What telltale signs in nature let you know when spring has arrived? For me, I see the arrival of spring through the lens of wild birds—both those that I see, and those that I hear. I thoroughly enjoy hearing the beautiful dawn chorus of singing birds in spring.

Before long, spring migration will get under way. Many of our winter residents will move north for the summer, heading to higher elevations and higher latitudes. However, as we lose our winter residents, they are quickly replaced by our summer arrivals—hummingbirds, orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings, warblers, vireos, and so much more.

You might be wondering what you can do to experience this wave of migratory bird activity. Preparing your yard for spring migration is as simple as providing the four primary needs of wild birds: food, water, shelter, and a place to rear young.

Food

Providing a variety of different types of food will create the best scenario of attracting the widest variety of bird species to your yard. For example, offering sugar water in the form of a hummingbird or oriole feeder is a great way to attract hummingbirds, woodpeckers and orioles. Orioles and woodpeckers also love fresh citrus and meal worms.

Making different seed ingredients available in your yard will also bring in a larger variety of wild birds. Most wild birds prefer a specific diet. This is especially true of seed-eating birds. You can actually target what kinds of birds you attract to your yard by feeding the food they prefer.

For example, if you want to attract lazuli buntings to your yard, then you’ll want to feed white proso millet. Gambel’s quail also love millet. By providing their preferred seed, you increase the odds of attracting them to your yard.

You can attract lesser goldfinches by putting up a nyjer/thistle feeder. If you enjoy seeing black-headed and blue grosbeaks, you’ll want to feed black-oil sunflower seeds.

Pro tip - When buying bird seed, avoid box-store brands of generic bird food containing mostly filler ingredients. Purchasing seed with desirable ingredients such as sunflower seeds, both in and out of the shell, along with millet, peanut pieces and safflower seeds will result in more birds at your feeders.

Water

The most important thing you can do to attract wild birds to your yard is to provide a source of water. All wild birds need water as a part of their diet. Providing a source of water can be as simple as putting out a shallow plastic dish, or as elaborate as a water feature with a waterfall or a small pond with recirculating water.

Pro tip - Moving water attracts the attention of birds and will ultimately result in more birds coming to your yard.

Shelter

Providing shelter is really about creating an inviting habitat in your yard by having an abundance of native trees and shrubs. Vegetation provides a place for birds to feed and rest, and where they can hunker down at night. Shelter is not so much about a place where birds can build their nests and rear their young. It is more of a place for escape—a place of safety and protection from predators and the elements.

Pro tip – As much as possible, use native plants when landscaping. Native plants are drought tolerant, disease resistant, and natural bird attractants.

A place to rear young

While providing shelter and a place to rear young are similar, they are really two different things. Here in the Arizona Central Highlands, there are only a handful of bird species that will actually use a bird house for nesting. Most birds in our area build their nests in either trees or shrubs.

Pro tip – Instead of installing a bird house, consider providing nest building material by hanging cottontail nesting balls in your yard.

As you prepare for spring migration by providing food, water, shelter and a place to rear young, you will reap the benefit of seeing a variety of wild bird species visiting your yard.

Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find wild bird products, Vortex and Swarovski optics, and a complete Hallmark Gold Crown Store. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.

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