It’s getting to be that time of year again. The flowers are beginning to show some life, the weather is getting warmer and you’re starting to spot birds you hadn’t seen in months. That could only mean one thing: spring is near!
With spring knocking at the door, it’s time to start preparing your backyard for a wide array of beautiful birds coming back from their migration south. Here are some helpful tips for getting your yard back into shape for spring.
Clean your bird feeders, bird baths and birdhouses
It’s a dirty and unpleasant job, but it has to be done. After a wet or snowy winter, you really have to take down all your bird-related accessories from your yard and give them a thorough cleaning. You should definitely clean them consistently, but use the upcoming spring as motivation to really clean out all the dirt from your accessories. If you need some help getting them completely clean, here is an article on how to clean your feeders.
Get your birdhouses ready
While many of you might have kept your feeders and bird baths up throughout the winter, birdhouses are something you might have taken down that you’ll need to put back up. Before you do so, make sure to give them a cleaning and make any repairs.
Ready your hummingbird feeders
A good rule of thumb for most places is to put up your hummingbird feeder in mid-March for southern states, early April for states like Kentucky and so on. You should really check the migration patterns of hummingbirds in your area and put out the feeders about two weeks before their expected arrival.
Plant flowers and shrubbery helpful to birds
Early spring is a great time to begin gardening with birds in mind. By putting a variety of native plants in your yard, such as those that will provide shelter and nourishment in the coming months, you’ll establish a bird-friendly backyard nice and early.
Make a pile with nesting supplies
Birds are very resourceful and will use a number of materials to build their nest, but you can make it much easier by putting out nesting supplies for them. Simply gather pet and human hairs, small strings, milkweed silk, Spanish moss and twigs and put it all in a suet cage for the birds to take.
Consider adding more feeding stations
If you’re interested in attracting more birds, consider putting up more feeders in different locations.
Try something new
Finally, a great way to prepare for another exciting bird-feeding season is to try something new. Instead of have only seed feeders, try using mealworms or oriole feeders. Experimenting with different things will help attract other birds and perhaps start a new tradition for you.
17 Comments
I learned a few years ago, to put out the lint from the dryer in a suet feeder, the birds love the lint, and I’ll usually add the hair from brushes. Last year I was sewing at this time and put out scraps of material as well, the material was gone quick.
Awesome points! Love the one about about a supply pile for nesting! I’m going to do this since I don’t know what to so with the Husky doggie fur!