushes, salvia, and flowering maple and Carolina cherries.

"I'll be inside having my tea in the morning and I'm just drawn out because of the birds," Mogan says. "It just really relaxes the mind and gives you that calming feeling at the beginning of the day."

The essentials of a bird-friendly yard are food, fresh water for drinking and bathing, and shelter. Mogan suggests avoiding pesticide use because many birds eat insects. She also recommends supplemental feeders.

"These are particularly important in the late winter and early spring, when there aren't as many natural sources of food," she says.

Water sources and feeders should be close enough to plants that birds can dive for cover if needed, Mogan says, "but not too close because predators can lurk among the vegetation."

Nancy Scheidt, a Fresno County Master Gardener who lives on a third of an acre, has six bird feeders; most are filled with a mixture containing black oil sunflower seeds. She also has a hummingbird feeder, hangs mesh socks filled with thistle seed, and scatters bird food on the ground. Her yard is lush with bird-friendly vegetation, including redwoods and oaks that mourning doves nest in and butterfly bushes and salvia that attract hummingbirds and carpenter bees. The National Wildlife Federation lists her yard as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

"I try to provide plants for the birds, and I certainly try to provide feeding stations and water," Scheidt says.

Water sources can be birdbaths, fountains or small ponds -- as long as there's a place for birds to perch and drink. They also can be as simple as the saucers Scheidt fills daily with fresh water and sets on the ground and on logs.

Joseph Oldham recently installed a 90-gallon in-ground pond with a small, two-step water feature in the yard of his home; it's for birds and other wildlife, including deer and raccoons.

His plants are drought-tolerant, deer-resistant and bird-friendly and include 10 desert willows that attract hummingbirds and carpenter bees. Orioles perch in them, and butterflies lay eggs on the leaves. Some of his other bird-friendly plants are coffeeberry, Cleveland sage, manzanita, penstemon and honeysuckle. He also has a hummingbird feeder.

"I wanted our yard to be an oasis of a native environment that will attract birds and native wildlife," he says. "If you plant it, they will come."

When selecting plants, Mogan says to choose varying heights; that's because some birds nest on the ground, while others prefer taller trees.