Attract birds this spring with plants and fun, decorative accessories.

Enjoy the impressive sights and sounds this spring as colorful birds migrate north and resident birds energetically prepare for new families. Look around to find the source of that sweet love song ritually ringing to attract a mate.

Food

Spring is an important time to provide food as fall and winter insects, berries and seeds have diminished. Select foods specifically designed for the birds you want to see close up.

Nectar: Hummingbirds, Orioles
Thistle seed: Finches, Pine Siskin, Chickadee, Wren
Sunflower Meats: Songbirds
Suet: Woodpeckers, Bluebird, Thrasher, Mockingbird, Wren, Junco, Nuthatch
Hot blends: Cajun spiced to deter squirrels
Meal worms: Bluebird

Plant flowers, grasses and shrubs that provide nectar and seasonal berries or seeds

• Trumpet Vine Bignonia
• Butterfly Weed Asclepias
• Ornamental grasses
• Nandina
• Pyrachantha

Did you know Parents fly an irregular path when bringing food to their young to steer predators away from the nest.

Water
A pretty bird bath or water fountain provides essential year round drinking and bathing water as well as art in the garden. The moving sound of water in a water fountain, or from a drip hose suspended above a bird bath, will attract even more birds. Use Dunk pellets in the water to prevent mosquitoes. Refresh water weekly.

Shelter
Birds nest in birdhouses, trees and shrubs. Select easy to maintain birdhouses designed specifically for the birds you would like to attract. Include roosting pockets around the yard as added protection from predators and the weather. Add your personal style with decorative bird houses.

Birdhouse nesters: Bluebird, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Wrens, Sparrows, Finches Tree & Shrub nesters: Robins, Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Hummingbirds Ground Nesters: Towhee, Killdeer

Did you know The little house wren will make several nests for his mate to choose from.

Dense shrubs and trees to provide a nesting place and protection

• Arborvitae
• Chamaecyparis
• Boxwood
• Indian Hawthorn
• Red Maples

It’s spring cleaning time. Maintain clean bird houses, feeders and bird baths. Remove old nests, repair or replace damaged houses and feeders. 

Bird watching is fun, educational, inexpensive and a rewarding hobby for every age.
Visit your local Pike Nurseries for plants and decorative birding accessories.

Share your birding experiences on our Facebook or Twitter pages.