Do you encourage birds to come to your yard? Do you have feeders or birdhouses or birdbaths? Do you plant flowers to attract hummingbirds or put out oranges to attract Baltimore Orioles? If you do these things, what have you put out for the birds and what kind of birds do you have coming to your yard or nesting there? What kind of bird do you wish you could attract?

I have three feeders in the yard, two for finches and small birds and one for larger birds. I also have a suet holder which I use to hold seed cakes this time of year (suet is better in the fall and winter). I primarily see goldfinches and indigo buntings at the small feeders and blue jays and woodpeckers (about three different varieties) at the larger feeder and suet holder. I have three birdhouses, although I think two are currently inhabited by house wrens (grr). The other is a bluebird house, and while I can tell there is a nest in there, I have never seen the birds go in and out, so I don't know for sure what's living there. Oh, and we have lots of swallows and robins, but they don't seem to visit the feeders or use the houses. I wish I could attract cardinals, but I haven't seen one yet.

Hummingbirds are nuts. I've had to duck several times as they zoom by. Three feeders plus several hanging baskets with Fuschias seem to keep them happy.

Cardinals are everywhere, bluebirds, blue jays, finches and a whole bunch more. One feeder for them with mixed seed. Some of them sit on various perches and just sing up a storm.

I've posted a couple of pictures of a nest in my shed.

We have a lot of mynah birds here. i dont attract them, and i put pinwheels around the garden to discourage them (and the cardinals) from eating my tomatoes. But I love to listen to them.

I have heard mynahs imitate other sounds, when I was building my house I would notice they imitated some of the power tools. They also imitate the tree frogs that come out at night---i know if I hear that in the day, its a mynah showing off.

I also have cattle egrets, and sometimes wild turkeys come around. And a lot of tiny finches and yellow canary type birds.

I am a bit freaked out by bird mites, so if they nest away from here and only come here to entertain me, its all good

I am always fascinated by both the plants and animals that are native to different climates. Mynah birds are only found in pet stores here (and I would never have a bird as a pet). Echoes, I saw the pictures of the nest and mama bird you have, and that is fantastic that you were able to get a picture of her on the nest! I need to get my camera out to see if I can get any good shots of the birds we have.

I am jealous of the hummingbirds, too. DH saw one so I put a feeder out. I haven't yet seen any at the feeder, but I did see one by my basket of flowers. At first I thought it was an insect and then I did a double-take and realized that while it was tiny for a bird, it would have had to have been one VERY large insect (not found in this zone)!

Cobalt, thank you for freaking me out about bird mites! I had no idea and had never heard of them, and now that I've googled them I feel mildly itchy...

Originally Posted by HauteMama

I am always fascinated by both the plants and animals that are native to different climates. Mynah birds are only found in pet stores here (and I would never have a bird as a pet). Echoes, I saw the pictures of the nest and mama bird you have, and that is fantastic that you were able to get a picture of her on the nest! I need to get my camera out to see if I can get any good shots of the birds we have. I am jealous of the hummingbirds, too. DH saw one so I put a feeder out. I haven't yet seen any at the feeder, but I did see one by my basket of flowers. At first I thought it was an insect and then I did a double-take and realized that while it was tiny for a bird, it would have had to have been one VERY large insect (not found in this zone)! Cobalt, thank you for freaking me out about bird mites! I had no idea and had never heard of them, and now that I've googled them I feel mildly itchy...

Oh, so sorry!!! The only reason I have a bird mite issue is because we had mynahs nesting outside DDs window when she was in kindergarten, which of course i thought was charming when I was a newb here.

Then, the baby birds flew away, and it was all happy happy joy joy until the mites took over the empty nest and then came inside.

We have had bad infestations at the public stable here, too...because there are a lot of empty stalls and the chickens take over and then move on, and the mites stay behind. But in your average home situation, I dont think they are an issue.

Just remove any empty birds nests after the birds have moved on. Its healthier for them to build new ones anyway.

Sorry HM! The itch will pass, I promise!

I love watching the birds outside. We have a birdbath. I especially love when the cardinal comes by, it's gorgeous.

I may put a feeder out to bring in more birds to the yard. We have a parrot as a pet and he's the best pet I ever had. So sweet and he likes to look outside too.

I am beyond terrified of birds, and do everything I can to keep them away from me and my yard. One of my earliest memories is of when I was about 4 years old, and a bird pooped on my head. I remember my mom was laughing at me and it took forever to wash the crap out of my hair. Since then, I've been afraid that a bird might poop on my again, so I avoid them.

I love wild birds...I have several feeders in the yard, and two on my kitchen window so I can watch them. My favorites this year are the hummingbirds, woodpeckers, and wrens. We have a downy woodpecker that waits for us on the back porch until we put the suet out every morning (have to bring it in at night thanks to our local annoying raccoon). We have a ton of gold and purple finches, and even a pair of cardinals, too. I took a picture of a goldfinch on one of the the kitchen window feeders yesterday morning- I'll try to post it from home when I can shrink it a bit.

I have a goldfinch feeder and a woodpecker log feeder. I Also have a regular seed feeder in back. I put out orange but Baltimore orioles did not come. My neighbor puts out grape jelly and orioles and others are always in her yard.

I can't say I encourage them, but they are here. I have a nest of barn swallows on the porch in their mud nest. There are also four nests on the posts of my patio cover of some little brown birds. I don't mind them except for the mess they make.

Our driveway is 1/2 mile long, and I often go for a run in the evening. Although there are always red-winged blackbirds around, I have never before noticed them nesting anywhere. But they must be nesting in the trees around the midway down the driveway because the red-winged blackbirds go CRAZY everytime I run past. Several of them fly over me with very severe sounding calls while the ones in the tree use a different call - perhaps to warn other birds? Anyway, nevermind that I run past there many, many times each week; they haven't become used to me yet and they freak out each time I go by! I've never seen them in the yard or at the feeders, though, so I wonder if they prefer insects to seeds.

I do everything i can to encourage garden wildlife.
I have numerous bird feeders in the front and back gardens and have a large selection of visting birds daily, living close to 2 parks and a very large wood helps !

I've noticed the bald eagles are quite attracted to my chihuahua and I put out feeders for the hummingbirds but that's it.

I live on a bluff overlooking the ocean and the birds flourish in the natural habitat (lots of native plants and trees) so I see eagles, pileated woodpeckers, flickers, cedar waxwings, Steller's jays, turkey vultures (amazing birds), herons etc.

Originally Posted by Hally

I've noticed the bald eagles are quite attracted to my chihuahua

If you value your Pup, I'd keep it in sight and protected at all times. Eagles are birds of prey and will take small animals with little effort.

Originally Posted by Echoes

If you value your Pup, I'd keep it in sight and protected at all times. Eagles are birds of prey and will take small animals with little effort.

He wouldn't stand a chance and I know it. He is not the right breed of dog to have here but I got him when I was living in the city.