Birds like picking through plant debris on the ground- so leave some

Fox Sparrow

Most folks just rake dead leaves etc. up. Among all that plant debris however, are thousands of tiny, totally harmless bugs. Many north Texas birds love to thrash and pick through this plant debris to dine on the bugs.
     You’ll see this behavior in Juncos, Thrashers, the true sparrows – like the White-throated Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and such – and sometimes Cardinals, Mockingbirds and Warblers. If the plant debris is all raked up, however, they’ll quickly go elsewhere.

 
           

Good birdwatching attire    Most birds-of-prey (hawks for instance) have white stomachs and breasts. So a smaller bird (a possible lunch) quickly leaves the area when he sees anything white, in motion.  To him (or her), you could be a huge hawk!  Try wearing dark green, dark blue, black, brown or grey instead.

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.