How to Attract Birds That Eat Mosquitoes and Bad Garden Bugs
You can create a bird sanctuary for insectivores for natural pest control in the garden.
While some birds can be a nuisance in the garden, others are an essential part of a healthy garden ecosystem. We enjoy feeding birds in winter. Not only is it pleasurable to bird watch the local bird community from our window, but it’s also nice to provide a good food source when food is scarce.
However, at the first sign of spring insects and green sprouts, we mostly take the feeders down. We don’t want the birds to get dependent on being fed and forget how to be birds foraging. In fact…
We need the birds to do what they do best: eat insects!
It’s the birds that keep our insect population under control. Now… keeping the away from the berries we don’t want to eat… that’s a challenge for another article. For now…
Which birds eat bugs?
Best Bug Eating Birds
Below is a list of common backyard birds and some of the insect pests they eat. Next time you see or hear a bird in your yard, you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that they’re on your side, helping you keep your garden healthy and looking good.
- Bluebirds: grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, larvae, moths
- Cardinals: beetles, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, stink bugs, snails
- Chickadees: aphids, whitefly, scale, caterpillars, ants, earwigs
- Grosbeaks: larvae, caterpillars, beetles
- Nuthatches: tree and shrub insects such as borers, caterpillars, ants and earwigs
- Oriole: caterpillars, larvae, beetles, grasshoppers
- Sparrows: beetles, caterpillars, cutworms
- Swallows: moths, beetles, grasshoppers, mosquitoes
- Titmice: aphids, leafhoppers, caterpillars, beetles
- Warblers: caterpillars, aphids, whitefly
- Woodpeckers: larvae, beetles, weevils, borers
When I see this list, it makes me sick to think of how we’ve used toxic pesticides in the past for the convenience of taking care of pest problems. Like so many people, we were thinking: “problem”… “solution”. And… the quicker the better.
We had a pest control company treat our home for years… just on an automatic subscription—but no longer. We had them inject poison to handle the carpenter bees that were tearing up the wood facia of our home… but no longer.? If they won’t do natural, we won’t use their service.
To poison insects, also poisons birds.
Instead, invite in the planet’s best natural pest control: birds!
Okay! So that’s a summary of best backyard birds for garden pest control. But if you want more, read on for a breakdown on how to attract these fine feathered garden friendlies. You’ll find these ordered alphabetically with photos over the next pages beginning with Bluebirds!
via: gardensall.com
