Menomonee Falls residents will be celebrating their “Bird City Wisconsin” status, and a love for migratory birds, on June 12th (International Migratory Birds Day). That got us thinking about how to attract birds to your back yard as a way of supporting and protecting these little creatures.
Fortunately, there’s plenty of information on how to do this. The idea is to turn your yard into a friendly place for birds by offering the food, water, and shelter that supports them. From BirdCityWisconsin.org:
“Douglas W. Tallamy, author of ‘Bringing Nature Home – How You Can Sustain Native Wildlife with Native Plants,’ has a message that was fundamental to the creation of Bird City Wisconsin. In an article prepared for Bird City, Dr. Tallamy writes:
‘There is nothing inevitable about the demise of our birds. Their decline is not mysterious…we know exactly why there are fewer birds each year. Our birds are in trouble because we have not shared our human-dominated spaces with them: the places in which we live, work, and farm…what we haven’t thought much about was our ever-expanding human footprint. Suddenly, we are living, working, farming and mining just about everywhere…Birds are superb indicator species of ecosystem health. Most are predators, and some are top predators that cannot exist unless a complex food web…also exists…if we have disrupted ecosystem function to the point where our birds also disappear, we have also threatened our own life support systems.”
Fortunately, helping out isn’t all that hard. It starts with offering a good clean source of water in your back yard by adding a bird bath.
Next, you’ll want to add native plants to your landscape. These plants will provide much of the food sources that local birds want and need.
Non-native plants may not produce food that’s a very good match for the birds that might actually come to your back yard, so keep that in mind when planning your planting.
Shelter is also helpful. Bird houses are good, but bird nesting boxes are a bit more sophisticated.
You can also make sure to add nesting materials to your yard. This can be done through the simple expedient of piling twigs and branches in an out-of-the-way corner.
Finally, you’ll want to keep your yard safe for birds. Add bird tape to windows to keep birds from flying into them, and keep cats safely indoors.
You can also landscape organically to keep your yard free of harmful pesticides and herbicides. Most birds are highly sensitive to both.
Attend the International Migratory Bird Day Celebration for even more information and ideas. It’s from 10 am till 11 am at the Educational Kiosk at the corner of Custer Lane and Shady Lane in Menomonee Falls, and is free.
We have been installing high-quality fences in Menomonee Falls, Mequon, and the rest of the Milwaukee metro area for over 35 years. If you’d like to add a new fence to your bird-friendly yard just give us a call for a free estimate today.
