Calliope hummingbird on Monarda. © Gordon Scaggs, 2000, all rights reserved.

Bird feeding is almost as popular as gardening as an American pastime, so here is habitat tip #4 in our series celebrating the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Backyard Wildlife HabitatTM program’s 30th anniversary.

Despite popular belief that wintertime is when birds need human help to secure food and water, ornithologists have concluded otherwise. Birds can use your support during the summer too, they say, when bird activity is at its peak. When temperatures dip and blankets of snow cover the ground, food may be scarce, but when temperatures rise and the days are hot and dry, water is equally at a premium.

While providing food from native plants in your yard is the best way to help your feathered friends, backyard feeders and birdbaths will draw a crowd. Species like rose-breasted grosbeaks in the East and black-headed grosbeaks in the West that migrate to the Tropics during winter, will be drawn to an inviting backyard offering feed and water. Many species of hummingbirds, orioles, bluebirds, American robins, some buntings and sparrows which also leave the northern region during winter, will be happy to use sugar-water feeders across North America during summer.

Bird watching is at its most rewarding during summer. Dawn is punctuated daily by a chorus of melodious bird songs and all the crooners sport colorful breeding plumage. Nest building, egg laying and bird rearing are at a maximum and it’s great to enjoy these activities in the privacy of your backyard. Under the watchful eyes of the parent birds, fledglings leave their nests and are nudged towards backyards where they are introduced to feeders and baths.

On hot summer days, birdbaths, pools and ponds lure a great variety of summer-only birds for a dip, which is essential for maintaining healthy feathers. Indigo and Lazuli buntings, gray catbirds, brown thrashers, red-eyed vireos and red-winged blackbirds are some of the species that may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away during the rest of the year.

Above all, it’s a pleasure to be outdoors to watch these activities taking place just yards away. If you have a patio area where you can settle down peacefully, birds will become accustomed to your presence and quietly get about their business. Even though during winter they may flock to the same spot and make use of the same facilities, observing them from inside your house just isn’t the same.

The following chart outlines the kinds of food and specific types of feeders that are preferred by various bird species. Be sure to replenish the feed regularly and keep the feeder clean.

BIRDS	FOOD	FEEDER
American Robin	Hulled sunflower, mealworms	Ground tray; tray, or hopper with rim, on post
Black-capped chickadee	Sunflower, niger, safflower, suet	Hanging tube; tray, or hopper with rim, on post; caged suet holder
Tufted titmouse	Black oil sunflower	Hanging tube; tray, or hopper with rim, on post; caged suet holder
Calliope or rufous hummingbirds	Sugar water, flower nectar	Sugar water
Evening or black-headed grosbeak	Sunflower seed, hulled or black oil	Hanging tube; tray or hopper with rim
Mourning dove	Seed mix, hulled sunflower	Ground tray; tray, or hopper with rim, on post
American goldfinch	Hulled sunflower, niger	Hanging tube; tray, or hopper with rim, on post
House finch	Hulled sunflower, safflower, niger	Hanging tube; tray or hopper with rim, on post
Western or mountain bluebird	Mealworms	Tray, or hopper with rim, on post
Baltimore or Bullock's oriole	Sugar water, orange halves	Sugar water; tray or hopper with rim, on post
Blue jay or Western scrub-jay	Peanuts, sunflower	Tray, or hopper with rim, on post
Information provided by the National Wildlife Federation 2003

Learn more about making your landscape wildlife-friendly by creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and having it certified by the National Wildlife Federation [www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat.]