How to Attract House Finches
Intro: House finches are wild birds that can be found throughout the United States and Mexico, and they will regularly visit birdfeeders in balcony gardens. The females are gray-brown and striped, and while the males also have gray-brown stripes on their backs, wings and undersides, their heads, throats and lower backs can range from a light orange-yellow to a deep red color. The males’ red color intensifies with a good, varied diet (the color comes from berries and fruits eaten during molting season). The house finch’s diet consists mainly of seeds, but they will also eat insects and fruit. Their chirps and tweets are pleasing to the ear, and it is especially entertaining to watch male house finches sing, dance and display for females during springtime courtship.
How to Build a Birdhouse for House Finches and Sparrows
House finches are common birds in the United States that often visit balconies. If you put out birdseed, they are likely to be the first wild bird visitor to your birdfeeder. To offer these birds a place to nest and lay eggs, you can purchase a nestbox or build them one from scratch.
Pests: Garden Snails and Slugs
The garden snail (Helix asperta), as well as slugs, can even affect balcony container plants. Snails and slugs can climb from a garden below up the wall and onto your balcony. Once slugs and snails get into your garden, deal with them immediately.
Cabbage Looper Caterpillar Pests
Cabbage loopers (Trichoplusia ni) are caterpillars that will destroy plants in the cabbage family, including lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collards, kale, etc. They move like inchworms do (hence the name looper), and after their metamorphosis, they become common-looking brown moths that are often found at outdoor safety lights.
How to Attract White-Crowned Sparrows
Intro: White-crowned sparrows look similar to house sparrows, but they have a prominent white and black stripe on the head. The rest of their bodies are gray or light brown, and they have an orange-yellow beak. These wild birds are much less common at bird feeders than house sparrows, but they may visit your balcony garden when hungry in the winter. They eat insects, including caterpillars and beetles, in the summer, and mainly eat birdseed during the winter. White-crowned sparrows from different regions have slightly different colors, and because their songs are learned, there are also regional song dialects. There are several white-crowned sparrow subspecies.
