Bird Friendly Backyards

Do any of you have any bird nests in your backyards? How about bird feaders?

We have about 4 bird nests by each post at the top of our porch. We also built a small bird house for a white dove that seemed to like our porch for some reason but she flew away one time and has not come since

Because of the nests the birds built we bought bird food so they could have some and also put a small bowl of water by the corner of the fence and a little food nearby as well. The tree and plants are growing in that corner and in the spring, that corner seems to become a social spot for birds. One time there were about 9 small brown birds lined up and taking turns eating, drinking. It is really cute watching them.
I mean, what more do they want? They have water, food, plants nearby, a great spot for sitting and viewing the area. :sillySmiley:

That's so cool, Carol. Those birds turn your backyard into a hot spot to hang out. LOL

One of my friends actually got into an argument with her neighbor who had a bird feeder hanging from the tree, my friend happened to have her clothline nearby, and yup, her clothes had the droppings of bird crap.

No we don't have any nests on our Yard or Bird Feeders but we have this Tree they are Small Red Cherrys and once it's spring they eat em they are soft then but the they have Diareaha and guess what happens to our Cars?

I love birds. I put lots of food out and get all kinds of em. There used to be a flock of about 50 wild turkeys that would come into the yard. That got a bit messy. Right now my favorites are the pair of pileated woodpeckers that come and eat suet every day. They're just plain big!

No, I got it from Google images. Different yard, different suet, same bird.

Oh, ok. And I thought what a great shot you took.

Rob wrote:

No, I got it from Google images. Different yard, different suet, same bird.

WOW, that bird gets around huh?!?!?! :Hahaha:

RHONDA :Hahaha:

Lily wrote:

Oh, ok. And I thought what a great shot you took.

He's big but he's fast.

Oh Rob!!

Hey everybody! I love birds, too! We have hummingbirds that usually migrate further south in the fall. We've had two stick around this winter, which is nice! We also have goldfinches that appear in Jan and stay 2 or 3 months. By the time they start getting their beautiful yellow color, they head back home :sad5: .

I wouldn't mind having a bird friendly yard, but living in a mobile home community, the neighbors might not be so happy about it.

Here, birdy, birdy, birdy!

Does that answer your question?

Other than my cats, yes my backyard is very bird friendly. I have a row of lilac trees, a willow tree, mulberry trees, apple trees, and ash trees. I live in the country... During the winter I feed the birds and a get a whole slew of birds. I've seen five sets of cardinals (male and female) at the feeder.

I also have a small-ish flower garden. During the fall, I dug up a section of the yard to make into a flower garden. I'm planning to plant flowers that will attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds so that I can take photos of them.

I got a hummingbird last year. I had the feeder hung near the kitchen window (there are lilac trees right in front of the house), and as my family and I ate supper we could watch the hummingbirds zooming around.

I'm really looking forward this year to taking more photos of hummingbirds. I got some nice ones last year, but this year with my new larger flower garden, I'll put a feeder there, that way the background won't be the road. :b

I really envy you living in the country. We live in S Texas (in town) and we don't have much of a variety of birds. Mostly sparrows and doves in the summer. The doves hog all the food! I'm planning to get a feeder that closes when doves or squirrels try to feed from it. Every blue moon I'll get a cardinal. Oh, I have Titmice, too. They're lots of fun! We have Green Jays out in the country that occasionally come to town. They're related to Jays...large green/black/yellow/blue birds that I really enjoy! And hummingbirds! I love them.

I also love taking pictures of hummers and butterflies. I never get tired of it !
What kind of hummers do you have? Mostly ruby-throated here. Every now and then we'll have black-chinned and buff-bellied. I've heard the Western portion of the US has many varieties.

I have a colibri (humming-bird) nest right in my balcony. He/she comes every summer to put some eggs there. Every time the bird appears, he will enter right in the middle of my living room, humming and dancing graciously. We must go and wave to him, a thing that seems to please him. Then, he /she put his eggs there and we'll see the little colibri heads popping out their nest. After it, he/she teach them how to fly and they goes away until the next summer . Their little nest always remains here, waiting for little new birds , every summertime. I really love these little humming-birds!

Vanesa.

Sabrina wrote:

The doves hog all the food!

Yes they do! When we had a dove for a while... it sure ate a lot of the food and what a mess it made....

One time my dad was watering the grass and the dove went and rested on top of his hat and stayed there while my dad kept on watering! It was too funny. We loved hearing it coo though... so sweet.

I would love to have a bird friendly backyard but we have two dogs that have the run of the yard and pretty much keep the birds away. Also, I have bought two "squirrel proof" feeders and the squirrels STILL manage to get into the food. That drives me crazy!! So I just kind of gave up. If anyone has some tips or an actual feeder that they know of that truly does keep the squirrels away, I'd love to hear about it!

Sabrina: What kind of hummers do you have?
I read that only the ruby throated hummers live in my area, but I never once saw a hummer with a red throat. I know that the females don't have a red throat, but it seems odd then that only the females would eat at the feeder.
Sabrina, is that a black swallowtail in your avatar?

I don't get any squirrels in my yard. I don't have any trees that would attract them.... I'm not sure on this, you'd have to ask, but I think that if you buy birdseed that smells like cherry that it's supposed to help keep squirrels from eating the birdseed. It would make some sense. Birds can't smell, so why sell birdseed that smells like cherry?

I have two big dogs in my backyard so when the dove was camping out in our backyard... it was a little annoying trying to check on the dove several times during the day to make sure he wouldn't get eaten by one of them.... since they HAVE killed a bird before

The dove would mainly be on the little house we made for it at the top of the porch but sometimes it would go down and stand in the hammock and other places that were very reachable to the dogs specially the husky one.... I think there were about 3 close calls....