How do birds help in the garden? We love to look at them, and listen to them. We love to feed them and count them. But, what in the course of nature requires them to be part of our environment? When you look up “birds” on-line, it’s mostly about how to protect your fruit and veggies from the birds. How do they HELP us?
Well, WOW! I looked up “how do birds help gardeners” and came up with an Audubon page that goes into great detail! It’s not brief…but if you’re up for a little reading, go to that Audubon link! You will be educated!
First, they help us with “insect control”. Think of the great saving of the Mormon crops in 1846! That katydid got the name “Mormon Cricket, because of this incident. 
The California Seagull, which was the savior bird, was then named the State Bird of Utah! There are many other examples of a similar symbiosis. Remember, birds are busy eating grubs and insects in our gardens all the time!
Next we should consider all the “road kill” on our highways. Crows and Ravens are meat eaters. This is why you often see those black birds sitting on the railings along our highways. They are waiting for dinner to be delivered!
These birds are scavengers who help us by keeping our environment clear of rotting carrion. Imagine what would happen in India where cows are considered sacred. People cannot pick them up and dispose of them…but vultures do the job very admirably!
Birds also disperse seeds and nuts. It isn’t always that we as gardeners appreciate that particular skill, but it’s how nature works.
Remember the quote “Canary in the Coal Mine”? Birds can be used as markers as to how our environment is functioning, not only in the coal mines, but because they are so small, bad things tend to happen to them first. Rachel Carson used birds as an example in her book, “Silent Spring“.
Birds even draw people out of their homes to “bird watch“. There is a whole “Eco-tourism” faction in our travel world. Some people will travel continents away to see another bird they’ve never seen before!
There are birds that pollinate flowers. Remember our own beloved hummingbirds.
Migrating water fowl help farmers by foraging for bugs, grains and straw left from spent fields. By foraging those fields they also leave their own “manure” hence fertilizing the fields naturally. It means that farmers do not have to “till”, either at all, or in some cases, less.
Anyway, the next time you see a bird in the garden, remember they fill MANY roles. Be glad they are there, and enjoy them!
