Feeding Birds the Natural Way!
Feed the birds by planting bird friendly plants anywhere (in pots or yards)
Variety is key for birds.
Plants can provide food and safe places to hide from predators. Your balcony, yard, or front stoop can be a welcome haven for birds. Try it out!
If you live in an apartment building or house with little or no yard, try gardening in pots (or any container that holds some soil and has holes in the bottom for drainage). Plant seed bearing plants like dwarf sunflowers, cosmos, and asters and provide bright red or orange tubular flowers for hummingbirds. Remember to plant tall, medium, and short plants and to provide lots of choices of flowers for birds. Variety is important!
Let blossoms stay on the stem after the petals have lost their color. Then the birds can get the mature seed, whether it's from a weed or a flower.
Watch this video by Christianne White as fingers rub across sunflower seed head to show where the seeds are hidden! Sunflowers have a high fat content and provide great nutrition for birds.
Sometimes flowers don't appear like they provide food, but don't be fooled by first appearances.
Here you can see old Chickory blossoms with seed that finches like to eat, right next to new blossoms.
Queen's Anne Lace in bloom
Queen's Anne Lace seeds
Tubular flowers provide nectar for hummingbirds. Nasturtiums grow beautifully in containers.
Nasturtiums
Wild Morning Glories
