Twice a year, bird lovers can get a fleeting glimpse of birds that don’t ordinarily frequent their area. Migratory birds pass through in the spring and fall, adding color and beauty to backyards and boulevards along their way.

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Migratory birds offer more than the chance to add a rare species to a birder’s life list. Learn the importance of helping migratory birds.

Birds Spread Seeds

Many plant species depend on birds to distribute their seeds, ensuring plant propagation and helping to preserve biodiversity in various ecosystems. Just as bird and animal species are threatened by extinction, so are plant species.

Biodiversity is important to healthy ecosystems, as a great variety of plant and animal species work together to maintain the environment. From plants that consume carbon dioxide and exude oxygen to animal species that keep the ecosystem in balance, this relationship curbs the proliferation of species that could be destructive if left to multiply unchecked.

Birds Provide Natural Insect Control

Birds eat insects by the thousands. Pesticides wreak havoc among delicate ecosystems, resulting in monocultures lacking biodiversity and threatening endangered insect life like monarch butterflies.

Birds are natural pest predators. They keep insect populations in check, which in turn allows plants that otherwise might succumb to infestation to thrive. Birds also help reduce the risk of insect-borne diseases for humans.

Birds Are Good for the Economy

Bird lovers spend an estimated $40 billion purchasing birdseed, birdwatching equipment, and traveling to birdwatching destinations. Buying bird-related items can also help build a healthy micro-ecosystem in your own backyard.

Provide birdhouses and birdbaths to attract migratory birds to your garden. Then, sit back and enjoy the show as various birds passing through delight you. When the biannual visitors have gone, your native birds will continue to provide beauty and ecological balance to your yard, enjoying the habitat and water source you have provided.

Helping migratory birds on their travels may also lure them away from dangerous environments, like brightly lit cities, where collisions with buildings and cellular service towers take an enormous toll on bird populations. Remember to put decals on your windows to deter birds from colliding with the glass as you enjoy their brief visit to your garden bird haven.