Bears are on the move, with one even causing a lockdown at the Haldane school. After our first bear visit years ago, I learned my lesson and put away the bird feeder in our yard during summer and switched to winter feeding. But with this past winter so mild, even that seemed unwise.
I’ve resorted to plants, instead, and support birds with landscaping. There are high-impact ways you can provide food, habitat and nesting material.
The key source of nutrients for many birds are insects, followed by seeds, berries, nuts and foliage. Caterpillars are a favorite, and birds consume a lot of them. A few chickadee babies can eat up to 5,000 caterpillars before they leave the nest.
Research suggests that landscapes where 70 percent of the plants are native can support enough insects for birds to reproduce. The other 30 percent of the landscape can be ornamental plants that don’t provide the same ecosystem benefits they might in native settings.
Make sure to have goldenrods, which host more than 100 types of caterpillars. Milkweed is well known as a host for the monarch butterfly, but that’s it. It supports one species — an important species being pushed toward extinction — but still, just one.
There are more than three dozen goldenrod species native to New York state. (They are distinct from ragweed, the yellow-flowered species that can cause an allergic reaction.) Some goldenrods, such as Canada goldenrod, are prolific spreaders and not ideal in smaller spaces. Instead, choose blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia) or early goldenrod (Solidago juncea), which will travel less.
Asters and native sunflower species in the Helianthus family follow closely behind goldenrod. Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) is a well-behaved flower bed plant with prolific blooms in the fall. Woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) is a valued plant in my garden. It’s tall — up to 6 feet — and bushy, making it a good stand-in for a shrub.
For woody plants, Salix species, including pussy willow (Salix discolor), support diverse and prolific numbers of insects. Oaks, blueberry and dogwood also rank high, supporting hundreds of types of moths and butterflies in their caterpillar stages. All of these are sources for pollen, berries and nuts for birds and wildlife.
This spring I kept looking out the window and reminding myself to cut back the Eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) in the flowerbed. Its leggy stems from last season aren’t attractive. Then I realized there were birds collecting pieces for a nest, so I let it be.
Even the way we design landscapes can improve conditions for birds. Taller shrubs planted in clusters or thickets are handy for nests. Planting taller shrubs next to shorter shrubs can protect nests from predators.
Viburnums, which host more than 100 species of insects, have clusters of multi-stemmed branches that are ideal for many nesting birds. Aronia species of chokeberry do, too. Ilex species like winterberry have the double impact of good growth features and berries that birds consume in winter.
Sawfly caterpillars that feed on elderberry and dogwood are a tasty snack for birds. When I first encountered them on my red twig dogwood, it was gross and alarming. After research that took a while because the first few pages returned by a Google search all describe methods of killing them, I learned about their value for birds and didn’t intervene. The dogwood was fine and I expect to see this recur.
We’re all being triggered by the huge population of spongy moth caterpillars this spring but rather than browsing the pesticide aisle, let a bird take care of it.
When you have a “What’s eating my plant?” moment, take a photo or a cutting and reach out to Cornell Cooperative Extension offices in Putnam or Dutchess for guidance on whether it’s friend or foe. As with the spongy moth, many times the best action is to stay out of the way.
