Please send your
question regarding habitat development and
gardening for birds to gardening@birdzilla.com.
We'll answer as many as we can and post selected
answers here.
Q.
Wildlife doesn't just randomly occur in a given
area; it is there in response to habitat which
meets its needs. What are the four essential
elements of a wildlife habitat, including for
birds? DF -
Atlanta, GA
A. Food,
water, cover (protection from weather and
predators) and space to raise a family.
Tom
Patrick is president of the
Windstar
Wildlife
Institute.
Tom's company provides training and
certification in wildlife habitat
development programs. Thanks to Tom and
some of his Certified Wildlife Habitat
Naturalists for answering the
questions.
Q.
Feeders are used to supplement the foods provided
by trees, shrubs, flowers, crops in food plots,
vines and ground covers. What are the different
types of feeders? TR - LA,
CA.
A. Cylindrical,
hopper, suet, hummingbird, squirrel and
fruit.
Indiana Plants
for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping
Do you enjoy
observing nature...hearing the song of the
chickadee...watching hummingbirds fill up on nectar
from trumpet vines...listening to the chattering of
squirrels...seeing the beauty and grace of a
monarch butterfly perched on a milkweed...
experiencing the antics of a Mockingbird...the
cooing of the Mourning Doves...the swiftness of the
Cottontail...and the brilliance of a Cardinal or
Baltimore Oriole?
If the answer is
"yes", you'll probably want to landscape your
property for wildlife so you can experience even
more from Mother Nature by attracting more wildlife
to your property.
Wildlife doesn't
just randomly appear in a given area. It is there
because of favorable habitat. The essential
elements that you must provide in your habitat are
food, water, cover and a place to raise a family.
To attract the most wildlife, you need native
trees, shrubs, groundcover, vines and wildflowers,
many of which will provide food and
shelter.
Native or
indigenous plants naturally occur in the region in
which they evolved. They are adapted to local soil,
rainfall and temperature conditions, and have
developed natural defenses to many insects and
diseases. Because of these traits, native plants
will grow with minimal use of water, fertilizers
and pesticides. Wildlife species evolve with
plants; therefore, they use native plant
communities as their habitat. Using native plants
helps preserve the balance and beauty of natural
ecosystems.
Remember the
function served by plants and structures is more
important than their appearance. In other words,
don't base your planting decisions solely on what a
plant looks like. Following are WindStar Wildlife
Institute's plant recommendations for wildlife
habitats in Indiana:
Trees
Large - Eastern
Red Cedar; Eastern White Pine; Silver, Soft, Sugar,
Hard, Rock and White Maple; River and Red Birch;
Northern Pin, Shingle, Bur, Chinquapin, Yellow
Chestnut, White and Bur Oak; Shagbark, Shellbark,
Mockernut, and White Hickory; Hackberry; Butternut,
Black Walnut, American Beech; White and Green Ash;
Common Honeylocust; Sweet, Black and Red Gum;
Yellow and Tulip Poplar; Eastern Cottonwood; Black
Cherry; Black Willow
Medium/Small
-
Serviceberry, Eastern Redbud, Wild Plum, Pie
Cherry, Amur Chokecherry, Common Chokecherry,
Eastern Red Cedar, Juneberry; Shadbush; Paw Paw;
American Hornbeam; Flowering Dogwood; Winterberry
Prairie and Iowa Crab Apple
Shrubs
-
Summer food--Highbush
Blackberry, Northern Dewberry, Black Raspberry, Red
Raspberry, American Elderberry, Lowbush Blueberry,
Highbush Blueberry, Lingenberry
Fall
food--Red-osier
Dogwood, Winterberry, American Mountain Ash, Gray
Dogwood, Silverberry, Inkberry, Common Juniper,
Canada Yew, Bearberry
Winter
food--Bittersweet,
American Highbush Cranberry, Glossy Black
Chokeberry, Viburnums, Northern Bayberry, Sumacs,
Red Chokeberry, Common Snowberry, Wolfberry,
Coralberry, Wayfaringbush, Nannyberry,
Spicebush
Butterfly,
Bee & Moth - New
Jersey Tea, Buttonbush, Sweet Pepperbush,
Spicebush, Pussy Willow, Narrowleaf Meadowsweet,
Wolfberry, Coralberry, Preston Lilac, Old-fashioned
Weigela, Dill, Asters, Sweet William, Sweet Pea,
Sweet Marjoram, Black-eyed Susan, Scarlet Sage,
Hollyhock, Indian Hemp, Intermediate Dogbane,
American Columbine, Swamp Milkweed, Prairie
Milkweed, Common Milkweed, Butterflyweed, New
England Aster, Turtlehead, Tickseed Sunflower,
Joe-Pye Weed, Purple Coneflower, Fireweed, Oxeye
Sunflower, Lupine, Prairie Blazingstar, Gayfeather,
Gay Goldenrod, Cardinal Flower
Groundcovers
- Straw
Lily, Violet Wood Sorrel, Partridgeberry,
Wintergreen, Blue Wood Sedge, Wild Ginger, Golden
Ragwort
Vines
- Trumpet
Creeper; Trumpet Vine; American Bittersweet;
Virginia Creeper; Riverbank, Frost and Summer
Grape
Grasses
and Legumes - Indiangrass,
Little Bluestem, Sideouts Grama, Prairie Milkvetch,
Switchgrass, White Prairie Clover, Purple Prairie
Clover, Prairie Cordgrass, Northern Dropseed,
Junegrass
The varied
topography of Indiana is a legacy of active
glaciation and the inexorable forces of running
water acting through geologic time to erode and
shape both soil and rock. The physiography of
Indiana has left its mark on nearly every facet of
our cultural development from the course of trails
followed by the earliest occupants of the state to
the location and trend of modern highways, power
lines and the placement of reservoirs. The Indiana
Native Plant Society can provide lists of plants
for a specific region.
For more
information on improving your wildlife habitat,
visit the WindStar
Wildlife Institute web
site. On
the web site, you can also apply to certify your
property as a wildlife habitat, register for the
"Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist e-Learning
course, become a member and sign up for the FREE
WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly e-mail
newsletter.
