Songbirds like goldfinches, titmice, chickadees, bluebirds, cardinals, blue jays, juncos, and wrens are a delightful visitor to your backyard and gardens. Not only are they beautiful and peaceful, but they are also a valuable member to your garden's ecosystem and health. Songbirds eat unwanted pests like slugs, snails, beetles, worms, and even aphids (Fun Fact: warblers are said to be the largest consumer of aphids in the garden). Their poop acts as a fertilizer, their pecking and scratching aerates the soil, which lowers fungus and creates stronger plant roots, AND they eat a bunch of weed seeds! Essentially, songbirds are the gardener's right hand man. Less unwanted pests, less weeds, stronger plants, free fertilizer, and peaceful, beautiful visitors? Sign us up!
How to Attract Songbirds to Your Yard
Songbirds will choose yards to inhabit that provide a calm location full of their basic needs: water, food, and shelter. By adding clean water sources, seed and nesting material bearing plants, the right feeders with the right seed, and proper housing, your backyard will be irresistible to songbirds.
Provide a Source of Water
Water is essential for songbird health. They, of course, need water for hydration, especially during hot months, but they also need to bathe regularly. Bathing helps them cool off and clean any unsafe bacteria and parasites off their feathers. Add bird baths, fountains, and misters to your yard to give your local songbirds a safe place to drink and rinse off. Place your baths in a shaded location, near shrubs so they can hide and dry off. Clean them every few days, making sure to scrub any lingering algae off.
Plant Songbird Attracting Plants
Fill your yard with native plants that provide seeds, fruit, shelter, and nesting materials. Planting a border combining these plants is a great way to add a stunning, low maintenance, helpful space to your yard. Leave the dead plants alone after frost to give the birds a chance to eat the seeds and make nests out of the dried foliage and stems. Break down the dead plants in early spring.
7 of our Favorite Songbird Attracting Flowers:
Rudbeckia (AKA Black Eyed Susans). This native perennial is hardy in zones 3-9 and loves full- part sun. Birds love rudbeckia in the fall for their seeds and use the dried plant (after they die back in the winter) for nesting materials. They are a favorite amongst Goldfinches.
Echinacea ( AKA Coneflower). Another native perennial hardy in zones 3-9. They love full sun and will bloom all season long. They are beloved by goldfinches, warblers, bluebirds, cardinals, and blue jays.
Sunflowers. Sunflowers are a beautiful, heat loving annual that are favored by many birds. Plant these easy growing plants throughout your yard and watch birds like finches, titmice, chickadees, bluebirds, cardinals, and sparrows flock to them!
Asters (AKA Stokesia). Perennial varieties, like the New England and Wood Varieties, are hardy in zones 5-9. Songbirds like cardinals, bluebirds, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, and titmice love to snack on their seeds throughout the winter.
Zinnias. These easy to grow annuals are beautiful, prolific bloomers. They are low
maintenance and make great cut flowers. We love to watch goldfinches perch on the sturdy stems and munch on the seeds.
Cosmos. Another easy to grow, great for bouquets annual that blooms prolifically all summer long. Goldfinches, sparrows, mourning doves, and chickadees will be flying all around them!
Gaillardia (AKA Blanket Flower). These native perennials are hardy in zones 3-10 and have stunning, bright flowers that bloom profusely. Even in extreme heat! Many songbirds, including goldfinches, love them.
Add fruit bearing plants like elderberries, beauty berries, mulberries, dogwood and hollies to your landscape for an added source of food and a place for them to hide and nest.
Hang Bird Feeders with the Right Seed
Sprinkle several types of feeders throughout your backyard to serve different types of birds.
Tray feeders with mesh bottoms attract a wide variety of songbirds like bluebirds, cardinals, juncos, and sparrows. The netting in the bottom allows for excellent drainage and are easy to clean and keep seed fresh.
Hang Bluebird Feeders with a small dish filled with mealworms and fruit. This design is our favorite as the plexiglass allows a safe enclosed space for the bluebirds to feast while also allowing easy viewership.
Provide Suet Blocks and/or Seed Cylinders
Suet is nutritional and easy for birds to eat, especially during winter months. They last for a while so the need to refill feeders is cut down.
Our favorite cylinder is this bugs, nuts, and fruit cylinder. This blend is a delectable feast for an amazing variety of wild birds. This formula is sure to attract your favorite feathered friends with its fantastic blend of mealworms, pecans, sunflower hearts, raisins, and cranberries. They are easy to attach to a hanging cylinder feeder and don't melt in our warm climate no matter what time of year it is.
When choosing your bird seed think about what birds you are trying to attract and the seeds nutritional value. Some birds, like bluebirds and warblers, like insects (mealworms) and fruit. Others prefer sunflower seed or safflower seed. Whatever you choose, be sure to choose high quality, Non- GMO Seed.
Some Of our Favorite Blends:
Choose this Holistic Recipe if you enjoy that pleasant flash of vibrant red outside your window. Specially crafted to attract its striking namesake, Cardinal’s Favorite cuts out corn and undesired fillers, adds over 50% black oil, and mixes in a crafted Bird Pro scent to round out a delectable experience. Don’t be too surprised when other feathered friends flock to your feeder for a taste!
This blend attracts Cardinals, Titmice, Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, House Finches, Doves, Pigeons, and more.
This Holistic Recipe is a perfect year-round option. Combining top-quality Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Cherries, Peanuts, and more with an infusion of our specially-crafted Bird Pro scent, this recipe contains all of the essentials for satisfying your favorite feathered friends.
This blend attracts Cardinals, Titmice, Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Buntings, Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, House Finches, Wrens, Juncos, Doves, Pigeons, Sparrows, and more.
This recipe looks and smells so good that if you’re a human, you might be tempted to eat it! But don’t be fooled: this trail mix is strictly for the birds. We blame the way it looks so good on the familiarity of its ingredients. You see, this delicious, proven recipe features a generous mixture of top-quality nourishment including cherries, cranberries, raisins, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, peanuts, and more.
This blend attracts Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, Waxwings, Blue Birds, Blue Jays, Nuthatches, Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, House Finches, Buntings, and more.
Don't Forget to Clean Your Feeders
Clean your bird feeders and the seed out every 5-7 days to prevent mold and bacteria. This extra step will ensure the health of your favorite feathered friends!
Provide Houses and Shelter
Finally, be sure to add a sense of security and safety throughout your yard. Birds need a place to hide from predators and often seek shelter in shrubs and trees. Adding houses and nesting boxes also provides shelter and a safe place to raise their young. Late summer- fall is a great time to set up your birdhouses as they are looking for a place to hunker time. Keep clean, secure birdhouses throughout your yard to encourage birds to live and return to your yard year after year.
Here's to a yard full of beautiful songbirds!
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