Preparing for Spring Bird Feeding

Preparing for Spring Bird Feeding

As the weather grows warmer and the days grow longer, some familiar faces will begin appearing in your yard. Migrating birds such as hummingbirds, sparrows, swallows, martins and larks will be returning soon, and it's time to prepare your garden and yard for your feathered friends.

Preparing Your Bird Feeders

  • Clean your feeders - The start of spring is a great time to deep clean the feeders that have been out all winter or spruce up feeders that have been stored since last summer. Not only are birds more likely to visit a clean feeding station, but it’s healthier for them as well. It’s important to keep your feeder clean if you want to continue enjoying their visits.
  • Add seasonal feeders - As spring arrives, seasonal visitors like hummingbirds and orioles will return. These birds require specialty feeders, so be sure to have their feeders up before these birds arrive in your area. If you wait too long you risk having them move on to other feeding grounds.
  • Introduce waterers -Water is as essential as food for your backyard birds. Adding waterers or a bird bath is a great way to introduce a fresh source of water. Birds that stay in your area will soon come to rely on your waterers, so make sure they stay full and clean.

Preparing Your Garden

As you work in your garden, planting annual flowers will be beneficial to birds both in the summer (when they gather insects) and in the fall (when they gather seeds). But, you can do more than just plant flowers. Berry-bushes, evergreens and other shrubs and trees offer both food and shelter for birds.

Other Tips for Attracting Birds to Your Yard

  • Hang your hummingbird feeders early. When spring-blooming red flowers begin to blossom, the hummers may not be far behind.
  • Clean up the area around your feeders with some fresh mulch to cover the winter’s accumulation of seed hulls.
  • Offer a reliable source of water, such as a bird bath or fountain.
  • Put up a bird house for those wrens, bluebirds and purple martins looking for a home.
  • Nesting birds appreciate the extra supplies to get their nests started. Think about leaving a small pile of string, feathers, straw, pet hair or twigs in your yard. Even create a sloppy mud puddle that some birds will use for nest building.

Follow these tips and you’ll enjoy the colors of spring at your feeders and the concert songs of the wild birds.

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