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Tips for Taking Up Birdwatching

An Eastern phoebe preferred constructing its own porch nest to the gourd hanging nearby. Credit: Erin France

Attracting birds to your yard might seem like an easy venture, but there are plenty of folks who find it difficult to make feathered friends. Here are some common roadblocks you might meet in making your space a place for the birds. 

Stereotypes: You don’t have to be retired, university-educated or white to enjoy birds. MacArthur Fellowship winner, ornithologist, naturalist and writer Drew Lanham recently spoke at the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Natural History gala fundraiser highlighting the role nature, and birds in particular, have played in his life as a Black man.  

“His message [was] a combination of the restorative power of nature and its role in his life in combating the racism he’s experienced,” said James Porter, president of the Friends and retired UGA School of Ecology professor. “It’s a message that everyone should hear.”

Along with sourdough, many new people took up birdwatching during the pandemic, with backyard bird videos becoming popular on TikTok and spikes in web traffic related to identifying and attracting birds. If you’re interested in learning more, watch a few videos, listen to a birding podcast or read Lanham’s book The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature.

Tiny Spaces and Angry Neighbors: You might only have access to a small porch or balcony. Or, you could have a neighbor more upset about bird poop piles than feeding native birds. In that case, try a hummingbird feeder, said Josiah Lavender, an ornithologist, researcher and UGA School of Ecology senior. 

Hang feeders from awnings or railings and pot up hummer favorites like red salvia, Lavender said. Apartment dwellers might want to initially opt for hummingbird feeders because invasive swarming starlings could easily out-compete nearby native songbirds. “Especially in a really populated area,” he said. “They will make a mess because there’s a lot of them.”

Lack of Native Habitat: If you have a yard in Georgia, you likely have a bunch of invasive non-native plants. Those non-natives can cause loss of habitat, and in some cases death, said Athens Area Master Gardener Liz Conroy.

Nandina, regularly found in big box stores and Georgia landscaping, sprouts bright red berries containing cyanide and proliferates quickly, even in our heavy clay soil. The fruits attract the cedar waxwing, who munch on similar-looking native holly berries. “Little piggy waxwings will just eat and eat and eat and fall over dead. They realize too late that they’re stuffed with toxins,” Conroy said.

Conroy suggests a layering approach to landscaping, offering birds native plants including short grasses and beefy bushes, as well as petite and towering trees. 

Lavender cited Chinese privet as an invasive he’d put on the eviction list. “It’s actually out-competing a lot of native species,” he said. “The more you can [replace invasives], the more attractive your yard is going to become.”

Bird Baths: If you’ve only got money for one bird-centered article, a bird bath should be at the top of the list. “Water is critical,” Conroy said. “During a drought they’re just desperate for water.”

And while only some birds eat seeds from feeders, Lavender said, all birds need a drink of water. “A bird bath is better at attracting a diversity of birds.”

I would highly suggest plonking down the cash for a ready made bird bath. I have tried DIY-ing a cheaper version and fell into promoting a mosquito swimming pool instead of hosting a MacGyver bird spa. 

Bird feeders—and the ongoing cost of filling them—are more up to individual interpretation.

“One thing to consider when you’re getting a bird feeder is how much time you’re going to put into maintaining and refilling it,” Lavender said. But, he assured me, the birds aren’t starving if the feeder remains empty. 

“They’re taking advantage of how accessible the food that you’re putting out is,” Lavender said. “We’re not causing them to change.” Some birds prefer sunflower seeds, others chow down on mealworms. Others, like the mourning dove, prefer to eat millet and smaller grains off the ground. Ultimately, what bird food you choose to set out and where will have an impact on what birds you see. 

Birds also can be finicky about their homes, and many have specialized places they prefer to nest, which can be disheartening to those of us with empty boat-shaped birdhouses or lonely hand-painted gourds dangling from trees. The bluebird, for example, looks for a home with a 1.5-inch hole near a large field where it can hunt for insects. I snagged two families of bluebirds last year by adhering to their preferred real estate.

Great Native Plants for Attracting Birds:

  • White Oak
  • Beech
  • Redbud
  • Beautyberry
  • Dogwood
  • Sumac
  • Fringe Tree
  • Little Blue Stem
  • Blue Wood Sedge

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