People spend a lot of money these days to add beauty to their yards. They hire landscapers to maintain lush, green lawns and install pools and water falls for a soothing backdrop. Homeowners extend patios, add brick walkways and build outdoor kitchens for entertaining. They plant flowers and shrubs and seemingly spare no expense to beautify their yards; yet, the most beautiful addition of all is free. It’s a family of bluebirds. You don’t pick these beautiful creatures, they pick you, and they bring beauty and cheer to any yard they find acceptable.
We currently have two families of bluebirds in and around our yard. The first group consists of a brilliantly colored male with two young ones, just beginning to show their colors. They feed regularly at our feeder, devouring sunflower hearts. The other family is in the middle of feeding a nest of babies. They finally built a nest in the bluebird box on my fence and after two weeks of warming the eggs, they now make non-stop flights in and out of the box, stuffing insects into gaping mouths and carrying away baby bird droppings to keep the place clean.
It has always fascinated me to see the adult bluebirds pick up the waste in their beaks and fly far away to deposit it. If a bluebird just scratched the droppings out of the nest onto the ground below, a predator would quickly get wind of the opportunity, know that their were helpless chicks around and make short work of the babies, Nature is simply amazing.
To add real beauty to your back yard, erect a bluebird box, establish a year round water source and keep a few sunflower seeds in your feeder. They’ll come in time, and bring unmatched splendor to your yard.
