Embrace the beauty of bird watching in winter

I have become interested in bird watching and would like to attract more birds to my garden and would appreciate some guidance on how to do so.

— Jeremy Atkinson, Barrington

Thanks for the question, Jeremy. We love to see people getting interested in bird watching — and winter is a good time to plan to enhance your garden with plants that will attract birds all year long. It takes more than feeders, birdhouses, and a bird bath along with some flowers for a truly bird-friendly garden. Birds need a complete habitat that includes food, shelter, nesting areas, and perching spots. A good garden for birds tends to have more of a natural look to it. I’d start by designing your garden so that there re different vertical levels, each attracting and providing something important to different bird species. Some birds prefer the canopy of tall trees while others perch in the understory trees and shrubs. Different species of birds will have varying requirements and preferences for nesting, eating, and shelter, so try to create as many of these levels as possible in your backyard garden to attract a larger variety of birds. Even open areas of soil can be beneficial by providing an area for birds to take a dust bath.

Another good idea is to select plants that provide food for birds at different times of year. Fruits of different plants will ripen in different seasons. For example, serviceberries provide spring-ripening fruit, red-twig dogwood in summer, and hawthorns and crab apples provide fruit in fall and winter. Perennials like purple coneflower and grasses such as a prairie dropseed provide seed for another food source. Sunflowers are quick-growing annual flowers with seeds that birds love. And nectar-producing plants such as penstemon, bee balm, and columbine are attractive to hummingbirds.

Birds also need year-round shelter, so include a mix of evergreens in your garden. When you can, leave some dead branches on living trees to provide zones for the birds to perch on — but prune any dead branches that are safety hazards, of course.

Leave the leaf litter in your garden beds next fall as an easy and environmentally friendly method to recycle material and help meet some of a bird’s basic needs. Other organic materials such as small twigs, fallen seeds, fruits, and berries should be left in the litter too. Many insects will thrive in the leaf litter, which attracts insect-eating birds. Try building a brush pile that is practical in your available garden space ranging in size from 3 to 8 feet tall and 6 to 20 feet wide to provide even more shelter for birds and arrange the materials to create spaces for them. A larger brush pile will be used more.

There are many kinds of seeds and feeders to choose from if you decide to start a feeding program. Squirrels can be a nuisance and eat more seeds than birds do, so choosing a squirrel-resistant feeder is very important. We’ve had good luck with a cylindrical squirrel-resistant feeder at my home. Take time to do some research as different species of birds prefer different types of seeds and feeders, and no one type is preferred by all birds. Ideally, you should avoid buying bags of mixed birdseed as they tend to contain a lot of filler like red millet, which most birds won’t eat. The filler ends up on the ground where it rots. Place your feeder in an open area where it’s easy to see, 10 feet or so away from the protective cover, and convenient to refill. If the feeders are too close to large plants, then squirrels will have easy access to them. Be consistent with feeding birds as they will become accustomed to your feeder and stick around. Stamp the snow down under the feeder to accommodate ground-feeding birds such as doves and dark-eyed juncos. To maximize the number of species that visit your feeders, you’ll want to offer a variety of food installed at different heights above the ground.

Black oil sunflower seeds will attract a wide variety of birds including cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches. Safflower seeds will also attract a wide variety of birds with the advantage of squirrels, blue jays, starlings, and crackles not liking this seed. Nyger is a good seed to attract goldfinches; it’s a very small black seed best used in a feeder specifically designed for it, which can be hung under an eave and near a window so you can enjoy it. A few more good options: White millet seed can be spread on the ground to attract ground-feeding birds. Suet is another option for feeding birds. Suet is rendered animal fat usually mixed with seeds and dried fruit and sold in small cakes. It’s best used in a cool, shaded area in amounts that the birds can eat in a few days to keep it from spoiling, which makes it a great option for winter feeding.

For more plant advice, contact the Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.