Spring Bird Feeding Tips
While flowers are starting to bloom and fruits are starting to grow in spring, it may still not be enough for early migrants. After a long winter, many prime food sources will be depleted, and backyard feeders provide easy foods for birds to take advantage of at a time when they need to replenish after a tiring migration. Spring is a busy season for birds as they claim territory, seek out mates, build nests and begin to raise their young, and offering foods for spring birds can not only invite them to your backyard, but can also help them survive late season storms and other hazards. Provide a variety of different foods to attract a wide range of species to your feeders.
The most popular foods to offer spring birds include: Birdseed, Mealworms, Fruit, Nectar, Suet and Calcium. Other ideas to attract spring birds include to spring clean your bird feeders, avoid insecticides as much as possible so birds can enjoy insects in their diet, add extra feeders around the yard, plant early-blooming flowers to attract hummingbirds with a good nectar source, provide fresh water, offer nesting materials, and use colors and sounds that will attract birds even before natural foods are abundant. The greater variety of foods you offer for spring birds, the greater variety of species that will stop to sample the buffet. Plant shrubs and trees that produce berries as well as habitat for birds and as the birds discover a rich and reliable food source, they are more likely to remain nearby throughout the spring and summer, providing months of enjoyable backyard birding.
