Two old tomato cages and a couple of rescued terracotta saucers have made my yard a "Finch Riviera." Not only for finches but for a host of birds.
As a horticulturist I am pretty much up on plants that birds eat and have become fairly proficient with the feeder aspect, as I suppose many people are. The question is whether we have mastered the water aspect of the backyard habitat.
One thing that really stressed me while I was director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, was that it was paramount for the birds to have water. David and Jan Dauphin, volunteer managers of the center's birding area, developed a three-fountain system from which water dripped 24 hours a day. It gently ran out of the fountain to terracotta saucers on the ground below.
I've been working on a new house and landscape. My feeders were immediately bringing in the birds. It makes you wonder how they know so fast. Even though I have a flowing creek, I knew from "lessons learned" that I needed to provide water, too. I like to do things on the cheap, and I think my idea was a home run. Everything was created from things around the house.
As I write I have two birdbaths frequented by birds. The recipe was two old, large tomato cages and two old terracotta saucers I found in a field. I bought two 1-gallon potted mandevillas from the discount garden graveyard section of a box store.
The cages went in the ground, with the saucers placed on top and one mandevilla in the ground in the center of each cage.
The mandevillas immediately took off as if rewarding me for giving them attention. It wasn't long before the birds took notice and visited the saucers for drinking, bathing and splashing.
The maintenance is not hard. I'll head out to the baths with a watering can and paper towels, and in a minute things are presentable to the feathered friends. Sometimes when I water plants I'll also send some spray into the saucers with the water wand, to freshen up.
The mandevillas quickly climbed each of the segments of the cage, encouraging me to do a little weaving of their vines to train the direction of their growth.
It has been thrilling to see bright yellow American goldfinches, American robins, mourning doves, nuthatches, chickadees and a riotous saucer full of house finches all splish-splashing together. Then a couple of weeks ago it was a celebratory high-five with my wife when a hooded warbler visited.
Providing water is an important part of your feeding activities, and it doesn't have to be expensive to work. All you need is probably in your garage or storage shed. With just a little maintenance and fresh water, your backyard wildlife habitat will become more beautiful and essential to visiting birds.
Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South and Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden. On Facebook he is "NormanWinterTheGardenGuy."
HomeStyle on 11/17/2018