GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Birds Of A Feather

k-england
5 days ago
7 min read

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026.

Encouraging and Enjoying Songbirds in the Garden

Movie still from Field of Dreams, dvdbeaver.com

“If you build it, they will come.”

Do you remember the movie Field of Dreams? The lead actor Kevin Costner built a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield, and if I remember the film correctly, it was to encourage baseball players to play baseball and then people came to watch.

When I moved to this property 10 ½ years ago, I knew that I wanted to encourage birds to come to the garden and to build their nests and live here. I also wanted to encourage migrant birds to come and stay for a while, enjoying what the garden has to offer.

Years ago, I stopped putting out birdseed in birdfeeders for several reasons. Even though I’ve lived on much larger properties, here I have had the largest rat population of anywhere I have ever lived in my adult life. One reason for this might be because before 2003 this property was a vacant lot. People used to use Havahart® live animal traps and trap the rats on their properties and then take them somewhere else and let them loose. In my opinion, we have way too many rats in the world to save them from a hawk or owl or other bird of prey to eat.

A huge baby red-tailed hawk at a fountain as seen through a window in May 2025.

The second reason, which is really the most important, was a disease birds were acquiring from wild birdseed, and it was killing them.

The best way to attract birds to the garden is to plant the plants or trees that they like. Learn about their habitats, have plenty of water and shelter for them and places for them to nest in trees and shrubs, and ways they can hide from predators.

When I first moved here, I started this process by adding varied flowering plants, trees and shrubs, and adding water features - birdbaths and fountains. Birds actually really love bird baths. Many a time I have seen several birds in a large shallow birdbath that I can see in the back garden from my bedroom window. Black hooded Orioles, and bluebirds by the dozens swooping down in and out of the water. What a joy it is to see “the bluebird of happiness” in that particular birdbath. Observing them darting in and out of the water, taking sips of water and washing their bodies gives an observer such joy and peace.

A few years ago, a close girlfriend remarked,

“Fran, I’m having so much fun with the bird app. You can put it on your phone from the App Store, and it will record the sounds of the birds in the garden. I’m also noticing that when I play the sounds back, other birds hear the sounds, and it encourages more birds to chime in.” (It’s important you don’t play the bird app continually but to play it a little bit is no problem.)

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To my delight, I started doing what she suggested.

Part of the day I sit on a swing in the back garden with my legs up and the dogs are out there with me, and I find out what birds I have in the garden. Recently, it was a huge thrill to realize that there were dozens of birds all over the garden.

“If you build it, they will come.”

Daisy Mae jumps up on the swing with me, and we swing back and forth, and Prince comes alongside the swing. Being that he is a standard poodle, Prince resigns himself to the fact that he’s too large to jump up on to the swing with us and lies down or sits close by while we listen to the birds in the garden.

One of the migrant birds that I had by the dozens recently was Cassin’s Kingbird. There were probably 25 at least on the property for a few weeks. They nest in trees. Their habitat is open woodlands and their diet is insects. This is another reason it’s really important not to feed birds because they will help the environment by eating the insects and, when they dig in the soil eating earthworms, they help to aerate it. Bluebirds also eat earthworms, many birds do. The Cassin’s Kingbird has an interesting symbiotic relationship with hawks. They like to gather where there are hawks so they can forage for food, getting what they need and the hawks protect them and their babies from other predators.

There is so much for hummingbirds to eat. It’s really important not to feed them. Planting Salvias in your garden will encourage dozens of hummingbirds to build their nest and race through the garden. When I am outside watering or filling up the water features the hummingbirds come in droves all around me. Many times, I have been in the garden in the late afternoon or early evening with a friend and dozens of hummingbirds are darting to and fro gathering nectar from the different flowering plants and trees in the garden. Being that we have a Mediterranean climate by just planting the plants for that region you will have so many hummingbirds. It is really important not to feed them because they will get dependent upon the sugar water instead of pollinating the plants and flowers like nature intended. It’s also important not to feed the hummingbirds because, if you go out of town and you don’t keep up the sugar water, they are dependent upon it instead of depending on nature.

Here is a list of some of the birds that we have in our gardens in north San Diego County...

Lesser Goldfinch - Likes weedy fields with Oak savannas they eat small seeds

House Finch

Mourning Dove

Anna’s Hummingbirds - Love flowering plants and small insects.

Mockingbirds – Like large dense shrubs. Eats insects and berries. They sing nonstop day and night year around.

When Pete and I were sweethearts as teenagers, Pete would complain mornings that he couldn’t sleep all night at his house because a mockingbird was keeping him awake singing right outside his window after he’d returned home.

Lately, I have been concerned that they are becoming extinct. I have always loved mockingbirds and their beautiful songs mimicking the beautiful songs of other birds. When I first moved to this property, there were mockingbirds but for many years I haven't even heard or seen one. I used to see them at mom’s (Pat Welsh) in Del Mar, but I haven’t in the longest time. Are the crows eating all their babies?

California Scrub-Jay - I haven’t seen one of these in years either, and I’ve been concerned about their welfare as well.

American Crow - Extremely intelligent. They have the intelligence of a four or five-year-old child. I try to discourage them from being in the garden. They eat the baby birds and the eggs of songbirds. I always get concerned when the black hooded Orioles are nesting up in tall palm trees.

Black Phoebe - These are the sweetest little birds, and I have many in the garden. They are so great because they eat low flying insects and flies. They like to sit on chairs or the raised vegetable box in the front garden. They like being where there are lawns and they have the sweetest little chirp.

California Towhee - I have many of these in my garden and they make a lovely sound. Something cute that they do is kick the ground with their feet to find the seeds that they want in the garden. They hide under bushes in residential areas. They are in in the sparrow family.

Western bluebird - They are so colorful. The males are gorgeous with their bright blue heads and backs and orange bellies. They love areas with lawns. I always want to keep a bit of lawn to encourage them to come to the garden. Recently I have seen as many as 10 male and female in one of the fountains on the property. Western Bluebirds mate for life; mallard ducks do as well. Years ago, I bought special bird houses for them and had them placed a high on the north side of the garden. In some years I would have babies, but then other times it was so disturbing because the eggs or the babies would be eaten by crows or scrub Jay’s or some other predator.

Winter Wren

Bendire’s Thrasher

Brown Shrike

Robin Redbreast

Song Sparrow

Hooded Oriole

Lazuli Bunting - They are the most beautiful birds. My heart skips a beat when I see these gorgeous birds in the garden with their electric blue color.

I also have white egrets that come and eat the lizards in the garden and once in a while, a blue heron.

Enjoy encouraging songbirds to your gardens by planting the plants, trees, and shrubs that encourage them to come by giving them plenty of food, shelter, and water to drink.