By JOEL M. LERNER
The Washington Post

Here are 10 things you can do to make your property attractive to birds:

1. Plant flora that provides food. Tastes vary from species to species, so plant a variety of shrubs, grasses, flowers and trees that provide nectar, acorns, nuts, seeds and berries, such as serviceberries and viburnums. Vines, such as grape, trumpet vine and honeysuckle, and perennials such as agastache and echinacea provide both food and shelter. Tom Simmons, president of the York Audubon Society, strongly recommends that people use plants that are native to this area, because the birds and the plants co-evolved. Native plants provide better food than plants at a nursery that might come from Europe or Asia.

2. Provide water. A pond will attract birds (as well as insects and amphibians), but if you don’t have room for a pond, a birdbath will do. Leave open space around it so birds can see predators coming.

3. Provide shelter. Birds need places to build nests, as well as environments where they can take cover in bad weather. American holly, Foster’s holly, bayberry, dogwood, red maple and conifers offer good shelter.

4. Reduce lawn space. Lawns are largely useless to birds — no food, no place to hide, no shelter. If you must have some lawn, keep it de-thatched and well aerated to encourage earthworms.

5. Help nesting birds build nests. Put out a variety of useful building materials, including thin twigs, short lengths of twine or yarn, feathers, dryer lint, short strips of fabric, dog hair left after grooming, and dried leaves and grasses.

6. Plant a hedge instead of building a fence, and don’t shear it into a wall. Choose shrubs that are naturally orderly, such as common boxwood. Another idea for screening would be to use a plant that tends to colonize, such as staghorn sumac. This allows birds to come and go easily.

7. Put up birdhouses for “cavity nesters,” such as purple martins, titmice, chickadees, wrens, sparrows, finches and nuthatches. Never paint the inside of a birdhouse, and use only nontoxic paints or stains on the outside. Don’t use bright colors; they can catch the attention of predators. Keep the outside as natural-looking as possible. Different birds have different needs, so research to find out what kind of houses local birds might like.

8. Improving the natural landscape is more desirable than feeding birds outright, but most people want birds in their yard so they can watch them. That’s something a feeder provides. Again, do your research to find out what kinds of foods different birds like. Make sure the feeder is secure, not too close to places where predators could lurk and protected from squirrels. As a start, it should be freestanding, not hung in a tree. Clean it periodically to prevent spread of disease and so you won’t attract rodents.

9. Reduce hazards. The National Audubon Society says the most common form of death associated with feeders is birds flying into windows. Reduce reflections by closing the shades or blinds, especially when you’re asleep or away. Window decals work only if there are enough of them and they are properly spaced to break up reflections. That generally interferes with people seeing out of the windows. The best solution is to put the feeder at a distance and use binoculars. And keep your cat indoors. Cats are predators that are hardwired to stalk and kill prey even when they are not hungry.

10. Participate in a citizen science project. Join the National Audubon Society and Cornell University in the Great Backyard Bird Count or Project FeederWatch; get information at www.birdsource.org. Recent observations helped scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology discover a correlation between snowfall and robin distribution: They don’t like snow covers of more than 5 inches. You can find other citizen science projects at www.birds.cornell.edu/LabPrograms/citSci/index.html. For more information about birds, the landscape and the environment, check out baltimorebirdclub.org, www.audubonathome.org, www.epa.gov/owow/birds and the American Bird Conservancy site at www.abcbirds.org.

ON THE WEB

• Visit www.pabirdingtrails.org for a guide to great bird-watching sites in central Pennsylvania.
• Visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/native.aspx to learn more about landscaping with plants native to Pennsylvania.

SMART TIP

Doyle Farm Nursery, 158 Norris Road, Delta, specializes in herbaceous native plants. Visit www.doylefarm.com or call 862-3134 for a complete list of open houses and public plant sales.