The more, the better!

I live in the far north on 3/4 acre. Planted with birds and other wildlife in mind. I used to feed purple finches, but no longer. I do throw bad apples out for the jays, however.

Our home is located in the woods(six acres) and we are a water source for all the wildlife that shares our space. We do supplement our native food supply, mostly their water needs. We have a sixteen x six foot window that allows an endless view of the wildlife at four birdbaths and one fountain. All are timer filled and manually cleaned. We regularly see Fox, Deer, Skunks and an occasional wildcat drinking a birdbath dry at dusk, knowing it will refill automatically at sun up. As we are both approaching our 90th year we enjoy all the native wildlife, tolerating the inevitable damage to our plantings. Al

Wish there were a majority of people supporting wildlife as you do, Al! Your view sounds wonderful to watch.

. Min

I have bird feeders and a small fountain where they can get water. When I have blueberries, I put netting over the bush, but other than that, I welcome the birds. I've seen phoebes snatch insects out of the air.

Our yard is small, but birds are encourage to visit. There are the hummers, of course. The common finches, goldfinches and house sparrows, mourning doves and Eurasian collared doves, towhees, wrens, bushtits, warblers, phoebes, ravens and crows, and migrating what-nots. In the winter I feed the white-crowned sparrows; always miss their songs when they leave for the summer. Lincolns, song sparrows and various others show up. Once I had a rare Harris sparrow. The escapee parakeets, and spice finches stop by. I discouraged the spice finches when their numbers topped 25 at a time--those things eat more than any other bird I know of for their size. The little piggies! Orioles visit occasionally. And then there are the Cooper's hawks that show up frequently. They go through periods when they will perch on the fence every day for a week, looking for the unwary.

The urn water feature really attracts the birds. Even though I have saucers of water in multiple locations, invariably, the birds want to fight the flowing water by perching on the urn rim to drink. It is funny to watch them trying to master the skill.

Bluebirds nest in the front yard, which is amazing considering we are in the middle of a tight-packed residential community! I would have thought it to not be bluebird nesting habitat at all. But they do, and often successfully fledge two broods per year. I pamper them with meal worms and Ochna shrub berries.

gry_falcon: When the pool pumps are on each day the water flows from the hot tub (cool unless purposely heated) down into the pool and the birds will take turns drinking and bathing on the little ledge between the two pools; but the real excitement comes when the water is heated and they can have a warm bath. I never thought about them preferring the flowing water for their drink.

Heated water. Now you are just spoiling the birds CA Kate! Mine are going to feel so abused... ;)

I remember at a previous house, after hearing that dripping water attracted more birds, I set up a container with a small hole so water would drip into the birdbath. The resident birds were terrified of it and refused to go near the bath until I removed the drip. Sometimes I don't think the funny creatures just don't read the memos.

The sound of water dripping definitely attracts birds, they take some time to accept anything new. Al

I would have thought so, too. But after two weeks, I decided to stop the torture drip. I thought maybe new arrivals would show the resident fear mongers that the water was safe, but that didn't happen.

HAH! I don't heat the water for the birds! Once in a great while - especially when it's cold outside - the Grandkids will ask to heat the hot tub to play in. (The parents are more likely to use it at night.) I think the birds can hardly wait for the kids to leave the tub so they can take a dip.