What Is a Garden without Birds?

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What Is a Garden without Birds?

Waking up to a dove making cooing sounds or watching a sparrow feeding helps many people connect with nature and reduce tension.

But fewer people know that birds are also the most cost-effective way of reducing the number of pests in their garden.

Young birds love to eat insects, including aphids, whiteflies, cabbage worms and cucumber beetles¹.

Doug Tallamy is a professor at the University of Delaware professor. He wrote the 2007 book Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants. He describes how a small group of chickadees, for example, could eat 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars² from birth through their first flight. That would clear out pests from any garden.

Bird-friendly environment

Jessica Damiano writes about gardening for the Associated Press. She said you do not have to be a bird expert to get pest-control effects that will help your garden. All you need to do is create a bird-friendly environment.

Damiano says the answer includes using native plants to feed native insects, which will attract hungry birds. They could be different kinds of plants that provide berries, nectar or seeds all year. The Audubon Society's Native Plants Database is an excellent source of bird-friendly plant suggestions for your area.

When food is in short supply in the cold, winter climate, leave flowering perennial³ plants out for birds to eat. As autumn leaves fall to the ground, place them under shrubs⁵ and trees to attract insects to feed the birds. And as the leaves break down, they will enrich the soil to give spring plants more nutrients⁶.

Bird feeders

Set a bird feeder in the garden. Select one that comes apart for easy cleaning and that is built to keep the seeds dry. To avoid spreading diseases that can sicken birds, provide only enough seeds to last a few days, and clean feeders at least two times a month.

Choose high-quality seeds high in fat and protein, like unsalted peanuts or black-oil sunflower seeds. Migrating birds need to store calories to prepare for their end-of-season trips.

Suet is a nutritious⁷ cake made from animal fat and often mealworms, seeds or grains. It can be hung in a feeder designed to keep out other wildlife.

Place the bird feeder in a different place regularly to avoid the buildup of discarded seed shells and bird droppings on the ground.

Remember to provide the migrating birds with fresh water for bathing in a container. It should be cleaned and disinfected every week.

And avoid using chemical poisons to kill insects. They do not necessarily kill pests immediately. Insects that eat or touch the insecticide product can be eaten by birds, which can be poisoned as a result.

Words in This Story

pest –n. an animal or insect that causes problems for people especially by damaging crops

shrub⁴ –n. a plant that has stems of wood and is smaller than a tree

discarded –adj. something thrown away

1 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 caterpillars   

n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带

参考例句：

• Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
• Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句

3 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

4 shrub   

n.灌木，灌木丛

参考例句：

• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。
• Moving a shrub is best done in early spring.移植灌木最好是在初春的时候。

5 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

6 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。