How to attract birds to the organic garden: Beneficial birds

How are all agrohuerters doing? Today I come to talk to you about some little animals that, generally, are very annoying in the garden, because they tend to eat the seeds or peck the fruits: the BIRDS. However, what many do not know is that birds are very good helpers in hunting pest insects or that they limit the damage caused by slugs and snails.

Curiosities about birds

For the most part, birds are hard-working companions in the garden. Yes, it is true, sometimes the fruits are stolen, but these thefts can be easily prevented by placing a mesh because, in return, they also feed on many pests, especially the voracious caterpillars that usually bring us headlong. in the garden. Commonly these birds are the swallows, the white wagtail, the robin or the redstart.

For example, the woodpecker helps us clean the bark, the robin and the thrush are lovers of snails and slugs, those molluscs that devour the green leaves of our lettuce or chard. Therefore, believe me, it is much better to have birds in your garden than not to have them. But how can you welcome them?

How to attract birds to the organic garden

1. Water

If you had to provide something to attract birds to the garden, it would be water: a birdbath. They love to bathe, especially to take care of their feathers. You do not need to invest your money in buying a bath especially for birds, you can use any deep dish or container, with a maximum of about nine centimeters deep so that they can support themselves.

You should place it next to a shelter, as wet feathers hinder flight and, above all, fast flight, this way you will make the birds feel safe in case they perceive any kind of danger.

2. A house

Make it easy for them to build their nest.To build their nests, they use regular-sized branches of bushes, as they facilitate dense branching, with compact covers. Coniferous branches also come in handy. On the other hand, thorny bushes such as firethorn or firethorn, fruit-bearing brambles, holly or barberry, make them feel safer, because cats and other predators do not like scratching themselves with thorns.

Provide them with shelter yourself.Make your own nests, the ones sold in stores are more decorative than practical. You have to find out about the types of birds that are in your area or those that you want to settle near your garden, because each species requires a relatively precise size of entrance to the nest. In addition, some species require that the entrance hole be at the top of the nest and others the opposite.

3. Favorite food of birds

Plant the birds’ favorite plants in the garden, so you will attract them without realizing it. But what are your favorite vegetables?

They really like large sunflower heads full of delicious seeds, although they also do not object to amaranth and, of course, any bush that produces red or orange fruits, as they are their favorite colors, such as hawthorn, curing bonnet, the ornamental apple, the azarollo or the viburnum.

In this way, in addition to attracting birds to the garden, providing them with their favorite foods will distract their attention from the plants in your garden.

Place food away from predators, especially stray cats. Hang fruit and fat bags on the ends of branches, where cats won’t get to them. If you opt for a feeder place it high, if you can, on a metal post at least five feet high and at least two meters from nearby bushes.

Offer them your leftover food: stale bread cut into pieces, potatoes, cooked rice and pasta, ham rind, etc. They also love fruit and are not as picky as we are, you can give them apples or pears that are a bit spoiled. Nuts, such as walnuts or hazelnuts, must be peeled so that they can take them.

homemade bird food

You can also make homemade bird food, such as fat balls with seeds like the ones you can buy at any pet store, they are very easy to make! To do this, save the fat from meat dishes, such as the broth of a stew, for example, mix it with butter (make it solid, do not use butter because it will melt) and bathe them in seeds, if they are rich in fat better, such as peanuts or sunflower seeds. Put everything in a not very large mold, for example a cupcake, and let them cool in the refrigerator or simply on the window. And now you have them ready!

Well friends, I hope you have learned today that birds are good companions in the garden, as long as we are good hosts. Until next time!