Backyard Birding
Turn your backyard into a bird haven with tips on feeders, habitats, and attracting your favorite species.
Feeders and Food
Top 10 Weird Things to Feed Birds
A male Baltimore oriole visits a feeder offering grape jelly. Photo by Tammy Simmons. Sunflower seed may be the hamburger of the…
Cleaning Bird Feeders in Winter
It’s wintertime here in Ohio, and that means keeping an eye on the weather forecast on the regular. As a steady supplier…
Backyard Tips: How to Make Your Own Hummingbird Nectar
Hungry hummingbirds sip at a backyard feeder. Photo by J. Quinn. ’Tis the season for hummingbirds! Hanging a hummingbird feeder in your…
Go Ahead and Feed the Birds!
White-breasted nuthatch photo by Shutterstock. Last summer, wildlife organizations in several Midwestern and mid-Atlantic states issued advisories for backyard birding enthusiasts to…
The Well-Equipped Birder: Squirrel-Proof Feeders
BWD Editor Dawn Hewitt and Production Director Bruce Wunderlich tested out a two different squirrel-proof feeders. Here are their reviews. Dawn Roamwild…
Feeders and Feeding: Orioles
I feed the birds all winter here in Missouri. We help each other survive the cold, snowy months. Do I quit feeding…
Keeping Squirrels Off Your Feeders
An acrobatic squirrel reaches for a backyard feeder. Photo by Shutterstock. People often go to extremes to keep their feeding stations squirrel-free….
Top Four Foods to Attract and Feed Woodpeckers
Suet Suet is number one on most woodpeckers’ list of preferred foods offered by humans. Suet is dense, hard, white beef fat….
Tips for Better Bird Feeding
American goldfinches flock at backyard thistle feeders. Photo by Randall Sholten. Bird feeding provides enjoyment to millions of North Americans each year….
DIY Projects
Build Your Own: Build a Brush Pile
Create a winter shelter for wildlife in your backyard High on the list of important microhabitats you can create for wildlife in…
Do It Yourself: Bird Bath Heater
Keep your birdbath water warm all winter long When winter comes to our farm, the daily ritual of feeding our birds intensifies…
Build Your Own: Bird Bath Fountain
Birdbath and fountain: sound and motion make for special allure A home-made garden sculpture at a fraction of the retail cost. A…
Do-it-yourself Pipe House
A new use for PVC pipe! by A.J. Hamler, excerpted from the March/April 2011 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest Many do-it-yourselfers use…
Backyard Tips: How to Make Your Own Hummingbird Nectar
Hungry hummingbirds sip at a backyard feeder. Photo by J. Quinn. ’Tis the season for hummingbirds! Hanging a hummingbird feeder in your…
How To: Woodpecker Box
Build an Easy Box for Golden-fronted, Red-headed, and Hairy Woodpeckers Download detailed plans you can use to build your own woodpecker box….
Do-It-Yourself: Prevent Squirrels from Raiding your Bird Feeder
This baffle prevents squirrels from accessing a hanging feeder from above. Two metal salad bowls, one 10-inches and another 18-inches in diameter,…
Do It Yourself: Birdbath Tips
Easy Drippers We know that water in motion attracts birds, and I’ve discovered an inexpensive, easy way to add a dripper to…
Build Your Own: Easy Platform Feeder
Attract Birds and Protect Seed With a Simple and Effective Feeder Design The more places birds can feed in your yard, the…
Hummingbirds
Red Food Coloring and Hummingbirds
What about red food coloring in hummingbird nectar? Is it harmful? I decided to research this question when an injured hummingbird came…
Top 10 Things You Can Do to Attract Hummingbirds
1. Add a new native plant species to your garden. You just can’t have too many good hummingbird plants in your garden…
General Hummingbird Feeding Rules
Where do I place my feeder? There are a few things to keep in mind when placing your feeders. First of all,…
Gardening Tips for Hummingbirds: Tips for Your Region
Continental East Imagine you could plant a garden so lush, green, and full of blooming things that angels would come down from…
Prepare for Peak Hummingbird Season! Here’s How
For those of us who adore hummingbirds and enjoy watching their antics, late July and August are an exciting time of year,…
Amazing Facts About Hummingbirds
We could fill an entire book with “amazing facts” about hummingbirds because they are birds to which the adjective “amazing” very much…
How to Revive a Faded Hummingbird Feeder
Each spring when I pull my hummingbird feeders out of storage in anticipation of the hummingbirds’ return, the red parts of the…
Bees and Wasps at Nectar Feeders
Just like hummingbirds, bees, wasps, yellow jackets, and other stinging things love sugar water. In late summer, they can swarm a nectar…
Tips for Identifying Hummingbirds
Identifying a hummingbird is very similar to identifying other bird species—if the hummer is sitting or hovering in one place long enough…
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