Tips to Attract Birds in Your Apartment
The sight of beautiful chirping flock of birds in your garden will put a smile and make your day a cheerful one. But the increased urbanization has led to the reduction of bird dwelling in the city areas. We all love to hear and see the colourful birds and butterflies in our garden. Various properties in India have gardens with twittering birds and colourful flowers. There are various ways by which you can attract birds to your garden. All you need to do is to provide the necessities for the bird like a shelter, food, water and trees.
It is not mandatory that you need to have a garden to attract birds. Having a balcony in your apartment can serve various purposes like producing fresh air with the plants, a sitting area and a home for birds, butterflies and insects. You can also make your balcony, roof top or your urban yard an attractive place by planting shrubs, bonsai trees and other embellishments. Doing this will attract a wide variety of small and vibrant birds in your apartment area.
- Planting of trees and shrubs in your garden, balcony, roof top or a terrace garden can provide shelter to birds and make them feel secure and comfortable. Plants like potato vines, Bougainvillea and lantana are best suited for this purpose.
- Placing a fresh water bowl or the bath tub for the birds is another great idea to attract them. The water tub and other accessories let the birds play and relax in the water.
- For their food, you can either install bird feeders or place a bowl with different varieties of foods like cereals, pulses, raw vegetables, flowers, grains and so on.
- For their shelter, you can install your balcony or garden with a bird house made out artistically or choose a corner and provide the necessities for the bird to reside in it.
- The shelter chosen for the bird should protect the bird from harsh weathers and can be a corner, a basket, a mounted wall and so on. Most of the birds prefer to make their own nests rather than staying in a bird house. Hence it is important for you to consider the nesting habits of each species before putting up a bird house.
- You can also have small pots with the bird’s favourite plants or flowers.
- Since there is a very limited space in the apartment, you can incorporate the bird feeder in your window. Window feeders are easily available in the market and are easy to install with suction cups for them to feed.
- The perfect place to install a bird house is on a wooden pole or a tree. Avoid using more than four small nest boxes for the similar species and do not put the bird house near the bird feeder. Also keep in mind the climatic changes and the different kind of birds and install the house.
- The bird house must have proper ventilation and drainage process. You must regularly clean out the bird house or the nest every fall after nesting season. You can wash the nesting box with a light bleach and water. Avoid disturbing the bird during the incubation period.
- If you’re facing a problem with the squirrels eating up the bird food from the feeder you can install a squirrel feeder in your balcony/garden.
- The perfect food for the birds can consist of a mixture of black oil sunflower seeds, large striped sunflower seeds and cracked corn. These seeds provide ample amount of protein, which is the favourite among the songbirds. These seeds also attract large birds like woodpeckers, jays, towhees and others. Other bird foods like berries, insects and fruits can also be provided.
- It is always better to keep more than one bird feeders consisting of seeds and worms, as most of the birds tend to eat worms like beetles, grasshoppers, weevils and so on.
Also read:
Balcony Garden in Your Apartment
