MARY PFAFFKO was on her way back from the gym, walking down Connecticut Avenue, and there it was. A wood thrush, common in the East but rarely seen outside deeply wooded areas. But there it was, right on the street. The only problem was that it was dead.

In her role as president of the D.C. chapter of the National Audubon Society, Pfaffko, 30, takes field trips to more remote areas (Great Falls, Va.; Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Va.) to get her wildlife fix. If you’re a condo-dweller hoping to go beyond pointing binoculars at Rock Creek Park or on the Mall and actually attract feathered friends to your balcony, this news may come as a bit of a disappointment. But with a little work, it’s very possible to bring nature to your high-rise castle.

First, don’t buy into the stereotypes about bird-watchers. You can enjoy the pastime without it taking over your life. “I’m not one of those people who lives and breathes birding,” insists Dave Davis, 63, a former EPA water quality management employee, who lives in a townhouse-style condo in Arlington. “I have a life.” And so, too, can you, if you start small and manageable.

One feeder should be more than enough to get started, especially considering the unique challenges of a small space in an urban environment. Cramped quarters mean you don’t have room for too many gewgaws, and if you’ve never tried balcony birding, you’ll want to figure out whether your neighborhood is home to cute wrens, pretty hummingbirds or just pigeons.

Speaking of pigeons, they’re not the only feathered friends you can make in D.C. In May, for example, more than 36 species of warbler (small, perching songbirds) passed through the city on their annual migration. More than 300 species of birds make their homes in or wing through Washington and its environs.

Yet even when condos overlook Rock Creek Park or have wide, green common areas, cheepers and tweeters sometimes need a little encouragement to visit.

Enter the pros. Both the Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation are interested in nurturing nature in the city, one backyard or balcony at a time. Each organization offers a do-it-yourself program that’ll teach you how to make your space more critter-friendly. And anyone with an interest can apply for official recognition (and a nice certificate) from the groups for their efforts.

Audubon asks that hopefuls pledge to reduce pesticide use and conserve water, among other things; the NWF has a six-step plan requiring nature lovers to provide food, water, shelter, and so on. You can even play from a high-rise: “The way to [bird-watch] on a balcony is to have plants double” their function, explains Roxane Paul of the NWF. This means putting out a potted bush or a tree to provide food and act as a nesting site, for example. It might also mean planting flowers to feed shelter birds.

The programs are basically self-serve and operate on the honor system; just log on to the Web sites (Nwf.org/backyard/certify.cfm and Audobonathome.org/pledge), read the instructions, make any necessary changes to your balcony, and sign on the dotted line. Audubon’s program is free. The NWF costs $15, but you’ll get a certificate for your troubles, plus bragging rights.

The NWF program — “Certified Wildlife Habitats” — isn’t restricted to individuals, either. Jim Hurley, a resident of The Arlington, got the entire condo complex certified as a nature hot spot after he single-handedly cleaned up a “trashy area” behind his condo and planted bird-friendly shrubs. He reports seeing robins, gray catbirds and a Swainson’s thrush in the new habitat.

Hurley estimates his four-year project has cost him more than $3,000. He’s solicited help from The Arlington’s association, but they “basically don’t care,” he says. “The condo association has provided no support for the project.”

Therein lies the problem for many condo owners. Lack of attention to nature projects from an association is usually the best a bird lover can hope for. Many associations prohibit hanging anything — i.e. feeders or birdhouses — from balconies. Some go further. “We don’t have any formal rule regarding bird feeders,” says Shirlington Village’s owner’s association president, Ray Warren. But “we strongly discourage them. We are already plagued by droppings from the gulls who feast on the trash receptacles associated with the many restaurants in the village. I am sure that bird feeders would exacerbate the problem.” (Warren adds: “We [Shirlington Village] are a very nature-loving group.”)

Still, Warren has a point: Tubes of seeds hung close to the ground can attract rodents, and even if they’re higher up, you may not attractthe kinds of birds you want.

“European starlings are tough,” says Charles Studholme, owner of One Good Tern (1710 Fern St., Alexandria; 703-820-8376), a store for nature lovers in Alexandria. “They can eat everything, and will.” Starlings, a non-native breed widely considered pests, have grown to a population of 200 million in North America from a single flock released a century ago by a mad scientist of sorts in Central Park. (Rumor has it that Eugene Schieffelin, a member of the Acclimation Society of North America, wanted to bring to America every species of bird mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.)

Starlings “are adaptable and competitive and will out-compete the species you’re trying to get,” says Pfaffko. “They destroy habitat and jeopardize the food supply.”

What to do if you’ve got flocks of undesirable creatures pestering you, a la Alfred Hitchcock’s “Birds”? Simple (and free) solutions include “banging on the window,” Hurley says, but a special feeder can also deter the pesky birds. Starlings “aren’t very acrobatic,” says Studholme, “so if you have [a feeder] where they have to cling to the side” the pesky birds will vanish.

As for repelling mice and squirrels, Studholme suggests using a seed mixture of pre-shelled sunflower, peanut or cracked corn.

The rule really is to keep it simple. “Don’t go out there and put up a whole bunch of stuff,” Studholme says. “If you put up a bird feeder, you have to keep it clean. You wash your silverware once in a while, don’t you?”

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