POLOKWANE – If properly equipped, the garden of any bird lover can host an abundance of birds.
You don’t necessarily need to have a huge garden with many trees. By planning carefully, even the smallest garden can host a variety of birds and provide one with the opportunity to hear their calls, watch them as they carry out their daily activities, and even study their behaviour.
In order to attract birds to your garden you need to create the right environment, and this can be easily done by considering the following four factors:
- Food – birds will be attracted to your garden if it contains suitable and a variety of food. Wild bird seeds in feeders will attract seedeaters, fruit will attract barbets and other frugivores (fruit eating animals), and mealworms will attract flycatchers.
Most birds cannot resist a suet ball. Feeding birds can however become costly. An alternative to feeding birds is to provide natural food by planting indigenous trees, bushes, grasses and other plants from which the birds can feed. After the initial cost of creating an indigenous, bird-friendly garden, maintenance will be low and the cost very little.
- Water – birds need water to drink and bath. Make sure the water in the bird bath is not too deep; smaller birds must be able to stand in the water. Small fountains which can be bought at nurseries are favoured by garden birds. Ponds attract insects and if stocked with fish might attract kingfishers. This will however be more expensive and require some maintenance.
- Security – birds will not use your garden if they feel insecure. Position the bird feeders and bird baths where cats and dogs do not have access to it or where there is limited human activity.
- Nesting space – An added advantage of planting trees and bushes in your garden is that they also provide nesting habitat for birds. You can also install a sisal nesting log, which could be used by barbets. Nesting logs should be attached to the vertical trunks or branches of large trees or even to a downpipe on the side of your house.
It is very important not to use pesticides and other poisons in your garden, as these will be harmful to birds. Insects, the food of many species of birds, will also be affected by poisons.
Information courtesy of Birdlife South Africa.
