Attract Backyard Birds with an Ecosystem Approach!

While bird feeders are a popular way to attract birds into the yard there is a much better way - an ecosystem approach - that not only feeds the seed eating birds, but also provides food for the insect eaters, provides cover for nesting and to escape predators, and has a constant and accessible source of water for the birds to drink and bathe in. This ecosystem approach is built upon a community of native flowering plants, shrubs and trees and will not only benefit birds but also pollinators of all types and the mammals, reptiles and amphibians that call your yard home.

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Chapters:
0:00 Why an Ecosystem Approach to Attracting Birds Makes Sense
0:42 Providing Food to Seed Eating Birds With Native Flowering Plants and Added Benefits to Pollinators
1:29 Providing Food to Insect Eating Birds by Planting Caterpillar Host Plants – The Importance of Caterpillars to all Birds
2:08 Providing Nesting, Loafing, Feeding and Escape Cover with Native Shrubs – Why Birds Need Cover to Escape Into
3:03 Providing Food for Birds with Native Fruit and Nut Producing Shrubs, Shrubs as Caterpillar Host Plants, Shrubs for Pollinators
3:29 Providing Additional Habitat Niches with native Trees – Trees as Escape and Nesting Cover, Trees as Caterpillar Host Plants, Food Form Trees that Produce Nuts, Berries, or Other Fruit
4:45 Backyard Ecology Course Opportunity: How to Create Pollinator and Wildlife Habitat – a Comprehensive Course for the Eastern U.S.
5:56 Water Features for Birds – Birdbaths and Ponds, Benefits to Amphibians and Other Wildlife, Planted Ponds, and Water Features, Creating Water Movement

[BackyardEcology]

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[JC-nlnh]

A little mockingbird loved my ilex verticillata berries this winter, he cleaned the whole bush within a week!

[mercedeshorn]

I'd love to see that video on the best wildflowers for seed eating birds!

[syrpentina]

I love the habitat-based approach to attracting and supporting birds and local wildlife. Thank you for sharing this!❤

[LlibertarianGalt]

I've been using feeders the last 6 - 8 months but just as I sew trees, hedging and flowers! Got a large variety of berry producing plants to get down after winter. 😊

[joshuawaynehensley]

Thank you for the excellent video and info!
I was once cornered by a strange gathering of men who kept shouting "Ni!" at me until I agreed to bring them a shrubbery that "looked nice and wasn't too expensive." Very troubling.

[piaonomata]

Fostering ecologically-minded management of your land has so many rewards. It does require rethinking a lot of what we've come to internalize about what makes "good" landscaping--plants with perfect foliage, insectless yards, short monoculture grass lawns, etc., etc. I've found it helpful to consider munched-up foliage, groundhogs sheltering under our deck, and wasps swarming around our goldenrod and wingstem as a sort of 5-star Yelp review from the local wildlife. :)

And I cannot stress enough how species diversity explodes with the addition of a water feature. In addition to the frogs and dragon-/damselflies that have discovered our little pond, we're also seeing migratory birds we've never seen in our yard before (e.g., Louisiana waterthrushes!!) make stops there.

[littlegreenlibrarian]

yes, please, best plants for seeds for the birds would be great!

[Antarctica]

Yes, all my gardening is ecological! Thank you.

[moniquemacneil]

So much fun to watch this knowing I've provided so many of these, we had a beautiful row of Christmas trees and a cherry tree on the lot before we arrived, but wow it provides so much life in my garden,
We had a flock of cedar waxed wings take a long rest in the blooming cherry tree just last week, taking a peek of food to come.

Alongside bringing all those pollinators to my vegetables and fruits gardens near by, having so many great pollinators friendly flowers/ plants, with a new flower bed focused even more on butterflies, with a few host varieties and kids helped make a butterfly puddler ! I'd love to include a proper water source one day, but for now the water table will have to work 😅

I also want to add, I love watching spiders create their worlds around my garden

[jameslomenzo]

The wild poke salad plant supplies alot of food for songbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Mockingbirds, here in Middle Tennessee. I noticed it comes up in the same place every spring, some are 8-10ft tall in my backyard.

[cindynihart]

Yes I need a video about native wildflowers

[snsnplpl]

I lay my tomato cages under the feeders and around bushes to thwart predators.

[SCPorchGardner]

I have had a birdbath now for about 4 months, no birds have used it so far but honeybees are there all day.

[kathyknoeppel]

Thank you for the video! Great information - I am sure you already know about Dr. Doug Tallamy. But if you have missed him on YouTube or in his books - check him out. We all need to spread the word about native plants and their importance to us and nature.

[TheBarefootedGardener]

Let me know if you have plans for other water feature type videos! I’m working on a video on how to build a small pondless waterfall, but the last blast of snow needs to melt…

[captainhowdy]

We have a invasive Sparrow problem where I live. I can fill three bird feeders up and by noon all three will be empty. They look like vultures picking apart roadkill. They also run off all the other birds in the area.

[serenity]

What about in the winter season? I am from spokane Washington we get snow!

[c.j.taylor]

Are there any nice evergreen shrubs you could recommend for western NY? I'm not necessarily looking for something like an arborvitae, but something thats leafy and produces berries.

[lisalikesplants]

Really nice photos and video! I love seeing birds in my garden. 🪺