How to attract blue grosbeak? The blue grosbeak is a bird that prefers to make its home in areas with lush, dense vegetation. They are rarely spotted in open fields or farmland, preferring instead to stay hidden within the protection of trees and bushes. Blue grosbeaks are shy birds and not easily lured into an area by potential mates. As such, if you’d like to attract these charming creatures to your backyard, there are a few things you should know before you begin. Blue grosbeaks are attracted to smaller birds around their size, usually other finches. But they prefer nesting sites that conceal them from predators. Their diet consists of fruit and insects, so planting large amounts of one type of food may prove more fruitful than small amounts of different types.
1. Food is Key
Blue grosbeaks are attracted to the types of food that smaller birds like finches like to eat. This means that you should plant a lot of feeder-type plants – like sunflowers, corn, buckwheat, and bluegrass. Blue grosbeaks are fond of insects as well, making it important to plant trees that attract beneficial bugs.
Fruit is also a great choice for blue grosbeaks and many other finches. Making it a relatively easy way to attract a lot of different species.
You can also try planting flowers while you’re at it, as blue grosbeaks are fond of nectar. Just make sure to water them and keep them well-maintained. Blue grosbeaks and most other birds are not fond of wilted nectar.
2. Good Bird Watching Grass
While blue grosbeaks may prefer to stay away from open fields, they do enjoy a good lawn. An ideal lawn for blue grosbeaks provides ample protection from predators but also allows them to easily find food. This means that your lawn should be well-manicured, but also thick enough that grosbeaks can find shelter within it.
A lawn can also be planted with flowers and shrubs that are beneficial for blue grosbeaks and other birds. If you want to attract blue grosbeaks specifically, you should plant a lot of grass that is between 1 1⁄2 and 3 feet high.
While blue grosbeaks will use shorter grass to find food, they prefer to stay in taller grass while they are nesting to avoid predators.
3. Dense Shade
Blue grosbeaks prefer to make their home in thick, dense woods, giving them ample shade and protection. If you’re trying to attract blue grosbeaks to your backyard, you should plant trees that provide a lot of shade.
Blue grosbeaks also like to make their home in willow trees, which provides them with the thick bark that they prefer. While blue grosbeaks will often utilize trees that provide less shade, they do prefer to stay in thickly forested areas.
4. Don’t Forget to Add Blue
Blue grosbeaks love blue. From the color of their feathers to the color of their eggs, blue is a big deal for these birds. If you want to attract blue grosbeaks to your yard, you should plant blue flowers, like delphiniums, and blue shrubs.
Blue grosbeaks are also fond of the color blue in fabrics, so you might consider hanging up a blue tarp in your yard to attract them.
If you want to go all-in on blue, you could also create a blue oasis by planting blue flowers next to a blue body of water in your yard. Blue grosbeaks are fond of water, and they also enjoy eating the insects that live near it.
5. Interesting Trinkets and Games
Blue grosbeaks have a fondness for toys, whether they were intended for them or not. When attracting blue grosbeaks to your yard, you can take advantage of this by hanging a few toys from the trees. This does not promise that blue grosbeaks will come to your yard, but it does increase your chances.
Blue grosbeaks enjoy toys that move or make noise, so hanging a moving or vibrating ornament or toy in your yard may help to attract them. You could also build a small play area for them in your yard, though they may not frequent it often if they don’t have regular visitors.
6. Beaks Want Bricks, Not Beakers
Blue grosbeaks have large, strong beaks that they use to break open fruit and nuts. When you’re trying to attract blue grosbeaks to your yard, you should build a nesting area that provides plenty of large, hard bricks for them to use.
This can be done by building a small brick wall in your yard, or by adding hard bricks to your existing nesting areas. Another option would be to add some large clay pots to your yard, as blue grosbeaks also enjoy perching on large items.
You could also add some wooden structures or pieces of furniture to your yard that are large enough for blue grosbeaks to perch on.
The Bottom Line
Blue grosbeaks prefer to make their home in dense woods with plenty of shade, numerous shrubs and flowers, and a lot of large bricks, pots, or other hard nesting surfaces.
If you plant the types of flowers and shrubs that they like, add some large bricks and pots, and add a few toys, you’re likely to attract blue grosbeaks to your yard. When it comes to enticing blue grosbeaks to your yard, it’s important to remember that they are shy birds.
