For the Birds: Bird feeding basics to fill your yard with song.

What a delight to awaken each morning to the musical trill of birdsong, to watch from your kitchen window the dazzling blue of an indigo bunting splashing in a bird bath or the brilliant yellow of a goldfinch perched a Dogwood tree. Attracting wild birds to your yard year round is as simple as one, two, three. One: provide food. Two: supply water. And Three: offer safe places for perching and nesting. How elaborate or specific you care to be is up to you.

Karen Schlesinger of Logan’s One Stop Garden Shop in Raleigh says beginning bird aficionados can start with a terra cotta saucer of water, an inexpensive tube feeder and some black-oil sunflower seeds. “This is an economical birdseed that many size birds can handle,” says Schlesinger. “As they advance, there are a wide variety of feeders to choose from, and they can fine tune their mixture of birdseed to attract particular species."

When it comes to feeders, different birds have different feeding styles. Bluebirds (insect eaters) like to sit on a platform to eat. Many other birds prefer a perch (a wooden or metal dowel), and woodpeckers, who typically feed clinging to the side of a tree, like cage feeders. Special thistle feeders, with tiny holes that make seed available only to small-beaked birds, are ideal for goldfinches.

“Most often, customers come in and say, ‘I saw these beautiful birds in my neighbors yard — I want those,’” says Schlesinger. “And it’s usually a matter of the right feeder, the right food and time.”

Correct installation of feeders is vital to both attracting birds and keeping squirrels at bay. Sparrows and towhees usually feed on the ground, while finches and cardinals feed in shrubs, and chickadees and woodpeckers feed in trees. To avoid crowding and attract the greatest variety of species, provide table-like feeders for ground feeding birds, hopper or tube feeders for shrub and treetop feeders, and suet feeders well off the ground for woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees.

Mounting feeders on poles, at least five feet off the ground and as far away from overhanging trees as possible is the best strategy for keeping squirrels at bay. (Remember, these acrobatic animals can leap as far as six feet.) Special squirrel baffles attached to feeder poles can help deter squirrels. If your feeder is suspended from a horizontal wire, CDs, or plastic soda bottles threaded onto the wire can keep the seed-gobbling rodents from tightrope walking over to it.

A somewhat more expensive option, squirrel-proof feeders offer a mechanized platform that drops out with the weight of a squirrel. There are also special seeds (hot meats) and additives that include hot pepper oil to discourage squirrels. “Being mammals, squirrels are bothered by the hot sauce,” says Schlesinger, “but birds can't even taste it.”

The type food you offer will also dictate the species of birds attracted to your feeders. While black-oil sunflower seed is popular with many birds, sparrows and red-winged blackbirds like millet, quail and doves cracked corn, chickadees and nuthatches prefer suet, woodpeckers and mockingbirds crave peanuts and goldfinches favor the rather pricey thistle.

All birds need clean water to drink and bathe, so keep shallow water sources nearby, and be sure to change the water at least once a week. And trees and shrubs are also vital to attracting and keeping birds in your yard.

It's really quite simple to start inviting birds to make a home in your yard. But don’t be surprised if that first little feeder gets you hooked!

Marjorie Lee is a freelance writer