In Your Own Backyard - Planting a Refuge for Wildlife

In Your Backyard

Water

A backyard habitat isn't complete without water for drinking and bathing. In fact, furnishing clean water at the right height with protective cover nearby is one of the most useful methods you can use to attract birds and improve wildlife habitat. A predator-safe birdbath will lure species that seldom visit feeders, especially during spring and fall migrations and the hot summer months.

Many migrant songbirds, including warblers, vireos, and gnatcatchers, normally dwell in the forest canopy. Other backyard residents, including catbirds, thrashers, wrens, towhees and thrushes, haunt secretive thickets to avoid predators and venture away from cover only briefly. In the wild, they drink and bathe in water droplets among leafy branches, and in bromeliad "cups" located close to dense, low shrubbery. As a result, although water is plentiful in Florida's many lakes and streams, as well as the rockpits and miles of canals that criss-cross south Florida, south Florida’s shallow pools, lakeshores, water gardens, bird baths and misters seem to be more useful to most songbirds and small mammals. A few migrants, including robins, will use canal edges, but even they seem to prefer shallow birdbaths.

Almost any flat receptacle that holds water will attract birds. An upside-down garbage can lid is a simple and inexpensive model.

A really successful bird bath:

is located in a shady, protected spot about 15 feet from shrubbery and is mounted three: feet off the ground.
has a dry edge or "beach" around the perimeter and then a gradual slope to a depth of two to three inches in the center. Birds will not bathe in bird baths with sides that are too steep.
has a rough bottom for safe footholds.
has "live" or moving water. Misting or dripping water attracts birds that might otherwise overlook the bath. Thin metal bird bath; magnify the sound of falling water droplets which birds find so irresistible. The best design should include a thin jet or mist of water that shoots vertically into overhanging tree branches and then drips back into the bath.

Keep your wildlife water supply both dependable and clean. Unpredictable water sources are rarely visited.

Misters

You should time your mister's operation to minimize cost and wasted water. Both migrant and resident birds are most active between sunrise and 10:00 a.m., and again in the later afternoon and early evening. Install a timer at your hose outlet to activate the mister jet only at those times.