Prepare Your Yard for Fall Migration 🍂

Fall migration is underway! Throughout September, millions of birds are moving through our region — some travelling thousands of kilometres south, while others are shifting into new feeding areas for autumn and winter.

Your backyard can become a valuable place for birds to refuel, rest, find water and take shelter along the way. A few simple changes can make your outdoor space even more bird-friendly during this remarkable season.

1. Let Your Yard Get a Little Wild

Fall doesn't have to mean cleaning everything up. Leaving some natural areas in your garden can provide food and shelter for migrating and overwintering birds.

• Leave seed-bearing flowers and plants standing for finches, sparrows and juncos.
• Allow leaves to remain in some garden areas where birds can forage for insects.
• Keep shrubs, evergreens and dense vegetation available for shelter and protection.
• Create a small brush pile with fallen branches to provide additional cover.

2. Keep Your Feeders Full

Migration takes an incredible amount of energy. A dependable feeding station can provide an easy place for seed-, nut- and insect-eating birds to refuel as they move through our area.

Offer fresh, high-quality foods such as:

• Sunflower and sunflower chips
• Peanuts
• Wild Birds Unlimited No-Mess and speciality seed blends
• Bark Butter® and Bark Butter Bits®
• Mealworms for insect-eating birds

Don't worry if your feeders seem quiet from time to time. Birds naturally move around as wild foods become abundant in fall, but keeping a reliable food source available means they'll know where to return.

3. Keep Hummingbird Feeders Up

September is an important month for hummingbird migration. Keep nectar feeders clean, filled and available for local hummingbirds as well as migrants passing through on their journey south.

Leaving your feeder up will not prevent hummingbirds from migrating. Their movement is driven primarily by seasonal changes such as daylight — your feeder simply provides another place to refuel along the way.

4. Provide Fresh Water

Water can attract an even greater variety of birds than feeders alone. Migrating birds need dependable places to drink and bathe, and the sight and sound of moving water can help them discover your backyard.

Keep bird baths clean and filled with fresh water, or add movement with a Water Wiggler®, dripper or mister.

5. Make Your Windows Safer

Migration season is an especially important time to make windows visible to birds. Reflections of trees, sky and vegetation can make glass appear to be open habitat.

Effective exterior window treatments can help birds recognize glass as a barrier. Options include:

• Feather Friendly® Window Markers
• Window Gems Static-Cling Decals

6. Give Your Feeding Station a Fall Refresh

Fall is also a great time to get your feeding station ready for the colder months ahead:

• Clean feeders and bird baths regularly.
• Check feeders, poles and hardware for wear or damage.
• Remove old or spoiled food and keep seed fresh.
• Consider feeder placement where birds have nearby cover but good visibility of approaching predators.