Do you like birds? If you're a gardener the answer to this question is a no-brainer. Birds are among a gardener's best friend. Why, you ask? Because birds eat bad bugs and bad bugs are a gardener's worst enemy.
In order to get them to help you with your pests, you should attract birds to your gardening area year round, even when it's not gardening season. You want to encourage them to make your yard their regular place of residence and feeding site. So if they're already there when the warm weather rolls around, they will help themselves to all the insect pests that they can eat. And in the spring, when they are trying to feed their nestlings, even the birds that are normally seedeaters, will catch bugs for you.
To encourage birds to over-winter in your yard, provide them with food. Put sunflower seeds in feeders and hang out suet to attract them.
In addition to feeders, provide habitat for your birds as well. Birdhouses and nesting boxes placed around your yard will help ensure a healthy resident population of feathered pals. And provide nesting materials in the form of hair, small pieces of string, dryer lint and twigs at various locations. Also, keep a source of water or two in the midst of your plants, and make sure you keep them filled, especially in the summer. It's best to have one traditional birdbath and one that sits on the ground. And plant a variety of trees, and shrubs including those that provide nuts, berries, sap and seeds to supplement their year-round food source.
In addition, plant native cover and vegetation to attract birds that are native to your area. Do some research to determine which types are in your area and to find out what types of vegetation they prefer. This can increase your numbers of pest eaters.
And most importantly, avoid the use of poisons and chemicals that can have an adverse effect on birds. The organic garden is the type that's most welcome for birds.
Following is a list of some bird insect predators:
Wrens - are big-time consumers of bugs including grasshoppers, and slugs - two of the most destructive garden bugs. Wrens will nest in a variety of places so it's not always necessary to provide them with a home; just allow them to stay in the one they choose for themselves. When nesting, they'll catch a bunch of bugs to feed their large clutch (up to 8) of baby wrens.
Chickadees - are voracious bug catcher. They may eat more per bird than any other including insect scale, and caterpillars. Most of a chickadees diet is made up of insects and most of those are baddies. Despite their small size, they can eat over 900 insects a day.
Woodpeckers - are another terrific insect consumer. They live is hollowed out dead trees, so if there's one on your property that's not a danger to anyone, let it stay in order to attract this beneficial bird.
Eastern Bluebirds - are another fine bug eater that's worth having around (it's beautiful as well). It will eat a number of bugs, and will nest in the nest boxes you provide or sometimes in tree cavities. They may also nest in the holes in dead trees and stumps that woodpeckers abandon. Bluebirds will often sit on a perch and watch the ground and sky and when they see a meal, swoop down to grab it.
Robins - we've all seen robins darting around on the ground searching for worms. But while they may be looking for and prefer worms, no robin's gonna pass up a juice bug it finds on the ground.
Orioles - eat insects and seeds. But in the summer their main diet consists of ground bugs and those that they find on plants. They will also fly out to catch insects in mid-air.
Swallows - are excellent at eating bugs on the wing and so will help control your mosquito population.
These are but a few of our best insect eating buddies. While they may not completely free you from bug concerns, they can certainly reduce your population and make your gardening a lot more rewarding.
