Invite birds to your garden

The arrival of Red-winged Blackbirds is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner. They nest in wooded areas along waterways.  

Red-winged Blackbirds return to our garden every spring to eat seeds, drink fresh, clean water and take shelter in thick stands of tall hemlocks.

Insects are the mainstay of their diet. Once the nesting season begins, they eat their fill of aphids and other pests. They’re especially happy to eat the black aphids that can wind rope-like around elderberry stems, a bounty for birds feeding hungry babies!

Photographs courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology