RE: tent cat/ birds

You need more than food to get a bird (or any wildlife for that matter)to
take up residence at your home. They also need water, shelter, and place to
raise their young.

From there you can also start on the 'food chain' concept. You can not
always be selective on what wildlife you invite into your yards, as the
upper food chain class also moves in.

It is rough to get the equal balance in nature.

Donna


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
> Behalf Of TeichFlora@aol.com
> Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 2:28 PM
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] tent cat/ birds
> 
> I am an bird amateur at best, but have a lot of ornithologist
> friends.....I
> put out feeders and also have different plants that have berries, etc.
> that
> are  frequented by birds, some more than others, some less.  When we first
> starting planting for wildlife it was very frustrating, however,  we were
> told
> that not all birds are seed, berry and bug eaters.....and even  within
> each there
> are variances.  For instance, not all seed eating birds  eat the same type
> of
> seed.  So one has to have a variety that is suitable  to certain birds.
> Our
> mulberry tree is visited by birds that do not visit  other berry producing
> shrubs.  Just because a person puts out a certain  seed or has a certain
> bush
> that a bird likes doesn't necessarily mean that is  enough to attract that
> particular species.  I have found though that once  "word gets out"
> eventually
> either by coincidence that one bird stops by, or by  the tree getting
> larger, or
> planting more of the same, etc. that the birds  remember and come back
> more and
> more every year.
> 
> It's a learning experience for us, and so much yet to learn.  Every  year
> we
> find that there is a new species of bird in our yard, but it has been a
> slow
> process.
> 
> Noreen
> zone 9
> Texas Gulf Coast
> 
> In a message dated 5/9/2005 10:06:10 AM Central Standard Time,
> gardenchat-owner@hort.net writes:
> 
> 
> That's the thing.  The birds in this neighborhood know that if  I don't
> put
> birdseed out, 5 of my other neighbors will.  They  have no shortage of
> food.
>  I
> don't think they would know how to  forage for food if they had  to.  I
> have
> some shrubs that  produce berries that I have read that birds  eat.  These
> berries  are pretty much untouched in my yard even after a long  winter,
> and
> I  don't
> use pesticides.  I only keep wasp spray on hand in case   I'm under
> attack.
> I
> can only surmise that these birds don't look  for  natural sources of food
> because they don't have  to.
> 
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