How to Attract Warblers to your Yard? (Expert Tips)

Warblers are a favorite among backyard birders. These birds typically come to your yard for the food, water and shelter you provide. In this article, I will give you expert tips on how to attract warblers to your yard so that they can become regular visitors. 

Range

Warblers is the most common native species breeding in nearly the entire of North America (the eastern two-thirds of the United States), the Caribbean, South, and Central America, and to some extent down into northern South America as well. There are 50 species of warblers in North America alone.

The distribution includes Central and South America (all the Western Hemisphere, including Central America and Argentina), Eastern Australia, and islands of the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Habitat

The warbler lives in various habitats such as oak-hickory forests, pine flatwoods, coastal hammocks, woodland edges, forest clearings, parks, gardens, and scrubby barrens; however, it prefers open woodland with dense undergrowth.

Get A Bird Feeder

If you’re looking for warblers during the spring and summer, there are many foods that can entice them such as nectar, oranges, jelly, seed, peanut butter and suet cakes. In order to attract Warblers, these foods must be readily available.

Two easy ways to attract them is by placing mealworms in platform feeders, or using the Bird’s Choice 2-Cake Suet Feeder combined with these Peanut butter suet cakes. You can find these products on Amazon.

Get A Bird Bath

Warblers love the sound of dripping water, so you might want to consider using a birdbath to attract the Warblers to your backyard.

A birdbath will provide a good habitat for the bird in the area, as well as providing an attractive site for the bird to drink and bathe. For best results, I would recommend the Alpine Birdbath. See today’s price on Amazon.

The birdbath can also be substituted as a platform feeder, which is really nice if you want to feed them black-oil sunflower seeds.

Provide Shelter

Providing shelter for warblers is easy if you have a garden or backyard where they can find trees, bushes and vines to make their nest in. In order to provide shelter for warblers, the following steps should be taken:

– Place feeders at an appropriate height to avoid contamination by droppings. This also discourages squirrels from climbing up to feed on the birdseed and prevents them from stealing birds’ food.

– Provide a platform of cedar shavings, chopped corn cobs, or pine straw for nest building materials near the feeder.

– Place nests made of natural material near windowpanes with early morning sun exposure; this will provide more warmth during cold winter months when it is difficult for warblers to find adequate food.

Nesting Sites

Warblers love to roost and nest in a variety of places throughout their environment. Places that have trees, shrubs may have the best chances of attracting them since these are the places where they can make the best nests.

They can also be able to look out from above to spot other birds, and may be easier to spot predators in the area. Some Warblers nest in hollowed-out trees, while others like to nest in tree stumps, under branches and twigs, bushes or even bird houses.

Some species will even build nests near roads and walkways.  Other locations that they can roost include other types of structures such as barns, bird houses, and buildings. The nests are made up of moss, bark strips, grass, leaves, and plant down.

Attracting Warblers in the winter is not hard if you give them a warm place to roost. I would recommend using a high quality product, like this durable birdhouse from Woodsmith.

Plant Trees & Shrubs

A good idea is to plant trees and shrubs in the yard to attract warblers, you will want to plant them where you will be able to view them or see them every day. The trees and shrubs that attract Warblers the best are:

Plant Flowers & Vines

Flower and vines that attract Warblers are very important because it is these types of plants that are most enticing to the bird.

You want to plant flowers that are going to be attractive to the bird. The flowers and vines that attract them the most are:

• Virginia Creeper
• Pokeweed
• Fuchsia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt
• Hibiscus
• Azaleas
• Honeysuckle
• Spirea

Extra Tips

• Create an environment with dense shrubs and trees for protection from predators. 

• Purchase a bird house that is large enough to provide protection from both wind and rain.

• Plant native trees that produce fruits or berries during the summer months like hawthorn or cedar elm trees. 

• Choose plants that have small berries or fruit. Warblers feed on these types of foods and need them in their diet to survive the winter months. 

• Warblers are small birds that measure 10 -18 cm long and weigh between 8 -12 grams, depending on the species. These birds can move fast, so it can be difficult to get a good look and, I think it would be wise to get a pair of binoculars like the Celestron – Nature DX 10×42 Binoculars, so you can get a better view.

• If you have a large tree and a birdbath or natural pond you can place a perch near the edge of the tree. This can be a great way to attract Warbler into your yard or garden.

• If you have a water fountain, nest boxes are some things that you will need to have in order to keep the warblers in the garden.

• Offer nesting materials like cattails, grasses, and dried leaves for warblers looking for a safe place to nest during breeding season.

• Create a home-base in the middle of your yard – this should be something interesting like a hollow log or tree stump, so they can feel safe and secure. 

• Clean and fill the feeder at least once per week.

• Keep a shallow dish of water nearby for birds to drink from. 

Frequently Asked Questions