Imagine your city without birds: empty skies, motionless trees, silence. A world without birds is a world without life and beauty. Issues like rampant urbanisation, severe climate change, and a shortage of natural resources are driving birds to exist on the fringes of nature, even though they are the voice of nature itself. The best way to initiate change and bring back birds in your locality is to make your own backyard bird habitat. A bird-friendly garden or yard acts as a lush oasis for regional and migratory birds that want to escape the expanding concrete jungles. This will not only benefit the birds but increase local biodiversity as well. More birds mean a more thriving ecosystem.
All living creatures have three basic necessities: food, water, and shelter. Due to their physiology, birds also need a safe space to nest and mate.The first thing you need to do is determine how many of these requirements you can provide within your yard. Examine the space you already have and give it a literal birds-eye view. The first thing you’ll probably notice is trees – or the lack thereof. No bird is going to want to visit barren land. Greenery – trees, plants, shrubs, flowers, grass – is the primary aspect of making your bird garden. A variety of foliage ensures that your garden attracts a variety of birds. A good tip is to visit a national park, wildlife sanctuary, or public garden in your area and survey the kind of habitats that wild birds usually live in. Imitating a similar pattern of growth, structuring your yard in a way that’s familiar to wildlife, and layering different plant communities together, will help you maximise your bird habitat.
The most important thing to remember here is to choose plant and tree species native to your region. This will ensure that the plantation in your garden matches that of the landscape outside. Local trees are acclimatised to city conditions and thus flourish with minimal maintenance. They also come with their own local species of buds, flowers, nuts, fruits, seeds, berries, and nectar. What’s more, most native trees host specific bugs and insects that don’t just eat pests and harmful microbes, but also act as food for your yard birds.
Another crucial item to include in your bird garden is a water fountain or a birdbath. A clean and consistent source of water is what will encourage more birds to visit your yard, and also guarantee their frequent return. If a bird knows it can count on you for fresh water to keep them cool in the summer heat, it will more than likely spread the news to its mates. An easy way to do this is to recycle plastic containers in your home to create mini watering holes. If you have a birdbath, you can hang a bottle of water with a hole at the bottom to keep a constant drip on. The sound and visual of flowing water works like a charm.
Next: consider how much cover birds will have when they want to seek shelter from heat and rain, or when they want to mate. Most people don’t really think about this aspect while planning their bird garden, but if you live in a city with long hours of overhead sun, cover is something that cannot be ignored. The best way to provide this is to think about the heights of the trees on your lawn. Trees with varying sizes offer birds shade and protection. If you already have enough trees in your garden, try planting quick-growing plants that will serve as the shorter level in your multi-layered habitat. Shrubs are your best bet since they usually have low-hanging branches that give easy access for cover and extend long shadows across the landscape. While planting, clump same-specied vegetation together to encourage pollination and add density in clusters. Most easily formed in corners, these plant clusters will serve as green corridors and safe mating spaces for the birds.
Remember: you are not making a garden here, but a bird garden. This means dead branches and tree limbs don’t need to be disposed of. Unless they are a danger to people or property, these dead trees should be left for the birds to perch on. Birds also use them as sign posts, and to mark their territory. A woodpecker, for example, drums on dead wood – a sign of its territorial song. Moreover, dead bark is soft and easy to penetrate – cavities within these trees can serve as shelter to smaller birds like sparrows, sunbirds, nuthatches, hummingbirds, and bluebirds. At the same time, be wary of mould or infestation, and manicure your garden from time to time.
Last but not least, don’t forget about colour! Birds are attracted to colours and associate specific ones with food and fertility. Natural colour, of course, comes from flowers, while artificial colour can be in the form of bird feeders, birdhouses, perch stands, and even coloured ribbons you can tie around trees!
With just a little effort, will, and devotion, you can create a micro sanctuary for local and migrant birds in your backyard. You can even collaborate with your neighbours and friends to construct a communal bird garden in your locality