Attracting Songbirds and Butterflies to Your Backyard

Backyard bird feeding is big business. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a recent Census Report showed that over 65 million Americans enjoy backyard bird feeding, and it is one of the country’s fastest growing hobbies. Annually, people are spending nearly $4.7 billion annually on everything from birdseed to accessories such as bird feeders, birdbaths and nesting houses. It is a hobby that young and old alike can enjoy, and you don’t have to do it on a grand scale. Take it from someone who, along with my wife, has been a part of this hobby for the past 20 years.

The fun thing about this hobby is that you can get as involved as you want. But first a word of caution: Just because you put out a feeder, don’t expect birds to be there in a few minutes. It might happen that way, but it might also take days or even weeks depending on the type of habitat you have around your home. Also make sure to keep the bird feeders full. Letting the feeders sit nearly or totally empty will jeopardize the chances of regularly attracting birds. Consistency and good food are both extremely important.

The more trees and shrubs, the more birds you will have. In a new housing development with no trees and shrubs, it will take time. However, in that case, you can landscape for both aesthetic pleasure and birds.

Throughout the Midwest, there are garden centers and specialty stores designed just for bird feeding. They can provide guidance in all phases of bird feeding, so those people just getting started don’t have to figure everything out on their own.

So, how involved do you want to get and where do you want to have the birds come? Do you want the birds to feed right off the deck or outside a window to watch all the action? Remember that with the birds will come seeds and bird messes below. I found that I didn’t want the mess all over our deck and in the planters below, so I put the feeders about 20 yards away and actually put a 10’ x 20’ cement pad down to catch a lot of the waste material. Then it’s easy for me to clean up and dispose.

You can put up one simple feeder, say a thistle feeder, and spend the year watching goldfinches come and go. Add a feeder with an attraction mix of sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, shelled peanuts, nuts, safflower seed, and raisins and in the Midwest you will get everything from cardinals to chickadees. Throw in a suet feeder and several kinds of woodpeckers will arrive. With these three, you now have the opportunity to view a variety of birds.

Plus, you have your ground feeding birds. Birds that feed at the feeders are notorious wasters. For every seed they eat, it seems they drop or waste three or four. For that reason, over time you can expect to get a lot of birdseed on the ground below the feeder. That’s when the ground feeders like juncos and cardinals appear. At the same time, squirrels will have a field day eating the spilled seed.

One word of caution, however, has to do with squirrels. They are cute when they are eating food off the ground and scampering here and there, but they’re also destructive. If you don’t want them hogging your feeders and keeping the birds away, make sure to purchase squirrel-proof feeders or if the feeder is on a ground pole, secure a squirrel baffle below to stop the bushy-tailed bandits.

Birds You May See

One of the most beautiful and easiest songbirds to attract to your backyard is the oriole. These brilliant orange, yellow and black birds have a real sweet tooth and will readily come to feeders from the time they arrive in the spring throughout the summer months. As the summer progresses, the adults will even bring their youngsters to feed. These birds simply love oranges and grape jelly, and there are a variety of platform-type feeders that have a place to put jelly and a spike on which to stick the orange halves. At the same time, orioles will also be attracted to special sugar water feeders because sugar water is similar to the flower nectar on which orioles naturally feed. Some oriole sugar water feeders are colored orange and have large perches to accommodate the birds. Orioles may also use hummingbird style nectar feeders. Fill the feeders with a solution of either 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water or 1 part white sugar to 6 parts water; both seem to attract orioles. Boil the water first for 1-2 minutes and then add the sugar and let the nectar cool. It is important to change the solution regularly, especially during hot weather. This recipe also works for Hummingbirds.

To be successful at attracting orioles, the filled feeder must be out in the spring before the birds arrive on their migration north. For us here in northwest Iowa, that means getting the jelly, orange halves and nectar out by late April. If you don’t chances are the orioles will look elsewhere. Having it out after they arrive doesn’t seem to work very well.

As mentioned earlier is that unwanted wildlife will try to get to these feeders, especially the platform ones that hold the jelly and orange halves.

We’ve battled squirrels, starlings and grackles for years. Last year we found a cage at our garden center that covers our oriole feeders. The cage will not allow squirrels to enter or to grasp anything, while the little square holes are small enough that the larger unwanted birds cannot enter to get to the jelly and oranges. The amazing thing is that orioles will land on the cage, and within a few minutes they have it figured out and are soon coming and going at will.

The last part of the puzzle is a birdbath - birds need water to drink and to-yes-bathe! Moving water is even better, so if you locate a birdbath/fountain close to your bird feeders, you will have birds flitting in and out all the time. Again keeping the birdbath clean is important because the birds will make it a mess, and in the summer it can get really warm and dirty. We use a wire brush and a container of fresh water to clean the surface.

I’ve talked nothing about the plantings that will attract songbirds, which brings up the topic of another huge hobby: gardening. When it comes to gardening, you can go as wild and crazy in size and detail as you can with backyard bird feeding. I want to share a simple plan to start with that will attract both songbirds and beautiful insects. Oh yes, hummingbirds and butterflies, all with the same 12’ x 20’ garden. This size is large enough to provide lots of enjoyable color to the human eye and the perennial plantings to attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

A Special Garden

No matter where you live, you will have experts that can help you with a variety of designs. The first thing we learned was to put things in perspective: size of lot, objects that might be in the road (trees, houses, sidewalks, house, walls) and desired size of the garden. For this design, I went relatively small (12’x 20’) and put the desired result: attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. In addition to this result, we will have an aesthetically pleasing area. Before the decision is made, this is the research that Ferguson’s Garden Center helped us do:



1) Figure out how to make sure the garden gets plenty of sun, preferably at least six hours per day.



2) Research the shrubs and plants that will attract hummingbirds and butterflies.



3) Find out the mature plant size information, both height and spread, so that the garden does not become overgrown.



4) Figure out bloom times so that there will always be blooming plants to provide the hummingbirds and butterflies and their larvae with plenty of nectar



5) Make sure that the smaller plants are planted to always have the sun and that the taller plants are stair-stepped back.



6) Try to get the shrubs on the “summer” wind side so that the smaller plants and flowers don’t get wind-whipped or plant the garden in a protected area.



7) Include both water for the butterflies and other songbirds, along with some rocks that the butterflies and larvae can utilize.

As with most things these days, the Internet can provide a wealth of information on this topic. Not being a real expert on butterflies, I went to the North American Butterfly Association (www.naba.org) to learn more about these beautiful creatures. The NABA site shares a section of FAQ that help tremendously in learning about butterflies and also a publication titled the Butterfly Gardener, which is published four times a year featuring columns covering aspects of establishing and maintaining a butterfly garden.

Worldwide, there are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies, and according to NABA experts, in most areas of the United States, about 100 species of butterflies can be found. The average lifespan is about one month, while some like the Monarch can live up to nine months. Adult butterflies drink nectar from flowers, and lay their eggs on the plants, and the leaves of these plants will eventually be food for the caterpillars as they hatch.

Now for the garden - this 12’x 20’ area will include 14 different components to attract both hummingbirds and butterflies and their larvae. Listed below are the components. Figure 1 gives a layout of the plan.

1)      Flowering Almond Tree with hummingbird feeder

2)      Ajuga ‘Bronze Beauty’ (hummingbird)

3)      Hollyhock (hummingbird)

4)      Alyssum (larvae food)

5)      Sedum ‘Atumn Joy’ (butterfly nectar)

6)      Monarda ‘Jacob Cline’ (butterfly nectar)

7)      Butterfly Weed (larvae food)

8)      Lobelia ‘Cardinal Red’ (hummingbird)

9)      Trumpet Vine – o pole (hummingbird)

10)  Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ (butterfly nectar)

11)  Lobelia ‘Blue Select’ (hummingbird)

12)  Flat Rock (a place to rest and sun)

13)  Bird Bath (make sure there is a shallow area for the butterflies)

14)  Aster ‘Wonder of Staffa’ (larvae food)

            To enhance the color of this perennial garden, you can incorporate annual plants. The key here is the longer the bloom, the longer the butterflies will hang around to collect the nectar. Annual flowers that work well include alyssum, calliopsis, cosmos, marigolds, phlox, salvia, verbena and zinnia.

            Of course, you can add more and increase the size of the garden, but remember perspective and not letting things get crowded or overgrown. It should also be noted that this is just one example of a hummingbird/butterfly garden option. That’s the fun part - researching and coming up with your special garden.

National Birding Organizations

If you’re interested in going beyond this type of feeding and becoming part of an organization that focuses on birds, consider the National Audubon Society. In existence for over 100 years, its mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity. It is an all-encompassing network designed to provide expertise through its community-based nature centers and chapters and scientific and education programs.

Each state has established local chapters, but they’re always looking for new members. Although some are more active than others, these local chapters can provide bird watching outings, advocacy campaigns, nature outings and special education programs. On their website (www.audubon.org), you can find several links, one entitled “Audubon At Home”. This link provides information about a couple backyard bird counts, where thousands of volunteers across the country and Canada spend time recording birds in their area.

Bird Counts

The first is the Christmas Bird Count, in its 108^thyear of counting birds across the Americas. It begins in mid-December and runs through the first Saturday of January. This bird count is a true census, so you have to be part of a group with a compiler for each count. Typically, each field party covers a specific area or route. If you live in a designated Christmas Bird Count circle, you will be allowed to count birds at your feeder. Participants simply have to have make contact with the compiler before the count period so results can be reported on the Count Day.

The second opportunity is the Great Backyard Bird Count, organized by the Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, scheduled February 18-21, 2012. This one is especially nice because anyone can count birds from wherever they are and enter their results online at www.birdcount.org. People of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part wherever they are—at home, in schoolyards, at local parks or wildlife refuges, even counting birds on a balcony. Observers count the highest number of each species they see during at least 15 minutes on one or more of the count days. Then they enter their tallies on the Great Backyard Bird Count website www.birdcount.org.  In 2010, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online and created “the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.”

A third opportunity is Project FeederWatch, a winter-long survey (November- early April) designed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This is quite different from the Backyard Bird Count because it provides a several month view of bird populations instead of a quick look. So, this winter-long survey helps scientists see the bird movements throughout the winter. It also focuses only on birds that visit feeders.For each species, report only the highest number of individuals of each species seen in view at one time during a two-day period. By following this procedure, you are certain to avoid counting the same bird more than once.There is, of course, a simple counting protocol to ensure that the data collection is consistent from one person to the next. This can be found on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website (www.birds.cornell.edu) under the link entitled Project FeederWatch, and go to “Instructions.”

There is a $15 annual participation fee to help support the project and for member materials, including a one-year subscription to BirdScope and a research kit that includes a calendar, the FeederWatcher’s Handbook, Winter Bird Highlights, an instruction book, paper data forms or access to the FeederWatch online data entry system.