Attracting birds to your yard

Attracting birds to your yard, deck or porch is as simple as planting a tree or shrub and providing tasty treats.

Kim Bonastia, manager of Signal Mountain Nursery, said there are particular trees that birds prefer. They include spice bush, huckleberry, blueberry, sumac, dogwood, hawthorn, holly, serviceberry and pine.

But it's also necessary to provide a protective habitat, including food, water and shelter, she said. A safe habitat protects birds from the elements and well as enemies, giving them "a safe place to rear their young," she said.

If the sweet music of a songbird is what you're looking for, Ms. Bonastia suggested planting small, deciduous trees, which are particularly good for songbirds in the Southeast.

According to www.sustland.umn.edu,, deciduous trees come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, forms, colors and textures. They lose their leaves each fall, go dormant for the winter and leaf out again in spring. They also provide food and habitat for birds and wildlife, and help filter dust and pollution from the air.

In the winter, birds need extra protection than in warmer months. Ms. Bonastia offered the following tips on attracting and helping birds during the cold.

Five tips

1. Put out suet cakes.

2. Provide water.

3. Provide a variety of favorite seeds, including black-oil sunflower, striped sunflower, hulled sunflower, peanut kernels and white proso millet.

4. Provide raisins, fresh or dried fruits, and orange halves.

5. Put out cleaned roosting boxes for the birds to live during extreme cold weather.