Thursday, August 20, 2009

Gazebo Bird Feeders

Gazebo Bird Feeders

Adding decorative gazebo bird feeders to your backyard display of wooden lawn ornaments will not only enhance your garden décor birdhouses but will attract your feathered friends and makes sure they have enough to eat all year long. Placing your birdfeeders under trees where plants don’t readily grow will give an otherwise barren area new life and give protection to the visiting birds. Birds will frequent areas that have plenty of food and were they will feel safe.

Always have a source of water for your quest, even in the dead of winter; bird baths that won’t freeze in the winter are available. What you put in your gazebo bird feeders can determine what type of birds you will attract. If your birdfeeders have black sunflower seeds, sometimes called oil seeds, they will attract cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, nuthatches and many more. Chickadees, titmice, and downy woodpeckers are attracted to gazebo bird feeders with safflower seeds, a slightly smaller seed than the black sunflower seed. A good food supply, water, and a safe environment will bring the migrating birds to your birdfeeders on their way south and will keep your local residents happy and coming back for more.

If you haven’t already seen the mess a store bought bag of mixed birdseed makes around your gazebo bird feeders then I am here to tell you, don’t buy mixed birdseed. They contain a lot of filler, like red millet, something most birds won’t eat. It just gets kicked to the ground where it rots. Mixed birdseed for your birdfeeders is not a bargain. Plan and simple, buy the seeds you know your birds want.

Garden Gazebo Bird Feeder

Garden Gazebo Bird Feeder

The natural order of things, something Mother Nature follows pretty close….naturally!

Ok, humor not withstanding; fall is the time to start working on your birdfeeders, because the birds are coming. And when they get there your yard and garden décor better include some fully loaded birdfeeders. The Garden Gazebo Bird Feeders are an example of the platform feeders. These types of birdfeeders have a long narrow platform to encourage birds to feed from the edge. The garden gazebo bird feeders will minimizes contamination of the feeding station and is the favorite of a wide variety of species, including wrens and cardinals.

If you enjoy watching the birds in your yard and garden the easiest way to bring in a variety of birds is to include one or more birdfeeders in your collection of wooden lawn ornaments. Both beautiful and functional the garden gazebo bird feeder will provide you with hours of endless bird watching.

Here are some simple tips to feeding birds in the winter. If you offer a variety of food in your gazebo bird feeders you will attract many species of birds. If you are hanging your birdfeeders, or some of them anyway, hang them at various heights above the ground. Hanging garden gazebo bird feeders can be filled with Black oil sunflower seeds, not the grey and white striped sunflower seeds that you and I eat. The black oil sunflower seed in higher in oil content has a softer shell and is cheaper. And hanging your birdfeeders makes them safer from squirrels and raccoons. Offer water, some bird baths are specially made so the water doesn’t freeze.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Victorian Birdhouse

Victorian Birdhouse

Painted decorative birdhouses come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. These Victorian Birdhouses with their gingerbread trim give them an heirloom look that makes them unique birdhouses that also provide multiple nesting areas for the birds that visit your garden décor birdhouses.

The size and shapes of your wood birdhouses should be determined by the type of species you wish to attract. If your decorative birdhouses are for a variety of birds then some of your unique birdhouses should measure at least 6 inches across on the inside making it large enough for the Purple martins, the largest members of the swallow family. Its opening should be two and a half inches in diameter. Wrens aren’t too picky about their decorative birdhouses and will nest in small, plain wood birdhouses. Unique birdhouses for wrens are usually simple and fairly small on the inside. Make sure the opening is only about 1 inch in diameter to keep predators out. Chickadees and nuthatches prefer homes that simulate natural environments, so wood birdhouses are best. Decorative birdhouses for Chickadees will be deep and narrow; the opening in these unique birdhouses should be in the top so that the Chickadee can nest in the bottom of the wood birdhouses and feel safe.

Beach Bungalow Birdhouse

Beach Bungalow Birdhouse

Decorative birdhouses provide hours of entertainment to bird lovers and warm and comfortable shelter for the birds that come to visit. This Beach bungalow birdhouse is one of those unique birdhouses that says it all with just one word, RELAX. If you have already chosen your decorative bird houses based on your needs and what type of species you’re hoping to attract the next step is placement.

Every species of bird nests in varying types of locations. If you know what kinds of birds you want to attract you should place your decorative birdhouses in areas where those types of birds live. Unique birdhouses placed on a fence post or tree in a wooded area will attract nuthatches and woodpeckers. Where as decorative birdhouses hung in an open field or large backyard with little vegetation would be comfortable for bluebirds, swallows, and certain types of wrens.

Look your chosen location over paying close attention to the surrounding area. Avoid spots that don’t provide protective cover, even decorative birdhouses on a post in an open field should have trees within flying distance. And, an area too thickly surrounded by vegetation won’t give the birds a clear flight path to and from the wood birdhouses. Different species of birds require very precise heights in order to feel safe enough to nest, so do some research on the exact height distance requirements before hanging your unique birdhouses. If possible, place your decorative birdhouses near a birdfeeder or birdbath so that the birds will have easy access to food and water, helping them feel more at home in your garden décor birdhouses will make them more likely to stay.

The Wedding Chapel Birdhouse

Wedding Chapel Wood Birdhouse

The Wedding Chapel Birdhouse will marry well with your collection of decorative birdhouses. Painted bird houses come in all shapes and styles. The size and shape of your wood birdhouses should be determined by the type of species you wish to attract. The Wedding Chapel Birdhouse would make for a nice Wren domicile.

Whatever types of wood birdhouses you wish to buy, here are a few general guidelines that will help keep your birds safe and your unique birdhouses in good shape. With few exceptions, bird houses should be made from wood. With wood birdhouses placement is much easier, a metal house must be hung in a shady area where it won’t absorb the heat from the sun. If your decorative birdhouses don’t have any holes drilled into the bottoms of them, drill some, this will keep rainwater from collecting inside. You should clean your wood birdhouses once a year to remove old nest materials making them ready for next year’s guests.

These simple guidelines will help you find the perfect decorative birdhouses for you and your garden’s visitors. Remember the birds’ comfort and safety should be number one and letting it show in your garden décor birdhouses lets everyone know it is number one to you.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Lighthouse Birdhouse

Lighthouse Birdhouse

You put out unique birdhouses and decorative birdhouses, like the Lighthouse Birdhouse to enhance your yard and garden décor. The function of these garden décor birdhouses is also to bring indigenous cavity nesting birds into your garden, filling it with song and color. Now if you where wanting to house a variety of different species in your decorative birdhouses and all you seem to see are House Sparrows, there is a good reason for that.

Of all the songbirds in North America the House Sparrow in the most abundant and covers a larger area of the planet than any other bird. Putting up more than 1 or 2 wood birdhouses or placing them out of sight of each other will not to the trick. You will have to discourage the sparrow from nesting in your Lighthouse Birdhouse by keeping an eye on the wood birdhouses and when a sparrow starts a nest you must remove it. This may take doing more than once but it will discourage them over time. With the sparrow’s aggressive nesting behavior and adaptability to humankind their population has grown to over 150 million giving the species an unpopular status among many birding enthusiast.



Sunday, August 16, 2009

2 Story Fire Station Birdhouse

2 STORY FIRE STATION BIRDHOUSE

A wood birdhouse that is as unique as unique birdhouses can get. With its ladder, hose, and ax adorning the entrance, this 2 story fire station birdhouse will catch the eye of anyone looking for decorative bird houses. As decorative as this wood birdhouse is it still needs a level of functionality, one aspect you need to decide on is color. If your garden décor birdhouses are strictly decorative birdhouses then you may want to choose a color that will stand out, or compliment your lawnornaments. On the other hand if you want to provide shelter and a safe haven for nesting birds in your area, bright colors are out. You will be doing a great disservice to your tenants because the brighter the wood birdhouse is the more attention it will draw for potential predators. The 2 Story Fire Station Birdhouse is a blend of earthly colors and as decorative birdhouses go it fits that bill (no pun intended).

Now, after you have hung all your unique birdhouses or decorative birdhouses and you don’t see the activity you were expecting, try adding nesting materials close by. Not all birds will use decorative birdhouses but they all search out and gather some form of nesting material. Some of your common natural nest materials include; twigs, bark, leaves, feathers and the like. Man made nesting materials you can find around your home might be: cotton, yarn, strings and my favorite’s dryer lint and pet hair. Let’s face it, a purpose of dryer lint and pet hair, I love it! A mesh produce bag works well to secure and hang the bundle of material. Try these ideas and you will have a greater chance of seeing occupied and functional decorative birdhouses.

With the vast destruction of natural habitat, it’s getting tougher for wild birds to find proper nest sites. Cavity nesting birds are facing stiff competition for nest boxes, so hanging decorative birdhouses that are functional and safe will help them thrive and bring them back to your garden décor birdhouses year after year.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Sapphire Twist Glass Hummingbird Feeder

Sapphire Twist Glass Hummingbird Feeder


A glass hummingbird feeder with a twist. This Sapphire twist glass hummingbird feeder works well by itself or as a pair of lawnornaments to deliver a blaze of color to your lawn and garden décor. I have written about where to place your hummingbirdfeeders to get the most traffic and where to place them to keep the bully hummers, the ruby-throated hummingbirds, from being the only hummingbird to grace your glass hummingbird feeders. These suggestions will deliver more traffic and maybe even a little less bullying. However, what is good to put in your sapphire twist glass hummingbird feeders.

If you have a favorite hummingbird food recipe that you like, and the hummers like, by all means stay with it. If you are wondering how to make hummingbird food there are many hummingbird food recipes out there to try. The hummingbird nectar that hummers go for first is natural, the sugary nectar from flowering plants like Columbine, Impatiens, Geraniums and more. This nectar gives the bird a sugar high that is most important before they make their trek across the Golf of Mexico. There are a variety of instant mixes out there to try in your Sapphire Twist glass hummingbird feeders, my hummer friends seem to prefer this simple hummingbird nectar recipe.

1 Part Sugar

4 Parts Water

Boil 1-2 Minutes

Cool and Store in your refrigerator

Because Honey ferments easily never use it in your hummingbirdfeeders. The fermentation will cause sores in a hummingbird’s mouth. Artificial sweeteners are just that artificial, they have no food value. Most glass hummingbird feeders sold today have some degree of red in them, red attracts the hummingbird. Although there have not been any testing done on the effects of the dye on birds, please DO NOT use red food coloring in the solution you use for your hummingbirdfeeders, it could harm your swift winged wonders. If you don’t feel there is enough red in your Sapphire Twist glass hummingbird feeder just tie a small red ribbon around your feeder.


Ruby Flower Glass Hummingbird Feeders

Ruby Flower Glass Hummingbird Feeder

The color red is notorious for attracting hummingbirds and this ruby flower glass hummingbird feeder will be no exception. It delivers a whimsical artsy charm to your garden, two or more of these hummingbirdfeeders will lend credence to the saying “more is better.” I wrote about ways to attract hummers to your glass hummingbird feeders, so I think it is only right to warn you about at least one of the hummingbirds that you might attract in your area. That would be the Ruby-throated hummingbirds. If you have lured the Ruby-throated to your garden and glass hummingbird feeders you will soon find out that this little hummer is very territorial. They will defend the flowers and hummingbirdfeeders within their favorite roost spot very vigorously. If you wish to attract more than one hummer you may want to try putting up 2 or 3 more glass hummingbird feeders out of sight from each other. I suppose “out of sight out of mind” would work here. If the Ruby-throated hummingbirds can't see your other Ruby Flower glass hummingbird feeders then they won’t be trying to bully the other hummers off.

Now a little about your hummingbirdfeeders needs. You will need to change the hummingbird nectar and clean your glass hummingbird feeder every 3 to 4 days and a more often in hotter weather. If you see black spots inside your feeder it is mold, a good bottle brush or some sand in warm water will get rid of it. You should never use a harsh detergent to clean your glass hummingbird feeders. A good rinsing with hot water every time you change the nectar, if done on a regular basis, will eliminate any problems with mold. You may want to try only filling your hummingbirdfeeders half way so you don’t have as much waste. The little hummers can only drink so much in 3 or 4 days.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Ladybug Hummingbirdfeeders






This glass hummingbird feeder will add charm to any ladybug décor garden. Placement is important in order to get the most out of your ladybug glass hummingbird feeder. To attract attention to your hummingbirdfeeders placing them among flowers that hummingbirds like is a good way to get that attention. When you first try this you will notice that the little hummers will be going for the flowers more than your feeders, you will be saying to yourself, “This guy is nuts, the hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers not my ladybug hummingbird feeder.” There are times when I would agree with you about the nuts part, but not here. Hummingbirds prefer natural nectar to the homemade stuff you would be putting in your glass hummingbird feeders. So, they are around and as the blooms start to lose their bounty you will see your fast feathered friends dinning at your feeders. These artistic stained glass hummingbird feeders have a double duty in your garden, providing you with hours of enjoyment watching those lovely little birds zooming about and helping the little hummers fatten up for their long migration south. Keep your hummingbirdfeeders clean and full of fresh homemade hummingbird nectar and they will be back again and again as their cycle of life unfolds in your bountiful garden of sweet delights.