For the Birds: A Month-by-Month Guide to Attracting Birds to Your Backyard

Do you think you have to travel great distances to see exciting wild birds? Would you like to set up a birdfeeder in your yard, but feel overwhelmed by the choices in your local store? Puzzled by how to attract cardinals without attracting squirrels? Are you confused about whether it’s best to feed birds in winter or summer? For the Birds answers all these questions and more! In this accessible, easy-to-use guide, you’ll learn how to attract beautiful wild birds to your own backyard, year-round. Authors Anne Schmauss, Mary Schmauss, and Geni Krolick, three sisters who own and manage wild bird specialty stores, draw on combined decades of experience to show you how to make your backyard into a bird oasis. The unique month-by-month format gives you the information you want when you need it, explaining what birds are looking for in terms of food, habitat, water, and nesting every month of the year. The authors cover every area of bird essentials, from basics such as types of birdseed to more exotic food choices like mealworms; from the correct depth for a birdbath to where to place nesting boxes. For the Birds is like having three bird experts on-call to answer your questions at any moment, sharing their time-tested tips and tricks for attracting the most interesting variety of birds to your backyard.

Anne Schmauss, Mary Schmauss, and Geni Krolick are sisters and bird experts. Originally from Northern Illinois, where their interest in backyard birds began, the sisters have honed their backyard birding skills in Minnesota, Missouri, and New Mexico. They now live in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they own and manage Wild Birds Unlimited stores.