How To Attract Birds to
Your Yard or Garden

By Richard Worden

One common goal for bird lovers with gardens is to attract a range of bird species. They’re fascinating and soothing to watch, and making your garden bird-friendly is a small but significant conservation effort. But how to attract birds to your yard or garden?

You can attract birds to your yard or garden by growing plants and flowers that can provide them with food and promote pollination. You should also leave seeds out in a bird feeder and set up a bird bath for birds to socialize, preen, and hydrate.

Let’s evaluate what we can do to bring the birds to the yard and keep them returning throughout the year. Who knows, maybe they’ll settle down in your tree.

What Plants and Flowers Attract Birds?

Birds aren’t picky regarding food and housing; in nature, you take what you can get. However, birds have their preferences, even when it comes to plants.

Birds are attracted to plants and flowers that provide them with fat and nutrient-rich berries, seeds, pollen, and live food like insects. Also, strong trees with lots of branches and foliage give birds a hidden and stable area to build nests and reproduce, safe from predators.

Trees that attract birds include: 

• Rowan trees
• Holly trees
• Elderberry trees
• Dogwood trees
• Oak trees

For example, dogwood and holly berries are high in fats and nutrients that fuel and bulk birds up for winter. Additionally, elderberry flowers are a kind of superfood for birds. 

Birds also enjoy eating flower seeds and feast on the mineral-rich pollen, feeding the birds and promoting pollination at the same time. 

Flowers that birds are attracted to include:

• Sunflowers 
• Cosmos
• Marigolds
• Amaranths
• Honeysuckle 
• Cornflowers
• Aster
• Milkweed

Aster is a fantastic source of nectar, a hummingbird’s favorite. And sunflower seeds are packed with fats and vitamins that birds such as finches and sparrows can’t get enough of. 

What Is the Best Food To Attract Birds?

Birds spend a lot of their time foraging, hunting, and feeding themselves and their offspring, so the more nutritious the food they find, the better.

The best foods to attract birds are fat-rich foods like nuts and seeds. They also thrive off dried fruits, rice, cereals, and live food like worms and bugs. These contain a plethora of vitamins birds need to stay healthy and energized, particularly in the winter months.

The best kinds of foods for birds are: 

• Sunflower seeds
• Peanuts
• Nyjer or thistle seeds
• Sorghum
• Millet
• Shelled corn

Alternatively, pick up some wild bird seed from a grocery store. These typically have a mixture of seeds and corn that birds snap right up. 

If you’re feeling extravagant, you can feed wild birds berries and fruits. Preferably feed birds fruits and berries they’d naturally come across in the wild, such as:  how to attract birds to your yard or garden

• Mulberries
• Holly berries
• Juniper berries
• Viburnum
• Apples
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Plums
• Oranges
• Raisins

Be sure to moisten dried fruits for birds before placing them out, so they’re easily digested. Note that there are foods you should never feed to wild birds at risk of them becoming unhealthy or even being poisoned. These include: 

• Bread: Bread can block birds’ digestive tracts and have no nutritional value.
• Raw meat: Unrefrigerated meat quickly spoils, poisoning and even killing birds that consume it. Cooked meats are a bad idea for the same reason. 
• Salted fruit and nuts: Avoid feeding birds salted fruit and nuts. These are packaged and sold for people. 
• Pet food: Though nutritious, pet food can go rancid and moldy quickly, attracting unwanted visitors like squirrels and raccoons. 

The bottom line when it comes to feeding birds is to keep things simple. Birds have evolved to eat fruit, nuts, and seeds, so focus on feeding them those kinds of foods, even if you think they might enjoy the occasional potato chip. how to attract birds to your yard or garden

What Bird Feeders Do Birds Like?

If you’re wondering how to attract birds to your yard or garden, keep in mind that birds are perpetually looking for food, so giving them a designated area with healthy food to come to when they’re hungry is a sure way to get their attention. 

They’ll learn in no time that your garden is the place to be and will even build a relationship with you as their feeder.

Birds like bird feeders that offer them security from predators and have plenty of places to perch, especially when many birds gather. It’s best to get a bird feeder that repels squirrels so the birds don’t have to compete with them, as squirrels are notorious for stealing bird food.

Birds appreciate vibrant, colorful feeders and perches because: 

• Bright colors catch a bird’s eye from a distance.
• It imitates flowers that birds would be attracted to. 
• It mimics plumage that would resemble their mate’s in the wild, depending on the kind of bird you want to attract. 

The best colors to incorporate into your garden are:

• Red
• Pink
• Yellow
• Orange
• Bright blue
  
  

Where To Place a Bird Feeder in Your Garden

Birds appreciate any sustenance, but they definitely have preferences for where they would like to take their meals. 

The safest and most convenient place for a bird feeder is hanging from a tree. The branches act as extra perches and resting places for birds, mainly if traffic at the feeder is heavy. Branches and foliage also offer protection from birds of prey and other predators. 

Ensure that the feeder isn’t situated in a too dense area of the tree, though, as squirrels will take advantage of this, and it will be more challenging to refill and clean the feeder. 

Tube Feeders

Tube feeders are an excellent choice for keeping seeds dry and dispensing them regularly without the need for you to constantly refill them. 

Tube feeders are long plastic or metal mesh tubes closed with metal or plastic caps. They have numerous perches and feeding ports that dispense a certain amount of seed so they don’t overflow or run dry. 

You can control the demographic of birds you attract depending on the size and placement of the perches. Larger perches allow slightly larger birds to feed, while small perches above feeding ports attract small birds like finches and chickadees. 

It’s essential to get a feeder that will keep seeds dry. If seeds get wet, they can become a breeding ground for mold and bacteria, making birds ill and deterring them from visiting again. 

Let’s explore a few bird feeders you can purchase for your yard or garden:

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Hopper Feeders

Hopper feeders, or house feeders, keep seeds dry and fresh for longer and offer birds safety and privacy while being reasonably visible for you to observe. 

Typically, a hopper feeder resembles a wooden house, but you have the opportunity to customize it to be vibrant and dynamic so more birds will be drawn to it. how to attract birds to your yard or garden

Hoppers are also great because many offer anti-squirrel protection, such as metal bars and bases. Weight-sensitive perches are incredibly useful in this regard, too: birds can land on the perches, but as soon as a squirrel puts their weight on it, the dispenser closes.

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Do Birds Like Birdbaths?

Birdbaths are an essential garden feature for bird lovers. Watch from your window as birds of all sizes and species drink, preen, and socialize in their natural habitat.

Birds like birdbaths, so placing one in your garden will draw birds in, especially when paired with a stable food source and shelter. Birds favor baths with moving water, bright colors, a water heater, and fresh water. 

There are numerous ways to move a birdbath’s water, simulate a natural water source, and keep a constant supply of fresh water flowing: 

• Bubblers: Bubblers gently disrupt the surface of the water by producing a small spout of water, creating the impression of a babbling brook. 
• Wigglers: This is a dome that vibrates water and produces ripples. Many of these are solar-powered and don’t need cords or typical batteries. 
• Dripper: Usually in a pipe or tap form, water drips down into the water like moisture down rocks, creating ripples and drops for birds to sit under. 
• Fountain: Fountain birdbaths and fountain attachments are some of the best choices, creating moving water and a waterfall effect for easy cleaning and fresh water circulation. 

Let’s explore a few bird baths that will attract birds to your yard or garden:

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Where To Put a Birdbath

Birdbaths should be near the ground, just as natural water sources are, and high enough off the ground to evade ground-roaming predators like domestic cats. how to attract birds to your yard or garden

Keep the birdbath in the shade to keep the water cool, fresh, and near a plug if you have an electric birdbath. Your birdbath should be pretty shallow to accommodate small birds and have a big enough rim for slightly larger birds to perch on.

What Types of Birdhouses Do Birds Like?

Understanding how to attract birds to your yard or garden means you need to figure out what houses birds should use as their home bases.

Birds like cool, dry, and safe housing. Hang a birdhouse high off the ground, and ensure there’s enough room for the kind of bird you’re trying to attract. The end goal is to have them build a nest in the house. Keep it close to necessities like food and water, and provide adequate ventilation.

The birdhouse needs to stay fairly clean to attract birds to nest there and reduce the risk of disease and pests that may threaten the birds.

Size

Larger birds need larger houses, and smaller birds need small houses. For example, owls need at least eight cubic feet, or 30” X 19” X 24” of space, with a large arched entryway. 

Smaller songbirds require about 8” x 4” 6” of space, with a small elliptical doorway, keeping predators and harsh winds out.

Placement

A birdhouse needs to fit in with a bird’s natural habitat, so placement depends on what sort of bird you’re hoping to draw to your yard. 

House wrens prefer houses with thicker vegetation, while bluebirds prefer a house near an open field. 

Wherever you put the birdhouse, ensure it’s tightly secured to:

• A pole
• A tree trunk
• A branch

Don’t place the house too close to the ground, as this would make the birds extremely vulnerable to predators, which would drive them away more than draw them in.

Cleaning

Birds may be animals, but they have a low tolerance for mess. Birds are far happier and healthier in a clean and well-ventilated environment. 

Regularly wipe the outside of the birdhouse with soapy water and rinse with clean, fresh water afterward.

If the house has old nest material but appears to be abandoned, clear out all the old plant and fecal matter, and scrub down thoroughly with a bleach and water solution. 

Regular maintenance ensures the entryway remains clean and that the house stays in good shape. Consider painting the house with a water-resistant coating. 

Here are a few birdhouses that will attract birds to your yard or garden:

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How To Attract Birds To Your Yard Or Garden
Final Thoughts

Offering birds food they love and can’t get elsewhere is one brilliant way to attract birds to your yard or garden, as well as giving them a safe and fresh water source to bathe and drink from. If you provide a bird with all its basic needs, it will visit your garden regularly and possibly even make a home in a nearby tree or a cute novelty birdhouse.

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Hi! I'm Richard Worden, the author and founder of We Know Birds.

Over 20 years ago I developed a keen interest in birds and birdwatching, and it has been my passion ever since. I am committed to spreading useful knowledge about birds to others so we might all enjoy them to the fullest.

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