All yards can, potentially, be natural bird habitats.

Even though our neighborhoods occupy what was once their natural habitat, it needn't be a catastrophe. The right selection and location of plants will offer a nearly natural habitat for wild birds.

Amazingly, song birds eagerly accept this substitution, as our backyard bird gardens become an extension of the surrounding natural habitat.

Converting your backyard into a bird garden can be the focus of many family activities. In fact, just watching and feeding wild birds is a great way for families to start practicing bird conservation... right at home.

Keep in mind that those family members with limited mobility can still enjoy nature from the deck or patio, even a window. Imagine the impact of a bird garden for seniors and shut-ins, and for the ill or disabled.

Bird gardens are perfect conservation classrooms. Discovering the different bird species in your area can be very exciting.

You will need a good, easy-to-use field guide, such as Birds of North America, or Peterson's East and West. An online search for "bird field guides" will provide you with many more.

You will learn that birds are identified according to their physical characteristics. For example, you can easily see the difference between a chicken and a robin.

These characteristics are helpful in identifying the birds that visit your backyard bird habitat : Size - overall ; Shape of their bodies; Coloring; Special markings; Shapes of their beaks; Shape of their wings and their feet while in flight.

Your family, especially the kids, will become experts at distinguishing bird calls. Each species is unique, and most are obvious. A Sparrow's "chipping" is quite plain in comparison to a Cardinal's lovely "trilling" song.

A natural bird habitat can actually be a neighborhood of backyards (from a bird's point of view)... and each backyard gardener contributes to the success of this unusual bird habitat.

So, the question remains... just how vital is your individual backyard garden to song wild birds?

If you have selected and located your plantings correctly, wild birds will treat your backyard garden as a natural continuation of their normal habitat.

And the answer is... you and your bird garden are absolutely vital to their survival!