Should you choose to create a sanctuary for the birds in your back yard,
you can use it like a laboratory to learn about species of your neighborhood.
(See Bird
Watching Basics, A Bird-Watching Journal and Bird
Photography.) You
can tailor it to attract the general population, which may include dozens of
species, or to lure selected birds, which may include only a few or even a single
species.
Habitat
If you wish to attract the general population of birds, which will
vary with the seasons, you will need a landscape with a diversity of plants,
preferably native, that provide protection, shade, cover, nesting and food sources.
In the higher, forested slopes of our Southwest mountains, for example, trees
such as Ponderosa Pines, Gambel Oaks, Scrub Live Oak, Aspen and Douglas Fir and
understory plants such as Mexican Cliffrose, Apache Plume, Fireweed, New Mexico
Feathergrass, Blue Grama and Arizona Fescue attract birds such as the Hairy Woodpecker,
Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
In the lower flanks of our mountains, the various piñon pines, junipers
and oaks may call to birds such as the Western Bluebird, Stellar's Jay, Acorn
Woodpecker, Canyon Wren, the Piñon Jay and Curve-billed Thrasher.
In the basin areas of the Southwest, the shrubs such as Screwbean Mesquites,
Creosote, Catclaw Acacia, Desert Willow and the grasses such as Big Bluestem,
Little Bluestem, Blue Grama and Buffalo attract the ground-loving birds such
as the Greater Roadrunner, Gambel Quail, Scaled Quail, Common Ground Dove and
Lark Bunting. Various cholla cacti hold a special attraction for the Cactus Wren.
Nesting
Even if you have just a small backyard sanctuary, it can attract nesting
birds. For instance, in the higher elevations, a single tall tree with good foliage
may entice a Ruby-crowned Kinglet to build her pendulous, decorative nest, bound
by spider webs, suspending it from a high leafy branch. In the desert basins,
a shrub or cactus in your backyard may furnish a place for a Mourning Dove to
build its flimsy, saucer-shaped nest of twigs or a Cactus Wren to fashion its
football-shaped nest of straw or a Greater Roadrunner to construct its shallow
oval-shaped nest of twigs and leaf-lining. Bird houses, some designed for specific
species, some decorated – it would appear – for decadent avian parties,
near a back window, can offer an intimate view of parents raising young.
Food
Your backyard sanctuary, especially if it has native plants, may offer berries,
nuts, seeds, nectar and insects for a variety of local birds, especially from
spring through the fall. If you have erected bird feeders, you can offer mixes
of seeds and other foods that attract specific species. For instance, thistle,
hulled sunflower seed, suet, peanut butter and cracked corn may attract the American
Goldfinch. Suet, nutmeats, raisins and cracked corn may attract woodpeckers.
Sugar water will attract hummers. Feeders do require frequent cleaning to protect
the birds' health.
Water
In any sanctuary, especially in the more arid regions such as the American
Southwest, water will prove to be a powerful attractant, both for bathing and
for nourishment. Like feeders, ponds and bird baths require frequent cleaning.
For information on other aspects of birding, see Finding
the Birds, A Bird
Watching Journal, Bird Watching Basics and Bird
Photography.
