If you have a house with a small garden with trees, shrubs, plants, grass and weeds, it is the place to be visited by birds. It is a sheer pleasure to see the birds chirping inside the compound. Though Chennai cannot boast about varying species, there are birds that visit houses that have trees. Sparrows and crows are considered as members of the Chennai household. Parrots, woodpeckers and cuckoos frequent houses with trees and plants. People living in the outskirts with more greenery and lakeside do witness Cranes and kingfishers.

Birds need food, water, and shelter to become regular visitors to your home. Ensure you keep plenty of water. You are not only quenching the thirst, but also providing birdbath. If you have dumped an unused baby bath in your attic, it is high time that you filled water in that tub and leave it in the garden.

Identify the eating habits of your visitors. Birds seen in your locality can be classified into two categories as insect-feeding birds and seedeaters. Some birds eat small birds, rodents, fish, etc. We are discussing about the birds that you can attract to your home today. India enjoys the visit of migrating birds from June onwards. Birds leave their original habitat due to the prevalent climate.

Swallows, mockingbirds, flycatchers, and many others fall into the insect-feeding category. They may enjoy a treat of fruit or berries but normally will feast on the bugs, worms, mosquitoes, and other creepy crawlies around your home. However, offering suet is a wonderful way to attract these birds. Suets are hard waxy animal fat surrounding kidneys and loins of animals. It's the best food to attract woodpeckers and thrashers. Hardcore bird lovers can try out their hands in preparing delicacies to lure the birds. (Simple recipe for irresistible bird candy: Melt suet, mix with peanuts. Serve in bird feeders.)

It is to be understood that birds fear people. If you have trees with strong branches. Improvise a bird feeder in one of the branches and 'serve' the food there.

You can feed insects to the birds also. Some wild birds love mealworms. You can also put out fruits for these birds. Leftover apples, guava, tomatoes, and plums seem to be the favorites of birds. Birds like parrot love guava and chilies. Parrots also love to eat 'agathi keerai'. For seed loving birds, you need to determine what type of seed you will offer. It can be sunflower seed, cracked corn, safflower, white millet, peanuts and any shelled nuts.

Words of caution: If you have a cat, attach a bell to its collar to alert birds of its approach. Better still, bird lovers are supposed to be uneasy with cats.