Buena Creek Gardens

San Diego's finest selection of new and uncommon flowering plants

A Garden for the Birds - part one of a four-part series
by Steve Brigham
     A garden, of course, is so much more than plants -- it's animals too! And many of the most enjoyable animals in any garden are our little feathered friends. If you are a bird-lover, then San Diego County is the place to be, for just like our wild plants, we have more kinds of wild birds here than any other county in the U.S.A. Many of these birds are at home in our gardens, and whether they just visit for a few months a year or stay all year long, they are all great workers as well as great entertainment! From large hawks to tiny hummingbirds, each species is unique and special -- and they will feel at home at your home if you provide the things they like best for food, water, and shelter. Your birds will reward you with many great garden moments as you get to know each one, they'll fill your garden with beautiful songs, and they'll even keep your garden free of pests! Although I've spent a lot of time over the years studying plants, I've never really studied the technical aspects of birds too much, and so this essay is quite definitely from a layman's, not an expert point of view. But I do know that some of my best friends have feathers! And I do know a few things that they like...

Give Them What They Need...
     Some birds are strictly at home in the wild, and seldom venture into gardens. But particularly if you've got a large garden near a wild area, you'll find a lot of birds that will be happy to live with you. Even if you've got a small garden in the city or suburbs, there are many wonderful types of birds that will visit you if you give them what they need. The goal for your garden should be the most types of birds possible, and that means catering to many different lifestyles and preferences. The more diverse your habitat is, the more likely you'll accommodate a wide variety of birds -- and that means you need to grow lots of different kinds of plants!
     You'll find that each type of bird (and each individual bird as well) has its own particular needs -- favorite perches and nesting places are important, and so of course are food and water. Shelter is a big factor in their lives, and there are lots of birds that simply need trees to live -- and the bigger the trees, the better! Any property with lots of trees is going to have lots of birds. But shrubs are important, too, since many of our native birds are chaparral dwellers and prefer the cover of shrubs. During breeding season, each type of bird has its favorite type place to nest -- some are surprisingly adaptable, while others are quite specific. Once again, the more kinds of plants you grow, the more birds you'll please.
     Another major factor is food. Knowing what each bird's favorite food is and taking steps to provide it will go a long way towards making lots of new friends! Although you can feed some kinds of birds with either bird seed or nectar at bird-feeding stations (this is commendable and will attract many individual birds to your garden as long as you are consistent with your service), most wild bird species have more-specialized dietary requirements. A well-planted garden, however, can provide the "natural" foods like special types of seed, nectar, berries, bugs, worms, and even rodents and lizards -- enough to please nearly every bird on your list. (If the food isn't there, the birds won't be, either!)
     A third important requirement is water, which most irrigated gardens will naturally provide. Many of our wild birds don't drink huge quantities of water and can usually get what they need from the moisture on the plant leaves after irrigation, but other birds need more. Particularly in the summer, garden fountains and birdbaths are very important as a water source for many types of birds, but remember to keep the water fresh and shallow, since most garden birds can't swim!

And They'll Work For You!
     Some birds are strictly vegetarian, and there are some that are strictly meat-eaters. Like humans, however, most birds are a little bit of both. In the garden as well as in the wild, though, there are many types of birds that do us a great service just by eating their dinner! If it weren't for our friends such as hawks, owls, and roadrunners, we would be much more inundated with mice, rats, gophers, and ground squirrels than we already are! And if it weren't for the many, many birds everywhere that eat so many, many insects, we'd be inundated with bugs, too! And so apart from their beauty and song, there are a number of kinds of birds that we should accommodate in our gardens for the work they do as well. So let's look at them first.

Rodent Control
     Rodents can be a problem in any garden -- some years moreso than others. One natural and effective solution is cats, but the problem for some of us (myself included) is that because of the presence of coyotes, we can't let the cats out at "mouse time", which is from dusk to dawn. Although the coyotes themselves are pretty good at rodent control, a few of our larger birds are fantastic at it!
     If you've got gophers, or any other rodents for that matter, you should consider installing the Barn Owl nest boxes advertised on page XX of this newsletter (where you'll read that just one Barn Owl can kill up to 1,000 rodents each year!) Barn Owls are beautiful brown and white (males) or brown and tan (females) nocturnal birds with heart-shaped faces and a cute little screechy call at night. Unlike other owls, they prefer to both sleep and nest in a nesting structure such as the boxes sold. All you have to do is give this owl a home, and it will work for free! Another owl that is a great mouser is the Great Horned Owl, a giant brown owl with distinctive "ear tufts", a classic "hooting" call at night, and that famous "wise old owl" look. By day, this owl roosts in large trees, and by night it hunts for rodents -- like other owls, with the aid of its exceptional sense of hearing. The Great Horned Owl is perhaps the most majestic bird in my garden, and it is a real thrill to hear a pair of them calling to each other in the early morning hours. One thing you won't hear, however, is them flying -- all owls have extra-fluffy feathers make their flight practically silent, allowing them to ambush their prey from above.
     Another able hunter and quite majestic in its own right is the Red-shouldered Hawk. Not quite as big as the Great Horned Owl, it takes over the rodent-control duties during the day, when the owls are sleeping. A brown and yellowish-tan bird with dark piercing eyes, it hunts from a high perch such as a tree, telephone pole, or telephone wire with the aid of its exceptional eyesight (even from a great distance, when you see a hawk staring at you, it can probably count the freckles on your face!) Red-shouldered hawks nest in high up in tall trees, and will often pick the tallest tree around to call home and return to it each year at breeding season (which is a good reason to grow tall trees). Although they mate for life, they're solitary birds when they're not breeding, and occupy distinct territories. With their relatively long tail feathers, they are more maneuverable than the larger Red-tailed Hawk, and so are more at-home in a garden with many large trees. The Red-shouldered Hawk is a loud, proud bird with an unmistakable high-pitched call, and is most effective in catching any rodent, including mice, gophers, and ground squirrels.
     A third wild bird that helps us with rodent control is very different from the hawks and owls. It is the Greater Roadrunner (beep-beep!), a unique ground-dwelling member of the Cuckoo Family that thrives in our chaparral and visits nearby gardens as well. It's a fairly big brown-and-white-streaked bird with a long tail that diligently patrols a large territory on foot, although it can fly into a tree if it has to. Just like in the cartoons, the Roadrunner is always on the move -- it spends its day scooting along for a few yards, then stooping and looking, then scooting along another few yards. When it finds a lizard, a rodent, or even a snake, the battle is on -- and the Roadrunner usually wins! During mating season, you'll hear it make an impressive song of dove-like "cooing" notes. The Roadrunner is truly a special bird that may even be "friendly" (actually, it's just being curious) to you -- and all you have to do to enjoy it is live near its native chaparral and have a nice garden with lots of its favorite food!

Part two...
     There's more to come next month in the second installment of this four-part series! In it, we'll look at more birds you'll want in your garden and which plants make them really happy. Featured will be "The Bug Squad" -- really cute birds that will also rid your yard of pesky insects, and the very-entertaining and colorful Cedar Waxwings, with the one plant they love the best! And don't miss the third installment (to be published in October), which features "The Masters Of Song" plus the ever-popular Hummingbirds -- with the plants you can grow to make them never want to leave!