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Snag Perches for Birds

When we bought our current home a few years ago, we vowed our first outside project would be to reduce the size of the vast, featureless lawn around the house. Our plans included planting trees and shrubs, creating weedy patches and brush piles, all designed to improve the habitat for birds and other wildlife. But lacking the patience to wait for our trees to grow to useful perch height, we decided to create snag perches that would provide more immediate gratification.

We found several downed trees in our woods, victims of last winter's ice storms. After hauling them to our yard, we chose the spots where the snags were to be placed in the ground (making sure the view from our windows would be unobstructed). We used a posthole digger (you could use a shovel) to dig a two-foot-deep hole for each snag, dropped the snag into the hole, and carefully tamped-down the soil around the base of the snag.

The resident birds immediately adopted these snags as their preferred perches. But it is during migration that the snags really amaze us. Our only sightings of several species (including red-headed woodpecker and olive-sided flycatcher) have been of birds attracted to these "natural" perches.

Try adding snags to your lawn this spring. If you lack access to natural wood, a tomato stake with a dowel perch attached to the top works just as well. Either way, the birds will appreciate your thoughtfulness.