In the Garden Articles

Attracting Birds

by Joan S. Bolton

Now that winter's here, even the slightest flutter of wings and flash of color brings welcome activity to our dormant gardens.

The sight of a flock of yellow cedar waxwings descending on a pyracantha to devour its crimson berries or the flutter of tiny goldfinches nipping at the last seeds of a fading sunflower definitely lifts the spirits.

Better yet, if you've strategically located a few enticing plants -- or even a new bird feeder --you can enjoy the view from inside your toasty, warm home.

All it takes to encourage such feathery visitors is a trio of creature comforts: food, shelter and water.

Food

Dozens of trees, shrubs and ground covers -- particularly native plants -- produce colorful berries and nutritious, protein-rich seeds, acorns and nuts that will help birds get through the more meager months.

In fall and winter, many birds harvest flowering plants that have gone to seed. Wait to cut back those plants until the birds have picked them clean. In my garden, a sure sign of the changing seasons is the sudden disappearance of long strands of spent blue flowers on my germander sage -- it means that the goldfinches have been at work.

Other seed eaters include white-crowned sparrows, mourning doves, house finches, scrub jays and brown towhees. They'll forage their meals from such late-waning perennials as coreopsis, blanket flower (Gaillardia grandiflora), sunflower, native grasses, ornamental grasses, the many sages (salvia) and fennel. Some will hop on low-lying bushes to rustle about and shake seeds loose from their capsules, while others will settle for scratching the earth.

Scarlet berries are the holiday hallmark of pyracantha, toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), cotoneaster and holly. All will entice hungry hordes of cedar waxwings, scrub jays, robins and mockingbirds. Ceanothus and barberry (Berberis) berries aren't as showy, but provide sustenance, too.

Most birds find nuts too tough to crack. But wily crows pick walnuts, soar to great heights, then drop the nuts on the pavement to crack open the spoils.

Woodpeckers go after insects. Acorn woodpeckers, with a bright splash of red atop their heads, are an especially aggressive and inquisitive lot. They drill holes in oaks, sycamores, telephone poles and telephone cables, then stuff acorns inside. They wait for the acorns to rot and become infested with insects. Then they return to eat the insects.

Red-breasted sapsuckers favor traveling up trunks of carrot wood trees, gleaning insects in the bark as they go.

Black phoebes catch flying bugs. The dainty birds often perch near lawns. They dart out to catch tiny insects mid-air, then return to their post, which in my garden is often the back of a patio chair.

Townsend's warblers and yellow warblers eat flying insects as well.

Even hummingbirds get into the game. Ordinarily, they seek out tubular-shaped flowers in their unending quest for nectar. An Anna's hummingbird just buzzed my late-blooming Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha) a few days ago. Hummers also go for late-blooming penstemon and trumpet vines over winter. But when times get tough, they'll supplement their diet with tiny insects in their quest for protein.

Drumming up insects for hungry birds may seem to be more difficult than growing plants that provide seeds. You can mimic the acorn woodpeckers' gambit by letting decay set in. If you have a large yard, indeed, you might have an area where you don't mind letting fallen wood rot away.

But that's not the case for most of us. Still, if your garden contains a variety of plants of varying heights, textures and blooming periods -- rather than a flat swath of lawn flanked by a few shrubs or trees -- insect life should flourish.

Shelter

Before and after they've stuffed their bellies, birds need a place to perch, rest, sun themselves, look for prey and avoid predators. That's true whether they're staying for the winter or just passing through.

Our tall, native oaks and sycamores are among the most welcome shelters, offering lookouts for soaring hawks, cavities for owls to nest and branches for woodpeckers to cache their acorns. Back down on earth, native grasses provide excellent nesting material.

But even in gardens without towering trees, a combination of select shrubs, annuals and perennials can create a sanctuary for birds.

In smaller gardens, a stand of manzanita (Arctostaphylos), low-growing junipers or a thicket of heavenly bamboo (Nandina) may provide just enough cover.

In wilder areas, small oaks, coyote brush (Baccharis), ceanothus and other chaparral plants offer comforting shelter to quail, Bewick's wrens, house wrens, vireos and ruby-crowned kinglets.

Water

In the wild, birds bathe and drink in puddles.

The best man-made bird baths look much the same, with flat bottoms and low, sloping slides that a bird can easily hop out of when a neighborhood cat sneaks up. While a store-bought birdbath may be the most deluxe approach, an upside-down trash can lid or terra cotta saucer will do.

Just change the water regularly. Birds don't like splashing about in stagnant water. And you don't want to encourage mosquitoes during warmer months.

Locate the bath close to some sort of perch -- shrub, tree or post -- that a bird can reach quickly, should danger appear. Make sure the perch is not so close and sturdy that a cat or other predator can stealthily climb it, then pounce on a bird as it bathes.

Ponds and water gardens can be a mixed blessing. They may attract larger birds, such as belted kingfishers, egrets and blue herons. But if you covet koi or other fishes, you will need to take protective measures.

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Become a Bird Watcher

The way you plant and groom your garden can create an inviting habitat for birds.

You can also fortify the natural feast by stocking a bird feeder. Hang it within view of a window, and keep binoculars and a bird identification guide handy.

Bookstores carry field guides, while pet stores and garden centers carry sacks of bird food.

Join the National Audubon Society, and you'll automatically become a member of a local chapter of your choosing -- the closest are the La Purisima, Santa Barbara and Morro Coast chapters. All of the groups sponsor field trips, meetings and an annual bird count for experienced birders. You can also call 964-8240 for a tape recording of recent rare bird sightings in Santa Barbara County, compliments of the Santa Barbara chapter.

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Seeds of Wisdom

Given a choice, most wild birds prefer foods high in fat and protein. You can supplement their natural diet during the lean, winter months by providing them with sunflower seed, peanuts, millet, whole corn, safflower seed, cracked corn, niger (thistle) seed and suet.