Missouri Department of Conservation

Invite Wildlife to Your Backyard

A publication of the National Wildlife Federation, by Jack Ward Thoms, Robert O. Brush and Richard M. DeGraaf

GO OUT TO YOUR BACKYARD and look around. Watch the fish weaving among the water lilies, the dragonflies moving in glittering arcs above the little pool. Don't move--the robins are busy feeding their youngsters in that nest above your head; squirrels are edging down the beech trunks behind you and darting into the shrubbery. The trumpet creeper on your stone wall is almost irresistible to the hummingbird that just appeared, and song sparrows are adding their notes to a tangle of birdsong sifting down from the oaks and maples. If you're really patient, that timid cottontail might bring her brood into the grass for one last taste of the dew-silvered grass.

This isn't your yard, you say? It could be. If you have even a quarter-acre of crabgrass right now, you can turn it into a wildlife habitat as beautiful and gratifying as the one above. A few square yards--yes, even a window box--can become a wildlife refuge-in-miniature. You start with a dream--but then you need a plan. Want to have your own wildlife haven? Well, here's the plan...

Where do you start

This backyard habitat plan is divided into three model stages. No matter what your backyard looks like now, it will fit into one of them, give or take a few years' growth. But, before you do anything, put you plan on paper, no matter how crudely. The planning you do at the outset will determine the whole course of your backyard wildlife program.

After the initial planting of trees, shrubs, flowers and herbs the first year, robins and other birds will feed on the lawn, and ground-feeding sparrows and finches will forage among the shrubs and flowers. Bird nesting will be limited, but many species will be attracted by the feeders and water.

The overhead view of this ideal backyard plan keys plantings to the above tables, and gives artist's viewing position in illustration for:

1. food,
2. water,
3. cover
4. and reproductive areas.
5. Stages I, II, and III are viewed from terrace.

Backyard area is 100 by 120 feet (about 1/4 acre).

Stage I.

If you start with only a sodded yard, and plant the trees, shrubs and herbs suggested on pages 4-5, your yard will be in Stage I. At this point you will already have some sparse, but usable wildlife habitat. In the early years, you really need to augment food and water resources with feeders and birdbaths. Bird nesting will be limited, but here you can help with nesting boxes. Robins will feed on the lawn and ground-feeding sparrows and finches may forage among the shrubs and flowers. Rabbits and squirrels may also come occasionally.

If you already have trees and shrubs in your yard but the kind, numbers and placement don't fit the total backyard habitat program outlined here, work out you own version of this plan. Use what you have to best advantage. Take out undesirable plants and relocate others.

Leave enough open space so you can observe wildlife without disturbing it. Consider the eventual heights of your plantings so the taller ones will be in the rear. Vary the heights of masses for a visually pleasing growth.

Stage II.

It takes a yard about five to 10 years to progress from the initial plantings of Stage I to the fairly mature shrub condition of Stage II. The trees will be about 25 feet tall. If your yard is in this stage now, but is a dense wooded area of young trees and shrubs, make a plan to thin vegetation to achieve a balanced habitat.

In Stage II there will be enough flowers and fruits to attract a variety of birds and insects, which will in turn attract reptiles and small mammals and amphibians. A small pond may replace the birdbath. Robins will raise broods in the trees. Thrashers, cardinals and song sparrows will nest in the denser shrubbery. Dusk will bring rabbits to browse in the security of your yard. Mornings will find chipmunks emerging from holes in your stone wall to scurry up trees.

Trees

Species	Mature Height	Flowers	Fruits	Sun/Shade	Wet/Dry	Use in Habitat
1. American beech /Tulip tree	50-100' 80-150'	May-June	Sept.-Oct. Oct.-Feb.	Lt shd/sun Mod shd/sun	Moist Moist	Nuts, seeds, acorns, and buds; fall-early spring foods for squirrels, game and songbirds. Spring summer foliage; cover feeding and reproductive areas for songbirds, tree-dwelling mammals, butterflies and other insects. Leafless branches, cavities; winter roosting for mammals and birds.
2. Red oak	50-100'	March/May	Sept.-Oct.	Lt shd/sun	Moist/dry
3. White Oak	40-100'		Sept.-Oct.	Lt shd/sun	Moist/dry
4. Red maple/Sugar maple	40-100' 40-100'		July-Dec.	Shd/sun Shd/sun	Moist/well drained Moist
5.White pine	40-100'		Aug.-Dec.	Sun/lt shd	Dry/moist	Cones and berries; fall, winter, early spring food for red squirrels, songbirds. Boughs, year round cover, reproductive areas for songbirds, birds of prey, insects, tree-dwelling mammals.
6. White spruce	40-100'		Aug.-Dec.	Sun	Dry
7. Eastern hemlock	50-80		Aug.-Feb.	Shd/sun	Moist
8. Eastern red cedar	30-80		Sept.-May	Sun	Dry/moist

Small Trees

Species	Mature Height	Flowers	Fruits	Sun/Shade	Wet/Dry	Use in Habitat
9. Winterberry holly/Spicebush	10' 10'	April/May March-May	Oct.-Jan Sept.-Nov.	Shd/sun Shd/sun	Wet/moist Wet/moist	Flowers; for butterflies, other insects. Berries, fruit; fall, winter food for songbirds, small mammals. Spring, summer foliage; cover, food, reproductive areas for songbirds. Leafless branches; winter cover, roosting for songbirds.
10. Flowering Dogwood/Serviceberry	10-30' 10-25'	March-June March-April	Sept.-Oct. June-July	Shd/sun Shd/sun	Well-drained/dry Dry/moist
11. Hawthorne	10-30'	June	Oct.-March	Sun	Dry
12.Crabapple/ Sassafrass	15-30' 15-40'	March-May April-June	Sept.-Nov. Aug.-Sept.	Sun lt shd/sun	Moist/Dry Well-drained/dry>

Shrubs

Species	Mature Height	Flowers	Fruits	Sun/Shade	Wet/Dry	Use in Habitat
3. Arrowwood viburnum	10'	May-June	Aug.-Oct.	Shd/sun	Moist/wet	Flowers: food for butterflies, other insects. Berries: food for songbirds, small mammals. Foliage: cover, reproductive sites for songbirds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects.
4. Silky Dogwood	6-8'	May-July	Aug.-Sept.	Shd/lt. sun	Dry/moist Moist/wet
5. Flameleaf sumac Red Osier dogwood	4-10' to 10'	July-Aug. May-Aug.	Aug.-Oct. July-Oct.	Sun Sun	Moist/wet
16. Elderberry	3-13'	June-July	Aug.-Sept.	Sun/lt. shade	Moist/wet
17. Cotoneasters	2-15'	June-July	Aug -March	Sun	Moist Dry/moist Dry/moist
18. Rhododendron Plitzer juniper Tall Oregon grape	5-20' 3-12' 4-8'	May-July - Feb.-May	Aug. March June-Aug.	Lt. shade/shade Sun Lt. shade

Flowers: Perennials

Species	Mature Height	Flowers	Fruits	Sun/Shade	Wet/Dry	Use in Habitat
Coral Bells*	to 3'	June-Aug.	-	Sun	Dry/moist	Flowers: food for butterflies. (+) other insects and hummingbirds. (*) Seeds summer, fall and winter foods for songbirds especially cardinals, sparrows and finches
Butterflyweed+	to 3'	July-Aug.	-	Sun	Dry/moist
Bee-balm*	to 4'	July-Sept.	Sept.-Aug.	Sun/lt. shade	Moist
Catnip+	to 3'	July-Sept.	Aug.-Oct.	Sun/lt. shade	Moist
Sedum speclabile+	to 3'	Aug.-Sept.	-	Sun	Dry/moist
Goldenrod+	to 6'	July-Oct.	Sept.-Jan	Sun	Dry/moist

Flowers: Annuals

Species	Mature Height	Flowers	Fruits	Sun/Shade	Wet/Dry	Use in Habitat
Zinnia+	to 4'	July-Oct.	Sept.-Dec.	Sun	Dry
Cosmos+	to 4'	July-Oct.	Aug.-Nov.	Sun	Dry
Petunia	to 2'	June-Oct.	July-Dec.	Sun	Moist
Portaluca	to 1/2;	June-Oct.	July-Nov.	Sun	Dry

Stage III.

Starting from scratch, you can expect Stage III 30 to 40 years after initial planting. This means a yard with varied mature trees, with hardwoods in full fruit production, plus mature shrubs and sufficient open areas.

If, however, your yard has little shrubbery, but already has a reasonable number of these trees producing fruits and nuts, you can plant shrubbery and low vegetation to achieve Stage III in five to 10 years.

This stage attracts the maximum number of wildlife species. Orioles and tanagers will nest in the higher branches; foliage-gleaning warbles will feed in the treetops. Rabbits will feed on the lawn and low shrubs and may even raise their young in well-hidden nests. Squirrels will live in tree hollow or nest boxes, if available. Chipmunks, field mice, garter snakes, toads, butterflies and other insects may make your backyard home.

As darkness falls, bats and nighthawks may swing through the sky on feeding flights. Deeper into the night, whippoorwills and owls will mingle their calls with croaks of frogs and the chirps and trills of katydids.

Four wildlife needs. All wildlife, indeed all life, requires four basic elements to survive: food; water; cover as protection from natural enemies and the elements; and areas where they can reproduce and bear their young in safety. Combinations of these four elements are unique for each species, but you can plan a habitat that offers enough combinations to attract the greatest number and variety of wildlife your area will support.

Working with the natural resources at your disposal, your aim should be to manage the vegetation, water supply, food--feeder offerings and especially natural foods, and provide nesting boxes so that you maximize the number of homes for wild creatures.

Be sure to select your plants carefully to provide the maximum overlap of flowering and fruiting times. Food should be available as needed. For birds, this means a year-round supply. If you have bird feeders, consider maintaining them year-round.

Trees. Trees are the key element in progressing to Stage III because they take the longest to reach maturity. They're essential to most backyard wildlife, providing food, cover and reproductive sites for many birds, butterflies, squirrels and raccoons.

Seek advice locally from other gardeners on species best suited to your lot, considering soil, moisture, nutrients and sunlight. It is possible to overcome some natural limitations through watering, landscaping and fertilizing.

Shrubs. They are really more important than trees in your wildlife program. Shrubs are less fussy, grow faster and provide food, cover and reproductive sites for a great variety of wildlife which lives on or near the ground. Don't prune the lower branches. Encourage herbaceous plants and ground covers in order to fill the gaps between shrubs.

Blend your plantings. How you arrange your trees and shrubs is important. This suggested plan uses all of the basic principles of wildlife management to best advantage. For example, wildlife researchers have found that different plant growth forms--grasses, shrubs, trees--planted around open areas create the "edge effect." These edges attract the greatest variety and numbers of wildlife to the smallest piece of land.

When do you start? Today. Of course, the best time to plant trees and shrubs is spring or early fall. But you can make your all-important plan, clear out unproductive growth, and prepare your soil almost any time. Maybe you'll build a bird feeder the first rainy weekend.

What's the cost? The answer to that is how much do you want to spend? You can make your own plans, provide your own muscle power and, if you don't mind waiting a little for concrete results, you can start with very small plant materials or even seeds.

Retail nursery and garden LEFTs may be a source of advice and can supply some needed plants. Mail-order catalogs and the bulletins of native plant societies carry a wealth of information.

If cost is not a concern, hire a landscape architect who is open to your suggestions to design your yard, and a landscape contractor to do the installation. This way you will see the fastest results in the shortest time.

You will have additional costs for periodic maintenance. But expenditures for fertilizer, water and labor are less for this kind of wildlife backyard than for a lawn.

How big a backyard? The backyard brought to life on these pages is about 100 feet by 120 feet (about 1/4 acre). If your yard is smaller, it may be difficult to provide food, water, cover and breeding areas for many species. But it is possible to provide all critical elements on a lesser scale and attract some wildlife

If you have no yard at all, you can still provide food and water in window box planters. These can bring a little piece of nature into the lives of even apartment dwellers--provided, of course, that some bird life is already present, your apartment is not too high above the ground, and you can open your windows. Your window box can support the same basic processes as any natural area--soil, water, sunlight and plants combining to produce life in a microcosm. With a little luck, birds will make your window box a part of their lives.

If your yard is larger than our model, you're lucky. You can use the same basic principles to create a wildlife habitat which is vastly more effective because it can be more complete, diverse and stable. It takes an acre or more to attract animals higher in the food chain--those that live on other animal life. These would include hawks and owls, as well as raccoons, skunks and foxes, which eat both plants and small animals. Cooperative with neighbors to provide a larger area of suitable habitat will multiply the effects of your efforts.

It works anywhere. While this backyard plan is designed for the Northeast, you can apply these same principles wherever you live. In Miami, fill your yard with dahoon and white stopper and listen to the mockingbirds. In Tucson, plant desert willow and enjoy the white-winged doves. In Seattle, grow blue elderberry and attract western bluebirds. In a window box or a national forest, the same principles apply. So, with a few exceptions, no matter where your yard is, or how big it is, you can refer to the substitution chart on pages 6-7 for suitable plant materials.

Where to get help. Your county agricultural agent or state university landscape specialist has free advice on a wide variety of problems you may encounter. So does your local nurseryman. If you live in a Soil Conservation District, you can get help on water and soil problems from that office. Many state game departments--especially those with non-game or urban wildlife staffs, have biologists that can help. And Planting an Oasis for Wildlife , part of the Federation's Gardening With Wildlife Kit, lists more than a dozen books to help you attract wildlife to your backyard.

Don't expect too much. The illustrations on these pages show the variety of wildlife that might visit your backyard over a 24-hour period. However, it will be impossible for you to attract every kind of animal you would like to see in your backyard. The combinations and amounts of food, water, shelter and breeding sites for each species are too complex and varied.

Only a limited number of animals can use a single yard as home, particularly during the breeding season when a bird may require a larger territory and will defend it against others. Once the breeding season ends, however, territorial defense stops and additional individuals and species may use your backyard.

Include your neighbors. Your small island of good habitat will be a happy haven for some wildlife. But you'll be more successful if you can persuade your neighbors to cooperate in a backyard habitat program. And as the trend toward urbanization continues, green space for people and plantings for wildlife will become increasingly important. By cooperating with your neighbors, you can create "wildlife neighborhoods" that will aid wildlife and make life more fun for you and your family.

Informally, you can share plant materials and ideas. Formally, you can plan together. For example, if your yard is in Stage I, with only grass and shrubs, and is next to a neighbor's year with 25-foot trees, the combined habitat would be close to Stage II in completeness. If you are lucky enough to have a neighbor with a steam of pond, or with a fairly wild woodlot or field, your total habitat will attract wildlife much more successfully than your yard could alone. And if your neighbor likes wildlife too, he's not likely to complain if rabbits wander into his cabbage patch.

Unwelcome wildlife. Let's face it, some wildlife tenants can be unwelcome. Rabbits may girdle shrubs. Squirrels may rob bird feeders or get into attics. Snakes repel some people, and bees and wasps may sting if disturbed. You have two choices when faced with undesirable species. You can avoid confrontations with these animals or you can control them.

If you decide to control, you can either alter the habitat to eliminate the life requirements of the unwanted animals, or directly remove the offending individuals. you can discourage squirrels by using bird feeders that are squirrel proof, taking down winter nest boxes, sealing the attic and covering tree holes with tin. Or you may want to live-trap the squirrels and transplant them.

The actions of dogs and especially cats can be extremely disturbing influences in residential habitats. Their presences however need not discourage you from attracting wildlife. Dogs rarely injure small animals and cats can be belled, fenced or better yet, maintained indoors. Place feeders away from dense, cat-concealing cover.

What's the pay-off? As your habitat develops and grows, it will become an increasingly exciting and intimate part of your family's life. Your backyard can become a stage where wild animals are the stars and people the audience. Inviting wildlife to your backyard is probably the best way for children to learn a simple tenet of the complex science of ecology: life operates in one large system and everything in that system is interconnected; any change in one part affects the rest of the system.

The case presented here is simple. Man's habitat can be wildlife habitat, too. If we are to maintain any contact between urban and suburban man and nature, we must share our living space. Also, studies show that property values rise from three to ten percent with the addition of vegetation and good tree cover.

What's really important. Anthropologist Rhoda Metraux has said that only when man has incorporated into the urban setting all that he once gained through living in nature will he be "fully and faithfully...urbanized."

Our society has alerted to the deterioration of our environment, and we have heard the call to great crusades, both public and private. Yet there is a question in many minds: what can one person do?

Regional Equivalents for Planting

Use the list below to select some of those best suited for other areas.

Regional Equivalents for Planting

Region	Low Shrubs	Tall Shrubs	Small Trees	Large Trees (Deciduous)	Large Trees (Evergreen)
Southeast	Beautyberry Saw Palmetto Cotoneaster Blueberry Blackberry Smooth Sumac	Yaupon Red buckeye Southern blackhaw Wax myrtle Hercule's club	Dahoon Flowering Dogwood Serviceberry American holly Persimmon Cabbage palmetto	Tulip poplar Bald cypress Willow Oak Pecan Hackberry	Longleaf pine Live oak Southern magnolia Loblolly pine Carolina hemlock Eastern red cedar
Southwest	Beloperone Brittlebush Buffaloberry Redberry buckthorn Skunkbush Trumpetbush	Creosotebush Bitterbrush Desertwillow Sugar sumac Serviceberry Shrub live oak	Ironwood Hackberry Paloverde Velvet mesquite Chokecherry Madrone	Az. sycamore Bigtooth maple Gambel oak New Mexico locust	Emory Oak Rocky mountain juniper Blue Spruce Ponderosa pine Pinon pine
Northwest	Salal Manzanita Mahala mt Evergreen huckleberry Rabbit brush	Tall Oregon grape Red currant Serviceberry Osoberry Cascara buckthorn Blue elderberry	Pacific dogwood Madrone Mountain ash Hawthorne Vine maple	Bigleaf maple Oregon white oak Red alder	Western red cedar Western white pine Douglas fir Western hemlock White fir
Rockies/Great Basin	Rabbit brush Mormon tea Prairie sagebrush Smooth sumac	Golden current Sand cherry Mountain mahogany Choke cherry Serviceberry	Limber pine Western red birch Rocky Mtn. clump maple Utah juniper Rocky Mtn. juniper	Emory oak Quaking aspen Fremont cottonwood	Lodgepole pine Ponderosa pine White fir Pinon pine Douglas fir Subalpine fir
Northeast/Northcentral	Beach plum Blueberry Coralberry New Jersey tea Huckleberry	Arrowwood viburnum Pflizer juniper Winterberry holly Bayberry Spicebush Red osier dogwood	Sassafras Serviceberry Flowering dogwood Staghorn sumac Nannyberry	American beech Shagbark hickory N. red oak White oak Sugar maple Black gum	White pine Eastern hemlock Eastern red cedar White spruce Red pine White cedar

You can improve your own environment with plans like these and, in doing so, develop an understanding of, and a faith in, the solution of environmental problems. And you can do it where it means most to you--in your own backyard.

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Food

1. Mallard ducks turn "bottoms up" in search of aquatic plants.
2. Downy woodpeckers remove insects from tree bark.
3. Sunflowers attract goldfinches and other seed eaters.
4. Monarch butterflies feed on flower nectar.
5. Robins find earthworms and flickers, lower LEFT, eat ants from lawn.
6. Gray squirrels and blue jays eat acorns and other nuts throughout the fall and winter.
7. Male towhee scratches in dead leaves for an insect meal.

Food for wildlife is easy to furnish. You can supplement natural growth with a variety of products, especially for seed-eating birds. In fact, many people who don't have enough land to provide water, cover and reproductive areas can enjoy some wildlife through feeding alone.

The ideal wildlife management plan, however, supplies as much food as possible through vegetation, and variety--from berries to nuts--in order to meet the year-round needs of many species.

But don't make the mistake of considering food provision the beginning and end of wildlife management. Food must be accompanied by the other three habitat elements to enable wildlife to live in your yard.

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Water

1. Raccoons chiefly nocturnal, feed on frogs, crayfish and other small creatures.
2. Mallard ducks may visit your small pool in spring and fall.
3. Tree swallows keep insect populations in check.
4. Red-winged blackbirds build their nests among cattails.
5. Leopard frogs and common toads prey on insects and fill the night with a country chorus.
6. Dragonflies brighten the air above a pool.
7. Kildeer, a shorebird, may adopt your backyard.
8. Painted turtles need rocks and logs for sunning

You can fulfill wildlife's critical water needs--drinking and bathing--with a simple bird bath or ground watering device. Most desirable, however, is a small pool with an area large enough to support plants that grow in water, as well as around the edge. It will become the scene for a broad range of wildlife activity.

During the night, raccoons might make feeding forays while bats sweep the air above the pool for insects. In very early morning and late evening, rabbits will feed on the succulent growths around the edge, to the accompaniment of a nighthawk's plaintive "peent" as it, too, hunts insects overhead. Activity will drop during the day, but birds will still use the area for watering and bathing, turtles and frogs for sunning.

You can encourage winter activity by keeping a section of the pool ice-free; use a livestock trough warmer.

In addition to its wildlife value, the water area will provide a key focal point in the landscape design. Locate it to provide maximum visibility from the terrace or windows of the house.

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Cover

1. Hooded warbler uses dense cover to escape American Kestrel.
2. Rabbits quickly flee to tall grass when threatened.
3. Painted turtles and Leopard frogs find refuge in water
4. Shrubbery for rabbits and stone piles for chipmunks provide cover from cats and dogs.

Cover is any place that protects animals from predators and the weather. Different species have different cover requirements: rock piles or stone walls for chipmunks and lizards...brush piles or dense shrubs for cottontails and towhees...evergreens for chickadees and pine squirrels...water for frogs and turtles.

Cover also serves as a home base--the farther an animal must venture from cover, the more vulnerable it is to predators. So try to provide cover close to food and water. Many cover plants can also be food plants.

You can also arrange cover to please the eye. Define your yard's open spaces with trees, shrubs and stone walls, grading their heights so tall trees and shrubs won't block open areas and low growth from view.

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Reproductive areas

1. Robins nest in low forks of trees and shrubs.
2. Scarlet tanagers' stick nest is flat and usually placed on a high branch.
3. Nest boxes for gray squirrels should be at least 20 feet from the ground.
4. Baltimore orioles suspend basket-nests from high branches of mature trees.
5. Tall grass conceals a ring-necked pheasant's nest and brood.
6. Rabbits make their hair blanketed nests in tall grass.
7. Mallards need high grass near water to raise their broods.
8. Painted turtles live in water, but lay eggs on land near pool.
9. Cardinals, LEFT, need dense shrubbery for nesting.

All wildlife needs a specific kind of cover where it can reproduce young, and, in most cases, raise them. Each reproductive area must offer protection from the elements and be relatively safe--either inaccessible to predators or well hidden.

The diversity of cover you need for a complete habitat requires mature trees. These provide den sites for squirrels and nesting places for both high- and low-nesting birds.

Until your habitat is complete, you can compensate for a lack of big trees with nest boxes for squirrels and some birds--English sparrows, house wrens and tree swallows will probably use them.

Unmowed lawn edges and low shrubs are perfect sites for song sparrows and cottontails; the moistness will attract katydids, crickets and grasshoppers.

Frogs, toads, salamanders and fish may deposit their egg masses in the pool and its vegetation, and water insects such as dragonflies, waterstriders and back-swimmers will breed there.

1. Mature Hardwoods produce nuts and seeds for squirrels and birds. Aging trees harbor insects for woodpeckers and nesting holes for all kinds of wildlife.
2. Soaring red-shouldered hawk and other birds of prey control rodent populations.
3. A field of tall grasses and wildflowers occasionally mowed attracts quail, pheasants, meadowlarks and bluebirds.
4. A belt of evergreen trees protects birds from weather and predators.
5. Blackberry brambles makes cover for rabbits and provides food for many songbirds.
6. Resident deer browse on branch tips. Thick stands of spruce hold snow off of the ground, making it easier for deer to find food.
7. A large pond can support fish, frogs, turtles and a variety of water birds and mammals.
8. Large openings in the woodland--glade, field and pond--create a greater variety of wildlife habitats.

Window box

If you don't have a yard, or wish to limit your habitat area to a very small area, you can use a window box planter and building walls and windows to provide three basic elements--food, water, and reproductive cover. Food is best provided in a feeder. A small tube feeder attached to a window with suction cups or to a wall and filled with hulled sunflower seed will bring the most interesting birds and eliminate the mess of seed hulls. Some butterflies or perhaps a hummingbird may be attracted to a window box planters in the warm months. Try small zinnias, cosmos, marigolds or lantana for butterflies. A window box with fuchsia or scarlet petunia in full sun may attract hummingbirds. Replace your winter sunflower seed feeder with a hummingbird feeder if hummers appear at your plants.

Water can be added by simply placing a terra cotta or other heavy shallow pan in the LEFT of the window box, summer and winter. Clean the pan regularly.

If you can attach a structure to the walls of your residence, and you are not more than 30 feet off the ground, a nesting shelf may attract barn swallows, robins or phoebes. A nest box may be a home for house sparrows, starlings, house wrens, titmice, chickadees or squirrels. Clean the boxes after each family leaves the nest.