Xeric Garden Birds
Feathered Bug Patrol
in a British Columbia Xeric Garden
Birds are always welcome in my xeric garden; their cheerful chirping and flashing wings as they chase insects, checking out the treetops is a constant source of entertainment. They are one of my greatest joys, as I'm sure they will be for you too. If you're lucky enough to have a pond, birdbath or dripping tap, you'll attract birds. Putting nest boxes where they can safely raise their young will also make them feel welcome. Xeric garden birds will be your constant companions as they flit about the shrubs and trees in your garden, looking for bugs and seeds and keeping a close watch on pests for you.
The smaller types of birds such as chickadees, nuthatches and golden crowned kinglets will hang around together in what's called a 'guild', flocking to the next attraction and the next throughout the day. They seem to know that they're all in it together, and where you see one, there will be the others. Feeding the Birds If you feed the birds during the colder months with sunflower seeds, be prepared to continue all winter until the spring comes as they'll rely on you for food. If you have to go away, please make sure someone can take over and fill the bird feeders in your absence. They can die without your help once they become used to the handouts. Get the scoop on wild birds and feeders. My Birds Here's a list of the birds I see throughout the year: - Mountain chickadee
- Black capped chickadee
- Red breasted nuthatch
- Brown creeper
- Song sparrow
- Chipping sparrow
- Swainson’s thrush
- Downy woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Yellow naped sapsucker
- Pileated woodpecker
- House wren
- Crossbill
- Evening grosbeak
- Pine grosbeak
- Cedar waxwing
- Hummingbirds including Annas hummingbird, Rufous hummingbird, Calliope hummingbird and Broad Tailed hummingbird
- Whiskey jack
- Stellars jay
- Pileated woodpecker
- Pine siskin
- Western tanager
- Yellow rumped warbler
- Townsend warbler
- Tennessee warbler
- Townsend solitaire
- Northern pygmy owl
- Western screech owl
- Ruby crowned kinglet
- Golden crowned kinglet
- American robin
- Dark eyed junco
- Rufous sided towhee
- Western Bluebird
- Empidonax Flycatcher
- Galliform birds such as wild turkeys, ruffed grouse and California quail.
- Birds of prey such as kestrels, falcons and hawks.
Other visitors to your garden may not be as welcome - birds of prey sometimes swoop down on an unsuspecting chickadee with a poof of feathers, but they perform a valuable service. Keeping the flock strong by taking sick or slow birds improves the overall health of all the remaining birds by preventing the spread of disease. In summer, as soon as the weather starts to warm up in late May, you might be fortunate to have hummingbirds visit to check if you have your feeders up yet. They seem to know where people put them, as they'll check on house corners and in front of windows. Planting some tubular flowered vines, shrubs, wildflowers and plants for hummingbirds will help to keep them close by if you don't want to fill feeders for them. Woodpeckers are a familiar sight in my xeric garden, as there are many native pine trees infected with the pine beetle. Sad though it is to see the trees weep thick resin and the needles slowly turning a telltale rusty brown, it's heartening to think that the death of one type of life form can be the survival of another. Recently, I've seen many more pileated woodpeckers which are about the size of a crow with a white chest and vivid red head. I'm thinking they might be thriving due to the pine beetle larvae that they can access in the surrounding forest. Woodpeckers can be annoying in the spring with their incessant courtship calls and hammering on hollow stumps or telephone poles but it's a small price to pay for the benefits of their presence. Whatever size or shape they are, and whatever niche they fill, birds are always welcome in my xeric garden. Migratory songbirds of all descriptions join the flurry and flutter of activity; finding a mate, building nests in wildlife trees and nest boxes and visiting the pond for a drink and a bath. Baby birds have voracious appetites, keeping their parents hopping filling the gaping maws. This frantic activity lasts only about two weeks until the nestlings graduate to fledgling status and leave the nest. It takes them a day or two to get up the nerve, then they're flying. By the time fall arrives, all the youngsters are on their own, getting ready to either spend the winter close by the feeders, or migrate to warmer climes with flocks of other migrating birds.
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