NW Gardens: Welcome to Birdland: Make your yard a landing strip for fall arrivals

We've turned a seasonal page in the garden, and although there are warmish sunny days ahead, fall is officially on the books. Along with the aging of flowers and the turning of leaves comes a slight change in our bird population.



	Stellar's jay

Quiet winter visitors can be seen at feeders, on the ground or at the birdbath, even in our city gardens, including decks and patios. Here are some winged guests you might see in the garden this fall and winter, and tips on how to draw in more birds.

A rustling of leaves on the ground might be the wind, or it might be a varied thrush or flicker turning over leaves to look for insects.

Varied thrushes can be drawn to patios. This bird is as large as a robin and has bright rusty orange and black markings. In winter, thrushes come down from forested areas and can be found in edges, parks and perhaps in your backyard.



	Downy woodpecker

Plant berried shrubs for the thrush. Some berries are long gone by the time winter arrives. The flicker helped eat up our elderberries (Sambucus nigra 'Guincho Purple') a month ago, and other early fruiters, such as serviceberry (Amelanchier), were eaten up in June.

Cotoneaster berries remain on shrubs, and no one bothers them until after Christmas. The same with our native snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus).

Winter berries are a good source of food for both thrushes and robins.



	Winter berries, like those on the Cotoneaster, are a good source of food for robins and thrushes.

Of course, robins are always around. Or are they? Robins, Master Birder Idie Ulsh points out, can be found in the city in summer and in winter, but, strangely enough, they aren't the same robins.

Although they are all the same species, the robins that inhabit our gardens in summer fly south for the winter. In turn, the robins that nest further north fly down here for a warmer winter. Regardless, they are good companions in the garden as they keep a close eye on us when we dig in the soil and expose worms for them.



	Our native Snowberry, Symphoriocarpos albus, will attract robins to your garden.

In addition to planting our own gardens and pots with an intermediate layer of shrubs that offer food and cover for birds, we can benefit from the trees in nearby parks and in our neighbors' gardens. If someone else provides you with the tree canopy, you need only to fill in the rest.

In fall and winter you may also see the ruby-crowned kinglet or a fox sparrow, while song sparrows and towhees can be found throughout the year.

Some birds are seasonal just in neighborhoods, not whole regions. In late summer and early fall, Steller's jays show up in the blocks around Greenwood Elementary School to compete with the squirrels for acorns.



	Dark-eyed junco

And sometime in October, we'll see the first black-hooded junco scouting out our garden just ahead of the rest of the group that returns to our city landscape for the winter.

Juncos are ground feeders and will find leftover seeds on the ground. As they move around, you can see a flash of white from their tail feathers. Juncos are year-round residents in the suburbs not far away, but in the city we bid them au revoir each spring.

White-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows might be hunting for dropped seed in your garden during the winter. Look for the white-and-black or gold-and-black stripes on their heads.



	Northern flicker

Suet feeders will draw the northern flicker with its black bib and bright red wing linings. You might even see a downy woodpecker -- it's smaller than a robin -- or the larger hairy woodpecker.

For sure you will attract the sweet little bushtits. You'll attract a lot of them in winter, when they travel in flocks of up to 40 or more. These tiny acrobats are gray and only 3 or 4 inches long. They cling to suet feeders in crowded clusters, and they can hang upside down on the slenderest of twigs.



	Spotted towhee

Some birds can be fairly unnoticeable in the garden, until you are quiet enough to observe.

You may think you don't have many birds, but they are out there. The Bewick's wren flits about, investigating leaves, twigs and trunks. You may hear him before you see him -- the buzzing call is bigger than you'd think a 5-inch bird could produce.

Bewick's wrens have a racing strip over their eyes and a tail that sticks up. The even-smaller winter wren (about 4 inches long) is darker and its short tail goes straight up, too.



	Fox sparrow

Come next spring, you may see even more. Occasional visitors in the spring are migratory species, and it's amazing what may show up in the garden or at your feeder for a day or two: Warblers, grosbeaks and probably American goldfinches.

There's a special bird for those on the upper stories of apartment and condo buildings. The star of the high flyers on upper balconies and rooftops is the Anna's hummingbird. Put out a feeder for the winter and a big pot of winter-blooming plants such as Mahonia x media 'Charity' or 'Arthur Menzies.'

If you long to see even more birds than appear in your garden, take a walk. Spend a morning or afternoon in any of Seattle's parks, such as Seward, Lincoln or Discovery, or strolling through the Washington Park Arboretum.

Marty Wingate, a Seattle-based Master Gardener, has a master's degree in urban horticulture and is the author of two garden books. She can be contacted by e-mail: martywin@earthlink.net.

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