We moved our holly tree from the front to the back of our CYV when we installed two palms in the front 6 years ago. That holly tree in 8-1/2 years since the home was new is now 25' tall. Those who left the tree in the front, most of them are maybe 10'. I don't know why it took off in the backyard, but for the past 3 years we've had a mockingbird sit in the top of that tree all day. He is very territorial and controls our back yard.
He doesn't eat bird seed or nuts, he likes grapes. He chases hawks or anything he doesn't like in our yard away, he doesn't care how big they are. So we started putting grapes on the table in the backyard and he eats them everyday. We added a bird feeder about 2-1/2 years ago, but we don't buy the cheap bird seed from Walmart. Squirrels and black birds love that seed. We get Safflower seed, not sunflower, but safflower. We added a second feeder a few months later.
Now two years later we have two red cardinals (males) and 2 brown cardinals (female) and 3 finches living in our backyard fulltime. We allowed the bushes against the back wall to grow into a hedge. The birds love hiding in the bushes. We also have 4 brown thrashers live in the backyard from February to September the last two years. We also add nuts to the food supply, the cardinals love the grapes, the seed and the nuts.
Two squirrels have also camped out in the backyard, we put nuts in the shell out for them. In fact every monring when I get up and look out, the squirrel is hanging on the screen waiting for his nuts. It's become a real menagerie of animals and because of this, the thought of owning a dog, which was our intent when we bought the CYV, has gone away. Also the doves love the bird seed, and in the early morning and late evening the big white doves will show up. We also have a bird bath in the sun and two small dog bowls of water in the shade. The birds and even the squirrels love the water and they'll take baths. The thrashers use to take a bath everyday, the cardinals will now if it's not too cold.
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