Hello everyone : )

[Sandpiper]

Hello everyone! I am a new subscriber. :) I am not an experienced birder, but I love birds, and I have a question for anyone who can answer.

I just leased a little place with a sweet little backyard with several big trees. There is no grass growing now, and I have been told that there is too much shade to grow even St. Augustine grass. I would like to put in some species of flora that will not only help fill up the ground (and thus stop the soil errosion) but also attract and help the birds.

Thus far, I am visited by a couple of Blue Jays, one pair of Cardinal, Doves, and lots of Sparrows, but I would like to attract more species of bird, of course! Any advice is appreciated, and if anyone could post pictures of his/her bird friendly yard, I would dearly love to see them! I am feeding a song bird mix from Wild Bird Center, as well as mealworms. So far, they are ignoring the mealworms. I put out a Hummingbird feeder, too, but so far I have not seen even one Hummingbird. It may be too late in the season to see any, though. :(

Thanks!
jt

[Mary Lee]

Hi jt -

Congratulations on leasing a place with a great yard and wanting to expand your birding experiences.

Plants for shade that attract birds - I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to this but I'll try. Turks Cap can tolerate shade and attracts hummingbirds. I have Pigeonberry growing well in the shade and it's suppose to attract birds but I've never seen any eat the berries - same for American Beautyberry. Let's see what others suggest.

Re: hummingbirds - fall migration is taking place right now and we have many ruby-throated hummingbirds passing through. Once they find the feeders they'll keep coming back so keep the feeders filled with fresh nectar. Do you have it hung where the hummers can see it when they're flying over?
The only bird that I know that really likes mealworms are Eastern Bluebirds. If you don't have any in your area then I don't know what other birds will eat them. I've never put mealworms out. Black oil sunflower seeds draw many birds and I have suet up all year for woodpeckers.

[Sandpiper]

Thanks for the suggestions, Mary Lee. I guess I will have to experiment a little. I used to live in Grapevine, and the birds there loved the mealworms! They would have eaten them all day if I would have kept putting them out!

I had one little Hummingbird that visited me there, too. I think the feeder here is in sight (they are supposed to have excellent vision), so all I can do is wait...

Cheers,
jt