Attract and Feed Wild Birds In Your Garden

Bird watching can be a fun sport, and it is especially interesting when you can find various birds right in your own back yard. If you would like to make your garden a great place for wild birds, just try these handy little hints.

• Encourage birds to take a bath. Birds will not take a dip in your birdbath if it is covered with green, slimy algae. To clean your birdbath, start by draining all the water. Soak several paper towels with bleach and lay them on the surface of the bath. Let the bleached paper towels soak the birdbath for about 30 minutes, then remove the towels, rinse the bath, and let it air dry. To prevent algae growth in the future, change the water and scrub your birdbath every week. Consider cleaning it more often if your birdbath is a bird hotspot.
• Give your feathered friends a feast. Give hungry birds a treat during the winter by coating pinecones with peanut butter and leaving them outside. For a tasty dessert, smear hardened bacon grease on pinecones and roll them in birdseed.
• Make treats for the neighborhood birds. Make a special treat this winter for your neighborhood birds. Take one cup of crunchy-style peanut butter and melt it into one cup of lard. Stir in two cups of instant oats, two cups of cornmeal, one cup of white flour, and one-quarter cup of sugar. Pour this mixture into several containers, making a layer about an inch thick in each container. Leave the mixture in your freezer for several hours to harder, and then serve it to the birds by leaving it out in your yard or on your porch.
• Beautify your birdbath. To make your birdbath the hottest landing pad in your neighborhood, drop a few colorful marbles in the water. Birds will flock to them.
• Feel good about your birdfeeder. If your birdfeeder is dirty, it could be spreading disease and parasites to the birds. Here is how you can give it a good cleaning. Start by rinsing and scrubbing the inside. Then dunk the feeder for two minutes in a mixture of one part chlorine bleach and nine parts lukewarm water. Rinse it again and let it air dry. Finally, clean the ground underneath your bird feeder with a broom and a shovel. If you do not want to spend time cleaning a bird feeder, but still want to feed the birds, plant berry bushes around your house. Birds love to feed on them, and they do not require any cleaning.