Winged Wednesday - Composting is for the Birds

Having a backyard compost is useful for a number of reasons. It prevents yard waste from being landfilled. It can used to provide nutrition to the plants on the property. And it turns out that it can be a good way to attract birds.

Our compost pile is the back corner of the lawn.

Here's a short list of items you are likely to find in our compost:

• Dried out grasses and wildflowers
• Fruits and vegetables from our kitchen
• Leaves from the previous autumn
• Sod removed from the yard to make way for other plants.

This small combination of organic materials does a remarkable job attracting birds for various reasons. In the spring, birds stop by the compost in search of nesting materials. They are happy to eat fruit scraps from our kitchen especially blueberry and strawberry. They can forage for leftover seed from the wildflowers and grasses.

White Throated Sparrow forages in the compost.

The compost also supports other life. Insects live in the compost amongst the decomposing plant matter, dirt, and debris. The White Throated and White Crowned Sparrows which came to visit us last year spent a fair amount of time scratching away at the borders of the compost. Black Capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, and the occasional Gray Catbird have been know to land in the compost and pick away a little bit as well.

Of course the American Toads like the bugs in the compost too.

Our yard has many features which help attract birds including: feeders, houses, trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, and our man-made brush pile contributes to the success of our yard's biodiversity just as much as the decorative features of the yard.