Making your Garden Bird Friendly

In Australia we are blessed to have an incredible range of native birds and some introduced species.
Many of our birds are attracted to our backyards because of our native shrubs and trees and also exotic species of plants and flowers.
We have a wonderful lot of birds come into our place every day in fact many breed here.
This is what we do, and so can you, to make your place a bird friendly place.
South Australia is Australia's hottest and driest state so water is a big priority.
We have 4 Birdbaths on our property.
Birds need to drink and they also bathe in our birdbaths and also sometimes just seem to enjoy a splash around.
 Our property  is just an average half acre house block in suburban Adelaide.
We regularly put out old bread and roll scraps every morning for our resident birds.
If I happen to sleep in a couple of spotted turtle doves walk towards our back door to let us know they are waiting.
One day we had 2 doves, a couple of crested pigeons and a handful of sparrows all approaching the back door.
Also during the hot weather we often put a garden hose sprinkler into some of our trees where the birds like to have a wet leaf bath.
We have  about 11 species come in on a regular basis.
It's a great education to have our young grandchildren giving out the bread and observing the birds.
Having lots of flowering shrubs and large shade trees is also a great habitat for the birds.
We have 3 cats. They used to catch birds but not anymore.
Two of them are a bit old and slow and the younger one seems to have learned we don't appreciate his hunting skills.
The main problems for the birds are a visit from a collared sparrow hawk, which will swiftly grab a dove or a smaller bird, or crows, which steal eggs.
There are owls here also but rarely seen in the daytime.
We deliberately leave a few tomato stakes and an old shovel standing in the garden so the birds can perch and observe.
They do like to sit on the clothesline too which can be annoying if you have items subjected to their bombs.
So why don't you see what you can do at your place.
Might I suggest you clink on the label below called "birds in our backyard".
It will take you to many other posts and pics on birds.