Johannesburg - Saturday November 29 is South Africa’s 30th annual Birding Big Day, when you have 24 hours to record all the bird species seen or heard in your garden, local park, school grounds or suburb, or in a radius of 50km.
How many birds do you think you could see in your garden? During Birding Big Day 2013, Colleen Miller of Rynfield, Benoni, recorded 54 bird species in her garden, and Richard van der Spuy of Brackendowns, Alberton, saw 47 bird species in his garden.
In the Big Birding Day 2013, Anthony Paton’s Cradle Rock Pigeons team saw 202 bird species around Randfontein, while Leon Spies’s Southern PORT-chards group saw 193 bird species around Alberton.
This summer, discover how to encourage birds to your garden. There are many attractive plants that provide shelter for birds from predators and inclement weather, as well as material for nesting and a food source.
Plants grow in different layers. There are canopy trees and understory trees, and below these are shrubs and plants that cover the ground. Then there are vines and climbers that scramble up trees and through shrubs. Sunlight filters through the layers to the floor, where fallen logs are host to fungi, and groundcovers and mosses grow. This layered planting affords shelter and provides food for birds, small creatures and insects.
The highest layers in a forest or garden are the canopy trees and, if the size of the garden allows, large shade trees such as the white stinkwood (Celtis africana) will provide a canopy of shade.
Rough-barked trees, such as indigenous acacia, harbour insects and make good nesting places.
In small gardens, try tree fuchsia (Halleria lucida), white karee (Rhus pendulina), white ironwood (Vepris lanceolata), boerbean (Schotia brachypetala), lavender tree (Heteropyxis natalensis), Indigofera frutescens, tree wisteria (Bolusanthus speciosus), silver birch, ornamental cherry, prunus and crab apple (malus).
Shrubs and hedges offer shelter to shy birds such as coucals and thrushes. A thicket of shrubs in a secluded part of the garden is protection from predators and inclement weather, in addition to providing a place to build nests.
Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) with tubular flowers of orange, yellow or salmon that attract sunbirds is a useful shrub as a hedge or for screening.
Leaves, twigs, grasses and palms provide material for nesting. Dead trees make ideal nesting holes, or sisal nesting logs and nesting boxes can be attached high up in trees, but position them so that their entrances are protected from the rain.
Birds need food for different reasons – to feed themselves and their young, to survive winter, and to build up fat reserves for migration.
A variety of plants will provide nectar, berries, seeds and fruits through the seasons. Plant in groups so they’re easily visible.
Hadedahs and wagtails will look for insects and worms in open habitats and on lawns. Fallen leaves and dry twigs under shrubs and hedges will provide food for foraging thrushes and robins.
Birds are attracted to orange and red, and tubular flowers of phygelius, pineapple sage, salvia, fuchsia and crocosmia attract sunbirds. They are also attracted to the curved flowers that cover the trunk and branches of the fuchsia, Halleria lucida, and the berry-like fruits are enjoyed by small fruit-eaters.
Other shrubs that attract birds, and at the same time colour your garden, include yellow and apricot phygelius, pink sage (Orthosiphon labiatus), cream September Bells (Rothmannia globosa), and pig’s ear (Cotyledon orbiculata).
Mulching with leaves and garden clippings not only conserves moisture in the soil and discourages weeds, it also provides a pantry of insects for robins and thrushes.
If your garden is very small, bird feeders and bird tables filled daily with fresh birdseed will encourage birds to visit your garden. Feeders should have a roof as protection from rain, as damp seed can become mouldy. Hang feeders near a tree, so that birds can fly there for protection from raptors and cats.
Birds need fresh water for drinking and bathing, so be sure to provide a birdbath. If it’s too deep for small birds, place a few pebbles in the birdbath where they can perch, or provide a “shallow end”. A birdbath on a pedestal is the answer if there is any chance of a visit from cats. The water in birdbaths should be fresh and the bath should be scrubbed regularly to remove algae.
* Go to www.birdlife.org.za or http://mybirdpatch.adu.org.za/ to register.
Saturday Star