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Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

dirt doctor

We are excited to have Howard Garrett, aka the Dirt Doctor, participating in Birdzilla.com.

Howard is a leading proponent of organic gardening and eliminating the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers in our yards.  His radio show is heard on over 200 stations across the United States.

From time to time, we will post tips from Howard that can help keep your yard and flowers healthy and happy, while protecting the birds. In the meantime, you can visit his website for an incredible amount of information.  If you are just starting out you might find his Organic Guides a great place to start.

Special Offer on the first-of-its-kind Natural Organic Certification Course
Howard Garrett has developed on online course leading to certification for those who successfully complete the 15 chapter course.  Birdzilla.com readers can receive a 10% discount using the code BIRDZILLA10.

Natural-Organic Course certification

Backyard Birds – Success the Organic Way

Our friend Carla Davis has been gardening pesticide free for years.  You’ll enjoy her comments and the photographs of her beautiful yard.

Many people think of backyard birds and gardens in relation to insects, the filet mignon of the bird world, which the birds readily eat and feed to their young. And while this is definitely true, and makes them a gardener’s best friend, they do so much more.

More than 300 plant species found in eastern forests alone depend on birds to disperse their seeds.

Birds love gardens as much as we do, if not more. After all, they are natural-born gardeners, and very efficient to boot. None of us could do a better job at gardening than birds do. The seeds of the fruits they eat pass through their digestive systems whole, get scratched and nicked as they pass through the gizzard in a process called scarification which makes them more likely to propagate. Then the birds add a little high-nitrogen fertilizer as the seeds exit for a little added planting boost. Who could do more?

Considering that, it’s wonderful that we are now starting to garden for them for a change. In doing so, we are re-creating habitat that has been forever lost to development. At the same time, we are enriching our own lives by inviting nature’s most beautiful and interesting creatures into our own backyards. Their brilliant colors, outrageous antics, and incomparable songs add a natural dimension of the highest order to our gardens, and reward our hard work with more satisfaction than flowers alone ever could.

butterfly garden

Birds and butterflies will feel right at home in this garden.

Some of you are already gardeners, and what we have outlined here can be easily assimilated into your backyard habitat. Others may have done nothing more than buy a hanging basket or potted plant that required little more than watering and occasional feeding. Not to worry: Gardening for birds is really simple. They don’t require perfection, they like it a little messy, and they are extremely adaptable. After all, they can plant their own food, if you give them the chance.

Birds aren’t naturally drawn to lawns, since they don’t occur in the wild where they live. And lawns are particularly inhospitable to birds, since many of us treat them with numerous chemicals and fertilizers that keep them looking good to us and our neighbors but are deadly to birds. So, if you can find a way to eliminate a portion of your lawn and dedicate it to the birds, you’ll save time, energy, and money – and the birds will love you for it.

Both novice and experienced gardeners alike should think about just giving up a small (or large) piece of lawn, to be planted by, and for, the birds. Even the smallest parcels of private land almost always have an obligatory lawn and usually more than is really needed. Lawns are not natural, in any sense of the word. They do serve a purpose, in that we play and entertain on them, but some of us maintain them out of a sense of obligation because our neighbors do.

natural garden

This yard in New York state is bird, butterfly and neighbor friendly – and it is pesticide free!

Several things should be taken into consideration when gardening for birds.

First, pesticides are poison to the birds, and shouldn’t be used. If we invite birds into our gardens with plants that they love, they will find the insects that are present and eat them, eliminating the need to use pesticides.

Second, we need to understand that a variety of plantings are needed to fill a variety of needs, like plants for cover and shelter, plants for nesting, and plants for food.

Third, we need to replicate the naturally occurring edges that occur in the wild, where the brushy areas meet the fields and woods and attract the greatest number of birds. This can be accomplished be merely planting hedgerows in a zig-zag line, rather than a straight one, thereby increasing the total amount of “edge” in our backyard habitats. And last, we need to plan our gardens so that they span the seasons and provide food for all the backyard bird residents – both the breeders and migrants that inhabit them.

In This Category

Natural-Organic Certification Course

Insect Hotels – Habitat and Garden Art Combined

Creating A Habitat Garden

Hardiness Zones

Invasive Plants to Avoid

Annuals and Perennials that Attract Birds

Plants for the Pacific Coast that Attract Birds

Plants for the Mountains and Deserts that Attract Birds

Plants for the Prairies and Plains that Attract Birds

Plants for the Southeast that Attract Birds

Plants for the Northeast for Attracting Birds

Native Plants for Birds

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Arizona

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Alabama

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Alaska

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Rhode Island

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Arkansas

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In South Dakota

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In California

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Utah

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Colorado

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Connecticut

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Delaware

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Vermont

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Florida

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Virginia

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Georgia

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In West Virginia

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Idaho

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Wyoming

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Illinois

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Indiana

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Iowa

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Kansas

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Kentucky

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Louisiana

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Maine

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Maryland

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Massachusetts

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Michigan

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Minnesota

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Mississippi

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Missouri

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Montana

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Nebraska

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Nevada

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In New Jersey

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In New Mexico

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In New York

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In North Carolina

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In North Dakota

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Ohio

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Oklahoma

Native Plants For Attracting Birds in Oregon

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Pennsylvania

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In South Carolina

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Tennessee

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Texas

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Washington

Native Plants For Attracting Birds In Wisconsin

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