Although songbirds prefer large tracts of forest,
it is erroneous to think that a natural backyard wouldn't make a
difference. It does. Songbirds are attracted to native plantings in
your yard, especially wooded gardens with many canopy layers,
including mature trees and a dense understory. Oaks provide a good
source of caterpillars. Orioles and tanagers seek mixed fruit
trees, especially mulberry and wild cherry. Roving flocks of
waxwings devour dogwood, holly and red cedar berries; robins like
berry bushes as well.
The presence of water in a yard will bring migrants
down. Perhaps the most gratifying backyard habitat you can create
is for hummingbirds, which travel through in great numbers in
spring and fall. Plants that produce nectar-rich, red or orange
tubular flowers in the spring will attract the wayfarers: coral
bean, red buckeye (north Florida), geiger tree (south Florida) or
coral honeysuckle. Build a cascade of plant attractants by securing
a trellis to a wall and covering it with trumpet creeper or
crossvine for later blooms. Below the vines and low trees add lower
shrubs like firebush, and then low-flowering perennials and
annuals, such as columbine. Hummingbirds like the layered
vegetation. Remember they feed most comfortably from blossoms two
feet or higher above the ground and that the flowering plants
should be situated in full sun.
For more information refer to Planting a Refuge for
Wildlife.
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