With the advent of day light savings time, it’s another sign that Spring cannot be far away. And that means it is also time to start planning outdoor spaces if it’s important to you to have birds around your home.
It’s also time to build a nesting shelf for birds to rest and have protection. Both barn swallows and tree swallows are comfortable in this area of Monmouth County, but both are seeing a decrease in numbers, along with terns.
So it might be fun to make it a family project and build a bird shelf from one of the ideas below. Not only will birds love it, but you’re recycling as well.
For all who want birds to stay in the area, it’s important give them plenty of opportunities for water, be it a quick sip or a place to bathe.
Even a pan on the ground, washed and filled every day, will make do for some birds, and bird baths give them more opportunity to splash, sip and bathe.
If you have youngsters in the home, stop in the Library in Borough Hall for the rest of the month and pick up one of the Take & Make crafts, a fun project for youngsters to do at home, complete with directions and themed reading. The craft for the last half of the month is Spring Robin.
While at the library, pick up a copy of Audubon’s Plants for Birds, or visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site for plants that thrive in this environment, are native to the area, and provide both food and shelter birds can enjoy. Audubon’s online program also gives tips on creating gardens especially designed to help birds thrive.
If you’re putting up a birdhouse, make sure it’s in a location that is both h attractive and secure for birds, rather than close to the house or family activity. Make sure the size of the hole in the house is the right size for the birds you want to attract, just to be sure the eggs and the y8oung aren’t destroyed by larger birds.
Put out food for the birds you want…..orioles like citrus fruit, hang it on a nail, chickadees and many more love sunflower seeds, woodpeckers and wren love suet feeders., hummingbirds love sugar water on a 4-1 basin with water. Here it’s essential to wash the feeder once or twice a week and add new sugar water. Hummingbirds also love brightly colored tubular flowers, like phlox, salvia, and columbine as well as delphinium and fuchsia, and all birds love fruit trees, holly and oak.
Mourning doves, robins and cardinals will probably gravitate towards a nesting shelf instead of the more closed in boxes or bird houses.
This is what you need:
Old bucket
Hammer and nails
Spray paint
Paint the exterior of the old bucket but leave the interior alone.
Prepare to hang. If you’re screwing it into a tree, drill a hole in the center of the bottom of the bucket. If you’re attaching it in a different way, be sure it’s ready for hanging before doing anything else. Decorate the exterior it you want it to look attractive with more than birds .
That’s all there is to it. Don’t have an old bucket? Try an old mailbox, or an old porch light. Be creative, the birds will love it.
