Mar 21, 2018 | Featured in: Watching Backyard Birds, April 2018

Strange—But Useful—Ways to Help Birds This Spring

Have you ever tried feeding eggshells to birds? Females especially need them during nesting season to replenish the calcium needed to produce eggs.

Eggshells for the Birds

Save your eggshells and offer them to the birds. Female birds need calcium—especially during egg-laying season. When cooking, save the empty, rinsed-out egg shells in the refrigerator in a jar or plastic container. After you've accumulated a dozen or so, bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for half an hour to kill any residual bacteria. When the shells have cooled, crush them into small bits and offer them to the birds on a platform feeder; toss them on a roof; or scatter them on a deck railing or sidewalk.

Leave a Log

The combination of wood, water, and soil creates gold for the birds, in the form of invertebrates attracted to the decaying wood. Leave a log on a bare spot in the corner of your yard. You'll create a nursery for the kinds of critters lots of birds prefer to feed their nestlings and fledglings.

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The Latest Comments

Re: Ask Birdsquatch: Feeder Hogs » Watching Backyard Birds.com

that is a nice fix, I have the same issue and my titmice will not return! I don't want these bullies but I want to keep woodpeckers and the ruffed titmice.

by Candoll, Sat, 13 Jun 2020
Re: 8 Common Bird-feeding Myths Debunked » Watching Backyard Birds.com

That doesn't address my concern about the bird houses. I'm on a tiny piece of property (40x100) so there's not much room to plant a heck of a lot or places birds could put nests once the bird houses are gone.

by Linda DiPierro, Mon, 25 May 2020
Re: 8 Common Bird-feeding Myths Debunked » Watching Backyard Birds.com

Plant some native plants in your yard that will attract pollinators and produce berries and nuts. There should be a local society that has a list of recommended plants, shrubs, and trees.

by Ladylanita, Mon, 25 May 2020
Re: 8 Common Bird-feeding Myths Debunked » Watching Backyard Birds.com

Same concerns here. See above post. For your situation I would consider planting a few native plants that will naturally produce berries and seeds that the birds in your area need to survive. Try planting some that will yield foods for all seasons.

by Ladylanita, Mon, 25 May 2020
Re: 8 Common Bird-feeding Myths Debunked » Watching Backyard Birds.com

I've thought about this myself. One thing I considered doing is leaving behind some bird food and a gift card to my local wild bird store with a note asking the new homeowners to please continue feeding the birds. Don't know how well that work but it's worth a try.

by Ladylanita, Mon, 25 May 2020

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