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How to Get Birds and Wildlife onto Your Porch

If you enjoy observing wildlife, you can convert your porch into an inviting and pleasant environment. Your porch can provide cover for animals to take refuge from the weather, as well as from predators. Providing a variety of food for various species can attract an abundant source of birds and other wildlife. If you have pets, keeping your animals indoors can prevent wildlife from becoming skittish around your porch.

Things You'll Need

2 bird feeders
Black-oil sunflower seed
Suet
Garbage can lid
Cool water
Sand
Stones
Tree branches
Cooking pot
3 eggs
2 small dishes
1 cup sugar
4 cups boiling water
Hummingbird feeder
Red ribbon
Potted flowers
Squirrel feeder
Nuts
Flowerpot

Instructions

Attracting Birds
- 1
  
  Give birds plenty of their favorite foods.
  
  Hang bird feeders in shady spots on your porch. Place a bird feeder on each end of your porch, which should increase bird activity.
- 2
  
  Discover which foods the birds in your region enjoy.
  
  Provide attractive foods for birds such as black-oil sunflower seeds. Offer suet (a high-energy formulation of animal fat and other ingredients) if you have woodpeckers or insect-eating birds such as robins and warblers. However, use suet only during cooler months, as it can spoil in the heat.
- 3
  Place a garbage can lid in a protected area of your porch. Arrange sand at the bottom of the lid, which provides footing for bathing birds. Fill the lid with at least 2 inches of water. Put a handful of stones and a few tree branches into the water to allow the birds a place to perch.
- 4
  Clean the water in your birdbath every two days to avoid algae growth. Provide fresh water daily.
- 5
  
  Provide grit for birds.
  
  Crack 3 eggs and discard the inside of the eggs. Boil the eggshells for at least 10 minutes. Eggshells can aid in a bird's digestion, indicates The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Crush the eggshells into small bits and place them in a small dish. Place the dish on your porch.
- 6
  Combine 1 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water in a cooking pot. Boil the mixture and cool, then put it into a hummingbird feeder. To attract hummingbirds, use a red ribbon tied around the feeder.
Attracting Other Wildlife
- 7
  
  Flowers like zinnias can attract butterflies.
  
  Place potted flowers around your porch to attract butterflies. Using nectar plants such as asters and zinnias can provide food sources for butterflies, as well as hummingbirds. Other nectar-providing sources include lantana and verbena.
- 8
  
  Squirrels enjoy foods they can crack open.
  
  Provide squirrels with a squirrel feeder. Chipmunks may also arrive on your porch in search of tasty treats. Place nuts within the feeder. Even sunflower seeds offer a plentiful source of food for these curious creatures.
- 9
  
  Create an abode for toads.
  
  Invert a flowerpot, at least 8 inches in diameter. Prop the flowerpot up with a large stone, which allows amphibians such as toads to crawl in and out. Place the flowerpot next to a water source, such as a small water dish.

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