This brochure is one of the educational resources provided by Mother Nature’s Backyard – see http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/

1. More Ways to Enjoy Birds
Visit local Nature Preserves/natural areas. The Gardena
Willows Wetland and Madrona Marsh Preserves, Ballona saltwater
and freshwater marshes and Palos Verdes Peninsula Land
Conservancy are local. The Santa Monica and San Gabriel
Mountains, other wild areas and local parks and botanic gardens
also provide good places to enjoy birds.
Purchase a pair of binoculars. A 7 x 35 pair is inexpensive and
10 Natural Ways to Attract Birds
easy to use. A close focus binocular allows you to also view
close-up details of butterflies, insects and plants. Natural places, parks and even some neighborhoods attract a
Visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History lot of birds any time of year. Like humans, birds need food,
water and a place to sleep. They also need places to hide
(http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/ornithology)
and safe havens for raising their young. Areas that provide
Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count - these basic needs attract birds – it’s as simple as that!
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/
We are fortunate to live along the Pacific Flyway, a huge ‘bird
Learn more about local birds. Some good resources are: freeway’ along which birds migrate each year. Some are just
passing through. Others, like White-crowned Sparrows and
Books: (purchase or check out from local libraries) Yellow-rumped Warblers, spend the winter in Southern
 Herbert Clarke: An Introduction to Southern California Birds California. Our natural areas, parks and gardens provide
 David Allen Sibley: Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western food, water and housing for both types of migratory birds.
North America
 Kimball Garrett, Dunn & Small: Birds of Southern California In addition to the migrants, there are birds that live in our
 National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America area all year long. You may have noticed resident birds in
your garden. Garden bird watching provides hours of
On-line: enjoyment for the whole family. It’s inexpensive and doesn’t
 Audubon Society (Palos Verdes/South Bay Chapter) require travel. You may even see baby birds learning to sing
http://www.pvsb-audubon.org/ and fly, right in your own backyard.
 What Bird - http://www.whatbird.com/
Whether you want to attract migrants - or encourage
Learn more about providing bird habitat. resident birds to nest in your yard – a few simple changes
 http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1138 can create better bird habitat. Even including one or two of
 http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife.aspx these ideas can make a huge difference in your garden. The
added enjoyment is well worth the effort.
Learn more about life-friendly gardening at: http://mother-natures-
backyard.blogspot.com/. Most people think of bird feeders when they want to attract
birds. Bird feeders are a useful way to provide food and
attract birds - but they are just the beginning. See the next
page for additional ways to attract birds to your garden.

2. humans, then you can leave the entire crop to the birds.
10 Natural Ways to Attract Birds For suggestions on good native fruits/berries for birds:
http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/habitat/documents/B
1. Plant a tree or large shrub. This is probably the single erries_for_Birds-3-11.pdf
best thing you can do to attract more birds. The tree can
be any variety (except palm trees) and doesn’t need to be 5. Provide a source of water. All birds need water and it
large. A 6 ft. shrub will provide a place for birds to hide, can be difficult to find in many neighborhoods. Consider
perch, sleep and even raise their young. Plant a tree that adding a birdbath, bird drinker or bubbler fountain to your
produces fruit or berries and you’ll also attract the fruit- garden. Moving water attracts birds and prevents
eating birds. For suggestions of good native trees and mosquitoes from breeding. A small pond with a waterfall
large shrubs for our area see: is another option. Your water source needn’t be costly or
http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/habitat/documents/T elaborate; you can even build it yourself.
rees_Lg_Shrubs-3-11.pdf
6. Use pesticides sparingly – if at all. Some of our more
2. Grow annual wildflowers and let them go to seed. interesting birds eat insects – at least part of the time.
California native wildflowers provide a riot of color in the Even hummingbirds eat insects & spiders sometimes.
spring and summer garden. They also produce lots of Birds actually provide a natural way to control garden
seeds. If you let your annual wildflowers go to seed insects, at no extra cost. Pesticides often kill all kinds of
they’ll re-seed the garden and also provide food for seed- insects – good and bad – and remove a source of food
eating birds. See the following for suggestions: from our gardens. Think twice before using them.
http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/habitat/documents/S
eeds_Habitat-3-11.pdf 7. Don’t ‘prune up’ all of your shrubs. It’s tempting to
prune your shrubs up to make them look tidy. But
3. Plant something in the Sunflower or Buckwheat ground-feeding birds need a place to hide from dogs and
groups. The native sunflowers and buckwheats cats. Leave the lower branches on at least some shrubs
(Eriogonums) produce loads of tasty seeds for the birds, to provide a safe haven for our ground-dwelling birds.
food for native pollinators/other insects and lovely color
8. Let leaf litter build up under/behind shrubs. Fallen
for your garden. You can even eat the sunflower seeds
leaves are food for ground-dwelling insects. These
yourself! Any of the sunflowers will do, from Encelia to
helpful critters are also food for many birds. Leave at
annual sunflowers. These – and the buckwheats - will
least some (hidden) leaf litter for the bird’s sake.
attract both the seed-eating and insect-eating birds. For
a list of native buckwheats for local gardens see: 9. Keep cats out (if you can). Cats are wonderful pets –
http://www.nbs.csudh.edu/biology/projectsound/habitat/documents/e
but they are lethal predators for birds. Control their visits
riogonum_buckwheats-1-11.pdf
to your yard if you can.
4. Grow at least one tree, shrub or vine that produces 10. Encourage your neighbors to follow these
berries/fruits. We have both resident (Scrub Jay; suggestions. It takes a village to raise a child; and it
Mockingbird) and migratory fruit-eating birds in Southern takes a neighborhood to provide good bird habitat.
California. Grow a fruit they like, and they’ll flock to your Encourage your neighbors to help turn your neighborhood
yard. If you choose a berry/fruit that’s not edible for into an island of critical bird habitat.