Sunflowers are a great attractant for many birds and if you are looking to attract a large variety of birds then planting sunflowers is a great option for your backyard.  When planting these sunflowers, however, you will want to plant them where you can see them very well.  The sun is generally not going to deter a lot of birds away from sunflowers, and as long as you can get a good view of the sunflowers, you should also be able to have a good view of any birds that may feed off of them.

You should also plant native flowers to your area.  There is a reason that these types of birds are in your neighborhood already and the more “natural” that you look, the more likely you are to attract some of these birds.  They come to your neighborhood for specific reason and if you go all out to be different, while sometimes it may pay off, you may also be left without any birds at all on some days.

The fact is, birds love flowers.  If you have flowers in your yard that you have kept healthy then chances at attracting birds there are very good.  You should keep up the maintenance on the flowers though, and with doing so you will be enjoying birds for years to come.

Hummingbird feeders are in a great abundance and many people think that if they buy a feeder and set it up in their yard then the birds will automatically come willingly and although you may get the occasional hummingbird to visit the feeder, there are a few extra things that you can do in order to attract them a little better.  One of the big things that you can do is make sure that when you set up the feeder, you make sure it is hanging in the shade somewhere, rather than in the sun.  It has been proven that they will attend shaded feeders more often than they will feeders that are in the sun.  Also, under normal circumstances, you should clean and refill the hummingbird feeder every 3 to 5 days.  This will keep the food fresh and the birds coming back.  Chances are that there are others in your neighborhood that has these feeders and if you have old and stale food in your feeder then they are very likely to just move on to the next yard.

Hummingbirds are also attracted to red colored tubular flowers.  If you have these planted in your yard, you will be more likely to attract hummingbirds and enjoy their presence, as many others already have.

There are a few things that you need to work out for yourself prior to taking the necessary steps in setting up your own yard as a bird watching habitat.  One of the first things you should do is find out what types of birds that you are looking to attract.  Many birds are different and like different things so you should find out what it is that you are looking to find and doing the research as to what types of habitats that these birds like to be in.  If you are looking for an assortment of birds then you will likely have to set up different “zones” for the birds so that they will feel comfortable in the habitat that you have created for them without the nuisance of other birds.  A lot of birds can get along in the same environment but there are some that will not.  This is a decision that you will need to make prior to altering your yard.

Another critical thing to do when setting up your yard for bird watching is create a space that will not scare them away.  You will want to cut off outside noises that are not natural such as highway noises and such.  Take some of these steps and you will likely create the perfect space for birds as well as the avid bird watchers.