The first daffodil opened in the yard this week. The first flowers of the year, they are my favorite, not just because they are pretty and smell so good, but because they are a reminder that winter is almost over. In a few weeks my other favorite, the dogwood, will open its flowers, signaling that spring is finally here. Unlike the Bradford pear, dogwoods rarely make the mistake of opening their flowers too soon, so when they do you can be pretty sure that winter is behind you. What does this have to do with birds? Nothing, really, I just like daffodils.

Speaking of birds, this is best time of the year for those who enjoy attracting them to the yard. The winter birds are still here and the birds of summer are returning. Some of them are already pairing off and building nests, and the rest will be doing so soon. The natural food supply is getting scarce after the winter, so bird feeders are a big help to birds that are trying to keep eggs warm and will soon have hungry mouths to feed. When the young birds are ready to leave the nest, the parents will bring them to the feeder where you can enjoy watching them.

As the temperatures rise, insects and other flying and crawling meaty things become a big part of the diet of just about all birds, but the seeds in the feeder provide a quick and sure meal for a hungry bird with a nest full of eggs or young. It is important that you place the right types of seeds in the feeders, since birds are selective about what seeds they will eat. For the majority of birds that come to feeders, black oil sunflower seeds are the favorite, and a lot of people offer only that. Bird feeder specialty stores offer a variety of special mixes that in addition to sunflower seed include peanut chips, raisins and other dried fruits, and other ingredients. You might try different mixes in different feeders and see which gets the most attention. I mix sunflower kernels with sunflower seeds and it all gets eaten. What you don’t want is the $1.49 bag of cheap seed from the grocery store. It contains mostly seeds that the birds around here won’t eat, and they just end up on the ground where they attract rodents, make a mess, and often sprout, adding strange and unwanted plants to your yard.

Water is important if you want to attract birds to the yard, and it can be presented in a number of ways. The traditional birdbath has worked for years and still does, but these days, with the introduction of West Nile virus into our environment, it is important to keep the mosquito population down, and the standing water in a birdbath is a perfect breeding ground for them. To be safe, change the water in the birdbath every other day.