Читать книгу Gardens and Parks - Nick Baker - Страница 7

Birds are everywhere, and because they are big, they are often the first creatures to catch our attention. They also show us how we can provide for nature in our own back yards. In fact, if it wasn’t for our feathered friends, we wouldn’t be seeing our gardens and parks as wildlife refuges at all. Birds invented wildlife-friendly gardening!

In recent years, watching birds in gardens and being aware of who visits and in what numbers has given us a better understanding of just how bird populations are changing. It also shows how important the wildlife garden can be in supporting many species.

There are many products, catalogues and shops dedicated to encouraging birds into your garden, and once you have gained their interest, the feeling of successfully helping them makes your heart glow. So why stop at birds, why not encourage butterflies and other insects, mammals and reptiles, and amphibians, too?

There is more to encouraging birds into your garden than hanging out a bag of nuts or throwing out some crumbs or stale bacon rind when the generous mood takes you! Birds are feathered ambassadors for what we humans can do for wildlife. Just by nailing together a few planks of wood and providing a variety of food and a source of water, we can make their lives easier. They will return the favour by giving us a little glimpse into their often fascinating lives.

Bird populations in the wild depend mainly on two things: first they need food, and second they need somewhere to live and nest. So if you are to make your local patch of interest to our feathered friends you need to bear these things in mind.

Swallows love to nest on our homes and outhouses. It’s hard to imagine that they come all the way from central and southern Africa every summer just to stick mud together under our eaves!

A house sparrow: these chirpy little birds are associated with our homes and buildings but, for some reason, their numbers are declining in their natural range in Europe. Here is a bird we can help by feeding them and providing nest sites.

The European starling is a noisy city dweller that gathers in impressively huge flocks in the winter.

The wren is the king of the singers; a small bird with a loud voice that loves a garden with untidy corners and dense shrubs.