The ABCs Of The South Fork’s Backyard Birds

Since retiring from my full-time job two years ago I’ve had the luxury of being able to do the work I want to do as opposed to the work I have to do. This has included just sitting and watching everything going on in my garden and landscape for hours on end. It’s been an incredible experience.

One of the aspects of my landscape that I’ve been able to be much more observant of is the birds. In your garden they may be demons as they feast on your fruits and veggies, but my gardens are all ornamental so my perspective has been a bit different. Last summer I was smitten by the hummingbirds at my two feeders and a small female I called Tinkerbelle who came to trust me. Several times she would fly around me in a circle inspecting me from several perspectives.

This year a pair of eastern phoebes have mesmerized me since May. They are a couple I call Phoebe and Phill. Phoebe has had two broods this summer. The first one produced three fledges and the second one had four chicks who popped out of the nest last week. I found the two older chicks flying short routes in no time and with no training from Mom and Dad. The next two, who I presume were a bit younger, didn’t take to the sky for several more hours when I found them on my porch chasing gnats.

So what does this have to do with gardens and the landscape? Well, Phoebe and Phil are in the bird family of flycatchers so they eat moths, gnats, mosquitoes and a host of other flying insects. And when they’re feeding the kids it’s an endless flurry of nest trips as each parent goes out to make their catches and bring them back to the voraciously hungry chicks. Thousands upon thousands of potential destructive moths that could have turned into foliage-eating caterpillars instead were turned into meals. I haven’t gotten a single mosquito bite.

There are many other birds that are in my landscape and probably yours. But since I have a diverse, multi-layered landscape I think I have close to two dozen species of birds that are hard at work on my little acre.

If you’re not aware, it’s usually the native plant species that our helpful birds are attracted to, and these include trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses. The layered levels of vegetation create a habitat that also attracts various species of birds as there are those that like to hunt on the lawn while others do so in the shrubs and still others higher up in the trees or, as in the case of the nuthatch, up and down and up and down tree trunks.

To increase the variety of birds that are attracted to your landscape you might also need a combination of open spaces. The tighter your landscape, the smaller the variety of birds that will be willing to visit because you’ve not given birds like bluebirds and swallows the space to maneuver. Water features also help a great deal, from small bird baths to ponds. Bird baths give the birds a place to wash and splash while the ponds will attract both tree and barn swallows as will large open meadows.

As for the hummingbirds, most gardeners don’t realize that a portion of their diet is insects. I’d read about this and accepted the notes in the literature, but this summer I was able to observe it as one of my hummers who was feeding in front of me did a sudden turn about and headed for an insect it devoured several feet away.

Below is an alphabetical list of the birds I’ve observed or know of who are helpful in our landscapes and a few tidbits about some of them. Note, however, that not all are always beneficial. For instance, the crows have one very helpful habit but they’re not welcome by most when they hit on the vegetables or orchard.

Baltimore orioles hang their incredible nests as inverted baskets high in the trees. However, they are insect eaters and several years ago I watched a pair move through a lilac bush outside our living room while they cleaned every leaf and stem of aphids and scale.

Bluebirds need perches like fence lines, poles and dead tree branches. They sit at these spots then as they see a meal nearby they take to the air and make the snatch. They need open space like meadows but may visit briefly to smaller spaces.

Cardinals, who mate for life, like to live in the lower area of the landscape and can often be seen nesting and feeding in Forsythia. I see mine going in and out of the dense foliage of my rose of Sharon shrubs where they are hunting for small caterpillars, spiders and other insects. They also feed on some fruits, grains, seeds and greens.

Catbirds, like the cardinals, like to hang out in shrubs where they also nest. Catbirds will eat spiders, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars and moths but also holly berries, cherries, poison ivy, grapes and strawberries.

Crows are omnivores and they eat just about anything. In the middle of the spring and early in the fall when you see a group of them working on your lawn it’s not worms they’re after but beetle grubs. If you see a group of them doing this it’s a hint that you need to do some investigation to see if you’ve got an infestation of white grubs from Japanese beetles.

Flycatchers encompass a number of birds including the eastern kingbird. This bird, not unlike the bluebird, likes to sit on a perch where it can spy on open areas for insects. They prefer being on top of poles, posts and dead tree branches, but unlike the swallows they don’t need large open spaces for hunting.

Goldfinches are mostly seed eaters and they’ll devour the seeds of your sunflowers, Rudbeckias and purple coneflowers. I’ve seen them in my Rudbeckia triloba and they make repeat visits to my coneflowers — only those that produce seeds, and most hybrids don’t — and work on a sunflower picking the seeds clean. Sometimes they are well camouflaged so watch carefully.

Grackles are known as opportunistic feeders. I had a pair nest in a cavity of a tall maple tree in the spring, and the female would come down to the ground and stir up the leaf litter in the gardens looking for nuts and seeds. They’re great garden aerators. Grackles on the lawn, like the crows, can also be an indicator of beetle grubs feeding on grass roots.

Nuthatches are fascinating little birds that nearly always move vertically up and down tree trunks. They’re looking for insect larvae, beetles, stinkbugs, tent caterpillars and other morsels that might be living in the bark’s cracks and crevices. I find them fascinating to watch, and for some reason they remind me of Barney Rubble of “Flintstones” fame.

Owls are critical in our landscapes as they are prime managers of rodents and critters like voles. You can install owl houses to attract them, but if you have a dead tree on the property that you let stand they are more likely to make homes in tree cavities high up in the tree trunk.

Robins are worm and caterpillar vacuums. You can watch them on your lawn looking and listening for prey as they move their heads about. They also feed on other lawn insects so give this some thought when you’re applying insecticides to your lawn.

Starlings, a nonnative and invasive species of bird, have long spear-like bills that allow them to dig for a wide range of garden and lawn insects. They’ll also turn leaf and garden litter looking for insects and grain seeds.

Swallows, both tree and barn, are insect eaters. Tree swallows will nest in bluebird boxes and chase away the bluebirds, but you can have both. The trick is to have two boxes close to each other. If there are tree swallows and bluebirds in the area they will nest next to each other and co-habitat. Barn swallows, live in … hmm … barns and in the eaves of buildings. Both love to hunt over the water catching insects that fly above the water surface.

Turkeys have become a part of our lower landscape environment in the past two decades. I suspect they may be partially responsible for the rapid spread of Japanese stiltgrass as they feed on and spread the seeds, but they eat a wide variety of fruits and nuts, berries, seeds and yes, thankfully, insects.

Wrens are primarily insect eaters, and there are a few species that hang out in the Hamptons. The best way to attract them is with a wren house.

One last group, and that’s the birds of prey. Hawks and falcons (as well as owls) will scout large and small properties for squirrels, mice, voles, chipmunks and snakes. Nothing quite like seeing a red-tailed hawk snatch a snake and take off into the air with it.