Insect-eating birds are one of the most effective organic gardening pest controls

The very same icky, squishy creepie-crawlies that give us the willies are delectable treats for insect-eating birds. (Mind you, creepie-crawlie is not a scientific name. It’s just what I call squishy things… like bugs, spiders, worms, and such.)

Did you know that nearly all birds eat insects?

Even seed-eaters and nectar-sippers eat insects, usually during the nesting season. But they will also resort to insects if their normal food sources are scarce.

Following are some of the most prolific insect-eating birds…

• Many people consider Grackles and Starlings to be nuisance birds, but they consume enormous quantities of insects… ants, grubs, wasps, and spiders. Thanks to a comment from one of our readers, we can add Sparrows to this list of insect (cicadas to be exact)-eating birds. These three are certainly not beautiful birds, but it’s hard to beat them for organic gardening pest control.
• Swallows are another huge insect consumer. Definitely beautiful and acrobatic, swallows are organic gardening bug-eating masters.
• Just by looking at some birds, you would never guess how effective they are as bug eaters. Bluebirds often perch nonchalantly and wait for bugs to come to them, and then snap them up. Flycatchers do the same. Pretty efficient organic gardening pest control.
• Worms and crawling insects are favorites of ground feeders like Thrashers and the American Robin. These familiar insect-eating birds will stalk your lawn and search under bushes for anything that moves.
• Nuthatches and Brown Creepers search for bugs on tree trunks. They’re fun to watch as they scurry up and down, and around and around the trunk. Very few bugs escape them. Who knew an organic gardening pest control could be so funny!
• Even nectar-sipping hummingbirds consume large quantities of spiders. They also weave spider webs into tiny nests the size of half-walnuts. (I’d pay good money to watch a hummingbird weave a nest with spider webs… if I could just find a nest.) By far, these tiny insect-eating birds are the most phenomenal organic gardening pest control of all.

By the way… a good way to entice insect-eating birds into your yard is to offer them mealworms or grubs on a platform feeder. Once they get used to coming to your yard for food, they’ll start foraging on their own.

The months when wild birds are raising their young are also when insects are most prolific. So nestlings and fledglings are assured of good creepie-crawlie protein munchies. Their exhausted parents also have a ready source of energy.

When all is said and done, insect-eating birds are efficient and extremely effective organic gardening pest control agents. Not only are they magnificent little creatures, they’re also an environmentally friendly alternative for organic gardening, and absolutely cost effective… they don’t charge you a penny.

Insect-eating birds… a free pest control that couldn’t possibly be more perfect for organic gardening!

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