As these suburban plants grow and mature, they turn ordinary suburban yards into de facto aviaries with commercial bird feeders acting as fruiting bodies. Today, feeding birds in your yard is only slightly less suburban-centric than maintaining a fine lawn or buying Girl Scout cookies from your neighbour. And while the activity does cut into a family budget, most homeowners are able to set aside the funds needed to offer their feathered minions one or more seed types, plus suet (beef fat) for more finicky feeders (and even meal worms for wrens and mimids). Multiple bird-feeding store chains have evolved to serve the needs of the bird-feeding market, as well as garden centres and agricultural feed stores that have expanded their inventories to include bird feeders and seed. Even grocery stores and hardware stores have capitalized upon the craze, offering consumers a selection of mixed or specialty seeds, plus the specialized feeders needed to dispense them. It is estimated that a billion pounds of seed are sold annually in the US and Canada, generating $4 billion in income. This sum is twice the income generated by the annual sale of comic books.

The proliferation of feeders has prompted many once-woodland birds to relocate, fully or in part, to the suburbs. Feeders concentrate birds that would otherwise distribute themselves more widely. It may even have induced some species to winter north of their historic range. It has been suggested, for example, that a number of bird-hunting Sharp-shinned Hawks may, now, be short-stopping their southern migration in response to the concentrated abundance of prey they find farther north. With songbirds abundant in suburban New England, there is scant need for this bird-hunting raptor to migrate on to the Middle Atlantic and southern states. And while both the overall and secondary impacts of backyard bird feeding remain largely unstudied, it is clear that seed-eating birds choose to concentrate where feeders are available. And compared to bird species that are not attracted to bird feeders, the populations of feeder birds are mostly stable, while many other songbird species are declining. It is possible, too, that backyard bird feeding has facilitated the northward range expansion of once-southern seed-eating species, like the Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Their ranges, once stopping short of New England, have, since the mid-century, expanded even into Maine. Certainly, climate change is this northern expansion’s primary driver, but a reliable food resource would be a welcome support vehicle for pioneering species willing to leapfrog north, backyard feeder to backyard feeder.

Many authorities have compiled lists of common backyard birds. While these vary region to region, Ma Nature typically apportions representatives of basic family groups according to region. Thus, wherever you live, you probably find yourself within the range of one or more jay species. If you live in the west, you may find a scrub-jay, Steller’s Jay, or magpie. But east of the Rockies, the flamboyant Blue Jay is your neighbourhood jay unless you live in the boreal forest, where Canada Jays dominate, or the Rio Grande Valley, where the flamboyant Green Jay is your neighbourhood jay species.

No matter where you live, you can count on one or more chickadee or titmouse species to live near you. Mourning Doves and Downy Woodpeckers are near ubiquitous. Finches include the omnipresent House Finch, American Goldfinch and, in the west, the Lesser Goldfinch. Common sparrows include White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco. And of course, the introduced but firmly established House Sparrow and European Starling occur just about everywhere we do. Significantly, all these species (and more) are drawn to backyard feeding stations. Mixing commercial seed (introduced in 1953) and other food items ensures bird numbers and diversity in your yard. And don’t forget water. Birds need water to drink and bathe, even in winter.

And while this book is not intended to be a how-to guide to bird feeding, a few simple tips will help homeowners attract more birds. First, understand the importance of trees and other cover. A bird feeder stuck in the middle of an open grass-covered yard, away from woody vegetation, will attract few birds, no matter how much food you offer. Feeder birds are mostly forest species that demand the safety afforded by woody vegetation to retreat into when hawks are prowling. No trees? A brush pile near your feeder will offer birds safe haven and a place to wait for perch space to open up. A pile of brush in your yard might not be in the landscaping style of Martha Stewart, but it does attract birds and you may find the latticework of branches constitutes the most popular bird gathering mechanism in your yard.