Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

We’re in the midst of planning our big Hummingbird Special Issue for June/July, and we need your advice. Take our quick Hummingbird Survey to help us decide what we will feature!

• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• Bird of the Month
• Garden of the Month
• Best of Glad You Asked
• Project of the Month
• FREE Wallpaper

Bird of the Month: House Wren

With warmer days ahead, house wrens will soon extend their ranges north throughout most of the country. Want to attract one of these friendly fliers to your yard? You can if you know the right kind of birdhouse to build!

Learn the right birdhouse dimensions for the house wren and listen to its song by visiting our 50 Most Wanted Birds section.

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Garden of the Month

Betsy Moll Lancaster raises dozens of monarchs in her backyard garden every year. You can learn a few of her secrets, too. Start bringing more of these orange and black gems into your yard!

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Best of Glad You Asked

Color Change
We’re trying to figure out why my neighbor’s peonies changed color. After she moved her red-blooming peonies to a new location, the next season, some had red flowers, while others were pink. My pink peonies are about 100 feet away. Did they cross-pollinate?
—Vic Hagenah, Ramsey, Minnesota 

Melinda: Cross-pollination only affects the characteristics on the offspring of plants. Since your neighbor’s “parent” plants are exhibiting change, we need to look at other possibilities like mutations, viruses or environmental factors.

Make sure the plants’ new location is sunny and has well-draining soil. This should keep the peonies healthy and flowering. Then wait to see what blossoms the next spring. Temporary stresses may have caused the color change.

Escape Plan
Ever since we spotted a hawk in the neighborhood, the bird activity around our feeders has declined. How can I protect songbirds from this hawk so they’ll return to our backyard?
—Frank Cox, Midwest City, Oklahoma 

George: There are two hawks that are common in backyards across America—the larger Cooper’s hawk and the sharp-shinned hawk. They look almost identical, except for a slight difference in size, and the Cooper’s has a slightly rounded tail. Both prey on feeder birds.

Since state and federal laws protect all hawks, there is no legal way to get rid of them. However, one solution is to provide sufficient natural cover near your feeders. You can create quick cover without waiting for plants to grow by using a discarded Christmas tree or a small brush pile.

This will give the songbirds a place to escape danger, and your birds should return to eat at your feeders even if a hawk is present.

Subscribers can access our Glad You Asked database with hundreds of questions and answers from George and Melinda.

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Project of the Month

Build the bluebirds in your area a place to call their own with our simple plants for a bluebird house. Click here to get the plans.

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FREE Wallpaper

Download great wallpaper for your computer, like this amazing photo of bleeding hearts by Shelley Atkinson.   

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