Building Backyard Bird Habitat

by Scott Shalaway

Overview

Practical and easy-to-follow information on how to create a backyard habitat that will attract a variety of birds throughout the year, from cardinals, orioles, and chickadees to woodpeckers, hummingbirds, bluebirds, goldfinches, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811750899
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	01/01/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	1
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

	Introduction	viii
Part 1	The Impacts of Backyard Birding	1
Part 2	Food	7
	Bird Food Basics	8
	Selective Feeding	10
	How to Test Seed Preference	15
	Feeding Areas	16
	Bird Feeders	17
	How to Make Suet	21
	How to Make Suet Feeders	23
	Setting Up an Insect Feeder	25
	Identifying Common Feeder Birds	26
	Avoiding Feeder Problems	28
	Preventing Window Collisions	35
Part 3	Water	37
	Backyard Water: An Irresistible Magnet	38
	The Paradox of Winter Water	39
	How to Build a Simple Water Feature	42
	How to Build a Dust Bath	42
Part 4	Nest Boxes	45
	The "Hole" Story	46
	Choosing the Best Nest Box	51
	Hot to Build a Natural-looking Nest Box	58
	The Cost of Providing Housing for Birds	59
	Protecting Nest Boxes from Predators and Competitors	60
	Understanding Predation	66
	Maintaining and Monitoring Nest Boxes	69
Part 5	Habitat	75
	All-Season Gardening for Birds	76
	Raising Sunflowers and Grains for Birds	77
	Wildflowers for Birds	78
	Trees for Birds	79
	Shrubs and Hedges for Birds	81
	Attracting Birds with Succulents	81
	Attracting Hummingbirds	83
	Fall Gardening	88
	Winter Habitat	91
Part 6	Enjoying Birds More	95
	How to Identify Unfamiliar Birds	96
	Backyard Birding by Ear	100
	Keeping Records	104
	Appendix A	109
	Appendix B	115