Urban greenery is vital for birds, from nesting House Finches and hungry robins to exhausted Neotropical migrants looking for a safe spot to feed and rest after a long night's flight. City residents can create quality food and water resources, shelter, and nesting sites for birds in small spaces, often at little cost.

These green mini-oases contribute to the beauty of neighborhoods, help build community spirit, and provide places for children and adults to observe, study, and enjoy birds.

Little Green Places Poster

We created a new poster about the "Little Green Places" you can plant for birds. One side shows a cityscape in miniature, illustrating lots of the little green places that support and attract birds.

The back of the poster lists bird-friendly plants you can put in containers, next to your stoop, or maybe on your rooftop, and gives you ideas for creative uses for these plants. (Plant a sunflower play house or make echinacea tea!)

You can order the Celebrate Little Green Places for Birds poster for $2.50 by emailing urbanbirds@cornell.edu or download it for free as a PDF HERE.

Take a look at real Little Green Places for Birds by looking at the entries submitted to our Little Green Places for Birds Challenge.

Container gardens are ideal for small spaces in cities

Think creatively, use recycled containers. Containers allow you to use good quality soil, control wind, sunlight, and water conditions.You don't need to go to the store to buy expensive planters. Just make sure they have the proper drainage.  Line the bottom of the container with gravel. If you'd like to use a container that doesn't allow you to poke holes in it for drainage, place another container with holes inside it. Consider the following ideas for containers:

by David Thomsen, Ozark, Missouri

bathtub buckets barrels unwanted kitchen bowls, pots, and pans old toilet child's wagon old barbecue old wheelbarrow old pottery ...anything that will hold soil!

Where can you place your garden?

Again, think creatively, here are some ideas to get you started:

Window boxes Rooftop gardens Sidewalk planters Balcony containers Rock gardens Box gardens Vines growing up the sides of buildings Hanging baskets Trellis gardens Front stoop gardens On a railroad car ?!

 American Robin photo by David Thomsen, Ozark, Missouri

 
Girls from Pine Hills Elementary, Albany, New York

Popular container garden plants: 

Sunflower
Nasturtium
Wintergreen
Coreopsis
Blueberry
Trumpet Vine
Chokecherry
Columbine
Loves-lies-bleeding
Autum Sage
Little Bluestem
Cosmos
Coneflower
Rudbeckia
Ornamental Millet "Purple Majesty"
Celosia

More plants that grow well in containers and are good for birds.

Vertical garden by Patrick Blanc

http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

Attract birds to your garden:

• Provide water for drinking and bathing
  Choose a shallow container that is easy to clean. Place some sand in the bottom of the bath and arrange a few branches or stones in the container. Learn more.
  
• provide nesting materials and nest boxes for birds.
  

  Placing a nest box (sometimes called a birdhouse) or nesting structure in your neighborhood is a great way to attract birds. Untreated wood is best. Nest boxes should have proper ventilation holes, sloped roofs, rough interior walls, and drainage holes. Learn more.

  
• provide bird feeders (if possible)
  In cities it is best to use feeders with small perches suited for smaller birds that will not easily spill seed on the ground. Learn more.
  

Have Fun with Plants

 Plants that are good for birds can also be fun for people: 

• Create dyes from the plants such as asters, marigolds, and sunflowers
  Learn more about dyeing and working with fibers Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program:  http://www.hort.cornell.edu/plantsandtextiles/
  
• Create leaf prints. It's easy! Just pick the nicest looking leaves you can find in your garden (choose lots of different shapes) paint the leaves with a brush or dip them in paints on flat surface (cookie sheet or plastic). Then press the leaves with the wet paint face down onto paper or cloth. Carefully remove the leaves so the print remains. Choose fabric paints to design shirts and create great designs with leaves, flowers, and other natural material.
  
• Vines such as Trumpet Vine, Morning Glory, and grapevines provide great habitat for birds (nectar, fruit, and nesting habitat) and can also be arranged to grow in ways to create fun "houses" or quiet spots for kids or grownups to sit and watch nature. Use Sunflowers too.
  
• Dry flowers and make cards (Nasturtiums hold their color well, can be eaten by people, and are great for the birds). Learn more about drying flowers: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl/planting/activities/pdfs/dryflowers.pdf
  
• Coneflowers attract many species of birds for their seeds and make delicious Echinacea tea. Simply place 1 tsp. of dried or 2 tsp. fresh coneflower leaves/flowers in a teapot add boiling water. Steep for 15 minutes.
• Grapevines provide great fruit for birds and can be woven into baskets

Garden-based Arts
to learn more about integrating the arts and gardening.

Wondering what to do with the Sunflower seeds in your Celebrate Urban Birds kit? 

Plant them!  If you plant them you can grow lots more food for birds.  The sunflowers pictured below grew underneath a bird feeder without any encouragement.  After the sunflower has bloomed, leave it alone!  The petals will drop off, and the birds may find the seeds before you do!  See these mature black seeds, nestled in the old head of the  sunflower?  The birds love sunflower seeds, and will eat them up. 

Other resources:

• Things you can do to help birds
• Ten ways to landscape your yard for songbirds
• Threats to birds in cities
• Feeding birds the natural way
• Providing water for birds
• Feeding birds in winter
• Landscaping for birds (All About Birds)

• Learn more about starting a garden at: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl/gettingstarted/index.html