Native plants key to attracting birds and other predators

Birds need insects and caterpillars to survive

When we think of predators in our Woodland Wildlife gardens the first thing that comes to mind are larger animals – coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls maybe even snakes large and small.

In other words, we often think of predators with a little trepidation that almost always involve animals with big, sharp teeth, or large and powerful claws.

But the reality is that most of our garden predators are either our favourite birds – chickadees, warblers, cardinals and indigo buntings – or tiny creatures often referred to as beneficial insects that we might not even know live in our gardens.

What do they all have in common? They all require a source of protein that is mostly derived in some part by insect herbivores able to convert specific plants into food for predators.

But not all plants – almost always those plants are native plants, shrubs and trees.

A three-tier approach to predators

These predators can be broken into three tiers: Dominant ones like foxes, hawks and owls, followed by second-tier predators (birds, smaller mammals, amphibians and reptiles) and finally third-tier predators made up mostly of predatory insects and larvae.

So many homeowners have serious pest problems because their gardens are not welcoming to the predators and parasites that in natural ecosystems help keep infestations in check. It’s important to note that if we want to encourage a garden in harmony – critical to keep our gardens from getting overrun with caterpillars, mice and rats – we need to focus on providing a food source for all predators and their prey.

A yellow warbler searches tall grass in search of prey. Backyard birds are among the most voracious of predators in our woodland wildlife gardens.

To put it simply, if a natural area is working in harmony, it’s the predators that are keeping everything in check.

For example, the bottom tier of predators (insects, spiders) are often eaten by the middle-tier predators (birds reptiles) who are often eaten by the top-tier predators. But all the predators are dependent in some way on the herbivores that primarily get their sustenance from plants.

Without these multi-tier predators, our gardens would quickly be over run with insect herbivores, but without them, we would have no predators and that includes birds.

Let’s call it the garden food chain.

The bottom tier of predators is where it begins

So what makes up the bottom tier and how can we invite these predators like beneficial insects into our gardens?

Think the larvae of the delicate green lacewing, a host of beetles, daddy longlegs, small parasitical wasps and tachinid flies, dragonflies and a host of garden spiders that either spin webs or hide out on our flowers ready to pounce on smaller insects all the while helping to keep our plants free from destructive infestations. Many of the best garden predators are actually larvae of larger insects, others are parasitical larvae that develop on or within a victim, ultimately killing it.

As a bonus, these lower-tier predators can also be a fascinating new world of insects to discover and photograph in your garden.

Ask yourself if you are eliminating the lowest tier predators and their prey (caterpillars and other insect herbivores) through the use of pesticides? Or is our overly tidy garden leaving little room for these predators and prey to complete their life cycles? Both can be a death sentence for predator and prey.

“I cannot overemphasize how important insect herbivores are to the health of all terrestrial ecosystems. Worldwide, 37 per cent of animal species are herbivorous insects. These species are collectively very good at converting plant tissue to all types of insect tissue, and as a consequence they also excel at providing food – in the form of themselves – for other species. In fact, a large percentage of the world’s fauna depends entirely on insects to access the energy stored in plants. Birds are a particularly good example of such organisms,”

— Douglas Tallamy

Just last spring, I was visited from an ill-informed young fellow representing a company saying it would spray around our home to eliminate insects. When I pushed back, he added with great conviction that they would also kill all the spiders around the home’s foundation to ensure a spider-free home. That only raised my blood pressure another notch.

He also assured me many of my neighbours had already purchased the service. A sad commentary on the lack of awareness among so many homeowners.

Please, lay off the pesticides. You may have to tolerate some minor infestations if you turn to beneficial insects and parasites to keep your garden in check, but remember that normal populations of “bad guys” are a necessary food source for the beneficials and help keep them in your yard.

It’s a small price to pay for a healthy garden.

Native plants are food for both prey and predators

Once we eliminate pesticides and an overly tidy garden, it’s important to focus on providing the prey with food to attract them to the garden and, in turn, provide predators with a healthy source of food.

The best way to achieve this is through the use of as many native plants as possible. These are plants that have been part of our natural ecosystem for centuries, and plants that our indigenous insects and animals have grown up with for thousands of years.

Unfortunately, many of these plants have become known as weeds to gardeners and lawn companies who turn to herbicides at the first sign of them.

If you are looking to purchase native plants, don’t be fooled by some of the signs at nurseries. Native plants are neither hybridized versions of the the original genus, nor are they plants originally from Asia or countries that share similar growing agricultural zones as ours.

In addition, even plants that may be native to other distant parts of the country we live in, may not be a food source to local prey animals, insects and larvae. A flower that is native to Western United States or Canada, may not provide the necessary traits that local fauna in our garden require.

Why do we need this third-tier predator prey relationship? Without these often overlooked prey species, there is no future for medium-sized predators like our song birds that depend on many of these third-tier predators and prey for protein, especially when rearing their young.

Here are constructive steps courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation that we can take to attract these third-tier predators into our gardens.

• Consider growing as many herbs and wildflowers native to your region. Look for plants that are ideally suited to beneficial insects. These plants often include daisy-like flowers including asters, black-eyed Susans and coneflowers as well as tickseed, goldenrod varieties, sunflowers and milkweeds.

• Work these flowers favoured by predators into your existing planting beds, or mass them into islands throughout the yard to focus both predator and prey to specific areas of the garden.

• Look for native plants that flower at different times. Spring ephemerals will get the woodland going early and provide potential food sources for birds migrating back into your area, while asters and other fall blooming natives will keep the predator-prey relationship going late into fall. This is especially important for birds migrating back to their wintering grounds.

• Combine predator-friendly plants of various heights to create a structurally diverse habitat.

• Don’t remove the fallen leaves from your planting beds. A healthy layer of leaf litter provides habitat for beetles, spiders and other important predators.

• Refrain from killing any insect or larva. You might be surprised what many quite scary-looking larvae become. Consider doing some on-line research into beneficial insects and larvae. Cornell University’s Biological Control: A Guide to Natural Enemies in North America is an excellent resource.

Middle-tier predators: Songbirds, chipmunks and toads…

Finally, let’s take a quick look at the middle-tier predators.

Many in this group may come as a surprise to gardeners who think of them as more prey than predators. Songbirds are probably the most recognizable of these animals we prefer not to recognize as predators. But don’t tell that to the millions of caterpillars, insects and spiders, that make up most of their diet during spring, summer and fall.

Well known entomologist Douglas Tallamy, in his book Bringing Nature Home, How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, outlines the importance of these prey animals in his New York Times best seller.

“I cannot overemphasize how important insect herbivores are to the health of all terrestrial ecosystems. Worldwide, 37 per cent of animal species are herbivorous insects. These species are collectively very good at converting plant tissue to all types of insect tissue, and as a consequence they also excel at providing food – in the form of themselves – for other species. In fact, a large percentage of the world’s fauna depends entirely on insects to access the energy stored in plants. Birds are a particularly good example of such organisms,” he writes adding that 96 per cent of birds depend on insects to survive.

Just as an example, Tallamy’s research states that Chickadee parents need to find, depending on the number of chicks they are raising, as many as 570 caterpillars every day to sustain their family. If it takes 16 to 18 days before the babies fledge, that daily figure jumps to between 6,000 and 9,000 caterpillars to bring a clutch of chickadees to maturity.

Providing this amount of food in or around our gardens is necessary to sustain our chickadee population. Multiply this a thousand fold to account for all of the bird species competing for the same food in spring, not to mention frogs, toads, skunks, possums and even tier-one predators like foxes who dine on insects to the count of up to 26 per cent of their diet.

Bats, too, depend on insects eating as many as 1,000 in a single night as well as moths and other flying insects.

It doesn’t take long to realize that our gardens need to produce hundreds of thousands of insects, caterpillars and larvae to sustain only the first and second tier of predators that we hope call our gardens home.

But providing predators with enough food to sustain them and their offspring is not enough. We need a high percentage of these prey animals to escape predation to evolve into adult stage to allow the process to start all over again.

We need a world filled with butterflies, moths, dragonflies, spiders, birds, frogs, hawks, owls, foxes and even coyotes.

If we hope to have success, we have to smart small, and there is no better place to begin than in our gardens.

Creating a wildlife friendly garden (7 simple steps)

Woodland garden provides groundwork for wildlife garden

If you already have the makings of a woodland garden, you also have the groundwork for a wildlife garden.

Woodland and wildlife garden design styles are similar and can work in harmony together, but there are definitely key elements to focus on to create a successful wildlife garden.

I have found that encouraging more insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals to my garden demands a more detailed focus on the shrub and flower layers of my multi-layered woodland garden.

Generally speaking, in a woodland garden the shrub layer is often as visually pleasing as it is beneficial to wildlife. In a wildlife garden, that approach is reversed and the shrub layer’s primary purpose is to provide food and habitat for a myriad of wildlife. The flower layer also requires a more wildlife-friendly approach.

So how do we get started?

Here are the seven basic principles to create a wildlife garden. (More detailed examination lower in article)

1. Provide food, water and shelter

2. Add a variety of plants

3. Create islands of habitat

4. Create layers in the garden

5. Use native plants

6. Reduce or eliminate pesticides and herbicides

7. Refrain from any real fall garden cleanup

An impressive example of a giant yellow swallowtail works a butterfly bush in the garden.

Gardeners who are looking to create a successful wildlife habitat need to focus on two primary garden design elements: First, putting an emphasis on providing sources of water (preferably a natural pond), and, two, a focus on creating an edge habitat of native plants that provides both food and a safe habitat for nesting. These two factors together with an already established woodland garden will go a long way to creating a successful wildlife garden.

Habitat loss makes wildlife-friendly garden more critical

The loss of habitat is the most important single factor responsible for the reduction of wildlife numbers in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and elsewhere. The burning issue is: Can we as homeowners take action to reverse this trend in our own yards. The answer, of course, is a resounding yes. Gardeners should also be encouraged to know that creating a wildlife garden can be created and maintained in less time and using less energy than is required in a traditional garden.

Many of us get great pleasure in feeding birds at our backyard feeders, but very few landscape their properties to create a habitat for birds and many other species of wildlife.

As Irish garden designer Mary Reynolds expounds in her book The Garden Awakening, the goal of every gardener is to create an island of native plants that will provide a path for wildlife to travel through our neighbourhoods. She refers to them appropriately as ‘arks’ and is busy creating a movement bringing homeowners around the world together to create arks. (see link at bottom of article)

By using ecological principles in the design of your ark, and incorporating native plant species whenever possible, the wildlife garden will take shape and begin attracting a greater variety of fauna to your garden.

I think Reynolds ark concept can be taken a step farther in a large landscape by creating islands within your ark. Rooms, if you will, that provide more specific food sources and habitat that is particularly suited to that area in your garden. A sunny clearing in the woods, for example, is an opportunity to grow a fruiting shrub and more sun-loving flowers. A wet area provides a different opportunity to create an island to encourage everything from toads and salamanders to dragonflies and other wetland insects and butterflies as well as aquatic loving native plants, everything from native iris to orchids and blueberries.

By using environmentally sound gardening methods, landscaping for wildlife is not only landscaping for the ecosystem, it is also a people-friendly design that family and friends will appreciate and enjoy for years to come.

Begin wildlife-friendly garden with a brush pile

Probably the single most effective step you could take besides eliminating herbicides and pesticides in your garden is to create a brush pile for wildlife. It is such an important resource for wildlife – everything from insects, reptiles, birds and mammals – that creating even a simple, small brush pile will go a long way to kick-start your wildlife garden.

In our garden, we actually have two on the go. One is more of an open pit compost pile that is made up of primarily cuttings from plants and shrubs that gets topped up in spring and fall with spent soil from our many containers. Several branches placed on the pile keeps it open and accessible to small mammals. Some food scraps make it to the pile but it is not a traditional compost. Almost all the soil is left in place on the pile to encourage biodiversity in the pile. I have seen Coopers hawks hunting there on a regular basis as well as fox and snakes.

The second pile is a more traditional woodpile made up of large, medium and small branches, the result of a recent tree trimming. It became the main dumping ground for small amount of fall leaves we collected this year. In a few short months, it has become a favourite spot for a family of red squirrels as well as a number of insect eating birds that patrol the pile on a daily basis for insects, eggs and pupae. For more on the importance of a woodpile, go to the bottom of this story for a link to an earlier story.

Difference between wildlife-friendly and traditional landscaping

Traditional landscaping usually means a carpet of lawn and a collection of decorative, exotic plants. These landscapes are more concerned with visual and esthetic goals, such as choosing hybrid shrubs and flowers more for their form, colour and texture than the benefits they may have for wildlife. Benefits to wildlife, in these instances, are more unintentional than intentional.

These traditional landscapes usually put high demands on the use of water, energy and chemicals to remain healthy. These landscapes are not any more healthy for we humans as they are for the local wildlife species who cannot thrive in these environments.

As Reynolds explains: “I’ve discovered that gardens can become something very special if we approach them differently. If we invite Nature to express her true self in these spaces and then work to heal the land and bring it back into balance, something magical happens. Nature begins to interact with us on an energetic, emotional and physical level.”

A natural garden path with a combination of native perennial and annual flowers and wildflowers creates a welcoming habitat for backyard wildlife.

Ecological guidelines for planning and maintaining a wildlife garden

Reynolds, in her ground breaking gardening book, gores on to say: “If nature is left to its own devices and without imbalances in the ecosystem such as the overpopulation of hungry deer or and infestation of rabbits it will reclaim its territory and become Woodlands once more.”

Those same sentiments were emphasized in another outstanding book, Garden Revolution by authors Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher. They ask: “if I do nothing, what will happen?” your answer will be “A forest will develop.”

Providing water is critical for wildlife to survive. A small pond allows access for small mammals, birds and amphibians.

Weaner goes on to say that “There are powerful environmental reasons for bringing our gardens into a sounder relationship with nature. I honestly believe that having once sampled an ecologically driven approach, gardeners won’t want to do anything else.”

So, by letting our gardens go and doing very little maintenance, a wildlife garden will emerge. However, with a little help on our end, it can be done a lot quicker by following these seven basic principles.

Seven steps to a successful wildlife garden (explained)

1) Provide the three basic requirements: Namely food, water and shelter. The proper selection of native plants can create a reliable supply of food throughout the seasons. these same plants can provide shelter and nesting ha and bird baths, both raised and on-ground or a small pond can provide water.

2) A variety of Plants: Wildlife come in many different forms. It’s easy to focus on seed-eating birds that we are so familiar with at our bird feeders. But, just as we try to provide a variety of food at our feeders, it is just as important to ensure a diversity of food and cover in our gardens to provide for a greater variety of wildlife.

3) Islands of habitat: Creating clumps of vegetation and habitat is much more valuable than planting individual shrubs and trees spaced widely apart in our lawns. Better shelter is provided by planting shrubs and trees in natural looking clumps, hedgerows and thickets. Open areas of grasses and flowers between these islands creates an attractive habitat for birds and small mammals that can move through the garden from island to island in relative safety.

4) A layered approach: Much like a traditional woodland garden, the wildlife garden benefits from a layering of plants and trees. Unlike a woodland garden that focuses on the general layering of trees, the wildlife garden goes into more detail and looks at the layering of the lower storeys of the woodland garden. Food and cover needs to be offered at a variety of levels. The focus is more on layering at the ground cover and shrub/small tree levels where the majority of wildlife live and feed.

5) The use of native plants: In his book Bringing Nature Home, How you Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Douglas Tallamy makes a convincing argument for the use and importance of native trees, shrubs and plants in our gardens. He explains that if gardeners continue to “landscape predominantly with alien plants that are toxic to insects…. We may witness extinction on a scale that exceeds” anything ever experienced on this earth.

It’s important to note that our native wildlife evolved in these habitats so they are better adapted to our native plant communities.

Tallamy explains that: “Because life is fuelled by the energy captured by the sun by plants, it will be the plants that we use in our gardens that determine what nature will be like 10, 20, and 50 years from now.”

Take it from Tallamy, native plants are key to creating a working wildlife garden.

Purchasing native plants rather than the hybridized versions often sold at parking lot garden centres or many large nurseries is not always easy. Get to know your plants names (including the latin names) before you go to the nursery so you can be sure to purchase the native varieties. Also there are on-line sources for native seeds and plants that are available in many areas. Just be sure to purchase native plants to your area.

6) Chemical use: We have come a long way in the use of chemicals in our gardens but it continues to be a major problem. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides may result in lusher greener lawns, but they kill organisms that are vital to the natural processes of pollination and decay. These very organisms, often caterpillars, insects and larvae, are food for many wildlife species, including birds especially when they are feeding their young in spring.

In a wildlife garden, choose to use a natural and ecological approach such as mulching to reduce weeds, planting hardy natives plants and weeding by hand if necessary.

7) Fall cleanup: It is extremely important to wait until spring to do a garden cleanup involving the removal of fall leaves and dead plant material. Even better, wildlife gardeners should leave areas of the garden as a no-maintenance zone to provide cover and food for wintering wildlife. Insect pupae, spider eggs, seeds and berries left over from the fall can be important food sources for spring migrants at a time when there is little other food available to them. Refrain from trimming lower branches of shrubs and evergreen trees to provide a safer refuge for animals from the freezing temperatures and winds of winter.

What can you expect from your wildlife design?

The closer you live to a piece of native habitat, like a woodlot or open meadow, the more wildlife you can expect to visit your property. Also, these wilder areas will attract a greater variety of wildlife as well as animals and birds (primarily carnivores) that exist higher up the food chain. Fox, coyotes, and depending where you live bobcats, bears and cougars, in addition to birds of prey could be regular visitors to your yard if you are fortunate enough to live near large wild areas.

But even if you live in the heart of an urban or suburban area, a well-designed wildlife garden can attract an astonishingly larger variety of birds and animals than one might think. During migration, for example, uncommon birds may “drop down” for a few days to feed on insects or small rodents. Urban foxes, owls and hawks may decide to make it their home or an important part of their daily hunting routines.

How long will it take to get results?

Patience is key. A successful wildlife garden does not happen overnight or even in a single growing season.

That’s not to say you can’t see instant success. The simple act of planting cardinal flowers will encourage hummingbirds in the area to visit your garden. Planting a single serviceberry or chokecherry bush could bring in plenty of fruit-eating birds and other wildlife that were rare or uncommon visitors to the garden prior to the planting.

A more reasonable expectation is to tackle the project as a five-year plan, building on it each and every year as an ever increasing number and variety of wildlife begin to appear on your property.

“I’ve discovered that gardens can become something very special if we approach them differently. If we invite Nature to express her true self in these spaces and then work to heal the land and bring it back into balance, something magical happens. Nature begins to interact with us on an energetic, emotional and physical level.”

— Mary Reynolds

Garter snakes are a welcome addition to any woodland wildlife garden.

A personal experience: Where are the snakes?

Let me give you an example from our garden experience. When we first moved in more than 20 years ago, our front and backyards were grass covered dead zones with a few large trees. What little wildlife there was came from the large woodlands that surrounded our neighbourhood. The animals, deer and fox often wandered through the yard but rarely stayed long enough for us to appreciate them in any way.

One thing that really shocked me in those early days was that I could find no snakes on our property. For years, there were no signs of the completely harmless little garter snakes that should have been common in our large rural garden.

But that slowly changed as the property became more naturalized.

By no means are we now overwhelmed with these small snakes, but it is now not uncommon to see a garter snake, especially if you know where to look. Rock piles, leaf litter, large boulders, wood piles and an abundance of prey have encouraged these wonderful snakes to call our property home.

This spring, our neighbours asked me if I had ever seen any snakes on our property, after they saw two strolling down our side pathway together. They were surprised to see them despite being surrounded by hundreds of acres of natural woodland owned by the local conservation area on the Niagara escarpment where snakes are no doubt abundant.

It wasn’t that they disliked the snakes, it was that after more than 20 years of not seeing them, they were surprised to all of a sudden see two.

Our neighbours were also surprised after I told them I was installing owl boxes on my property. They really didn’t know, or had never given it much thought, that owls existed in and around our heavily forested neighbourhood. Despite an abundance of huge trees and surrounded by acres and acres of natural forests, the many years of living with a lack of wildlife in our neighbourhood dead zone of highly chemical-laden lawns and pesticide-covered properties made owls and other predators a rarely observed presence in the area.

Government regulations to herbicide and pesticide use is beginning to change the amount of wildlife in urban and suburban areas, but we still have a long way to go.

I’m happy to report, however, that just recently the same neighbours told us that they had seen an owl in their backyard.

Earlier this summer, I watched a fox sitting on one of the large boulders in our front yard grab a garter snake that was sunning on the rocks. I hope it wasn’t the same one that I saw sunning itself on a rock in the backyard in early spring.

And so, the cycle of life continues to grow twenty-plus years after the wildlife garden began to take root.

I expect it to continue to evolve and to watch the emergence of a greater variety of insects, butterflies, reptiles and mammals slowly appear over time.

Planning your wildlife garden

If you are beginning with a blank slate, planning your landscaping will save you time and money and the final product will be better.

A three-step process beginning with a yard survey will set the groundwork for a detailed preliminary plan.

The preliminary plan should incorporate all seven principles of the wildlife garden introduced earlier in this post.

The final stage is the planting of the garden. This stage can be tackled in a single planting if the garden is small or preferably over the course of several years for a larger property.

Plants, shrubs and trees to consider for your wildlife garden

Consider the following small trees and shrubs

Alternate-leaved Dogwood

American Elder

American Mountain Ash

Chokecherry

Common Juniper

Crabapples

Eastern red cedar

Hawthorn tree

High bush cranberry

Pin cherry

Red mulberry

Serviceberry

Staghorn sumac

White Cedar

Flowers and vines to consider for wildlife garden

• Black-eyed Susan

• Coreopsis

• Evening Primrose

• New England Aster

• Native milkweed

• Spotted Jewel weed

Vines to consider

• Virginia Creeper

• Trumpet Creeper

Large trees to consider planting

Trees, especially evergreens, are central to any wildlife landscape. Evergreens such as Eastern white pine provide year-round cover and produce cones as a food source for small mammals and songbirds.

Deciduous trees provide a wider variety of food types – nuts, berries, and seeds – but are best suited as summer cover and nest sites. These trees also have larger canopies providing more shade and more conducive environments for spring flowers.

As noted in Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, Oaks are especially valuable as a food source for a number of species, such as blue jays, squirrels, chipmunks and woodpeckers as well as insect-eating birds that feed on the many insects and caterillars that depend on oaks as a host tree.

Cherries are an excellent choice for a berry tree. Birches attract small finches, such as redpolls, goldfinches and siskins, to their catkins.

The Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is one of the best evergreens to provide cover and nest sites for songbirds. The gin-flavoured berries are a favourite food of cedar waxwings.

Consider the following Evergreen trees

• Red Pine

• Eastern white pine

• white cedar

• Balsam fir

• White spruce

• Eastern hemlock

Consider the following large Deciduous trees

• Oaks

• Maples

• White birch

• White ash

• Butternut

• Shagbark hickory

• Black cherry

• Hackberry

The importance of shrubs in the wildlife garden

Unlike a woodland garden, shrubs are the stars of the wildlife garden. They can provide denser cover, reach maturity faster and provide resources for wildlife that live closer to the ground. Many of the berry-poducing shrubs are important food sources for spring and fall migrant birds.

The American yew and common juniper are excellent native evergreen shrubs for wildlife.

There is a much wider variety of native deciduous shrubs to consider, including red-osier, gray and alternate-leaved dogwoods. Honeysuckles provide good shelter for birds and nectar for hummingbirds. Rosa rugosa is a good choice to include in plant islands in the garden.

A ruby-throated hummingbird eyes a native cardinal flower as a source of nectar.

Plants for hummingbirds

Don’t forget to provide plants for hummingbirds. These entertaining little birds can be attracted in very urban areas if they are provided with the proper habitat. Red flowers are the most enticing but they are also attracted to orange and yellow flowers. Consider planting coral bells, hollyhock, columbine, morning glory, larkspur, scarlet sage, spotted jewelweed, wild bergamot and scarlet bee balm.

Plants for butterflies

Plant purple, blue, yellow and pink flowers to attract butterflies. Try to use species (non cultivated) plants to attract butterflies because nectar production and fragrance are often sacrificed to obtain showier plants.

Most of these plants will also attract bees to your garden.

Consider planting asters, goldenrods, thistles, dogbane, zinnia, lupines, bergamots, black-eyed susans, coneflowers, coreopsis, daisies, phlox, verbena, yarrow and milkweeds. If you want to encourage black swallowtail butterflies, plant dill, parsley or Queen Anne’s lace.

Important links related to this story:

We are the Ark - Chelsea Gold medal winner and Irish Garden designer Mary Reynolds’ site aimed at uniting gardeners around the world to build natural islands of native plantings. Link here.

More links from this website

Building a woodpile - This is a link to an earlier post on the importance of building a wood or brush pile.

Helping birds and other wildlife in our gardens. This post zeroes in on what we can do to help our garden visitors. Go to the post here.

How to help birds survive winter. Go to post here.

Tips for using water to attract birds. Go to post here.

Attract birds in winter with DIY heated birdbath. Go to post here.

Bringing Nature Home book review. Go to earlier post here

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you) I try to only endorse products I have either used, have complete confidence in, or have experience with the manufacturer.

How to help birds survive winter in our wildlife gardens

Use a bird’s natural survival instincts to get great photos

An approaching winter storm should be a signal for us to begin preparing to ensure our backyard wildlife will be safe.

Birds use their natural survival instincts to gather in large numbers to stock up on food to survive the coming storm.

Knowing this behaviour creates an opportunity both to photograph a larger variety of birds and, more importantly, provide them with the resources they need to get through these difficult times in our wildlife-friendly and woodland gardens.

So, we know that an important survival tactic backyard birds use to survive winter storms is by stocking up on seeds before the storm makes obtaining food extremely difficult.

Now, let’s explore other tactics they use to cope with severe weather.

So how do birds and animals survive winter?

Birds and other wildlife have several ways of surviving severe winter weather. Our job is to help them take advantage of these built-in survival tactics by providing wildlife-friendly habitats they can use in severe weather. We should provide them with high-value food sources so they can use these hereditary survival tactics to store the food for these difficult times. We need to provide them with evergreens like cedars, where they can go for protection from the winds to conserve heat and energy. Finally, we need to provide reliable water sources.

A male cardinal waits out the first snow of winter in our backyard crabapple tree.

Here are five ways to help birds survive severe weather:

1)Provide natural shelters.

2)Provide reliable water sources

3) Put up extra feeders.

4) Add a roosting box

5) Provide high-value food in the form of seed and suet

Birds have built-in survival tactics

How often have you looked out the window in the middle of a major snowstorm with great concern for our feathered friends?

Birds, as well as other woodland creatures, have very specific ways to cope with this severe weather.

Birds survive by focusing on three survival tactics: Finding a safe location to ride out the storm; long-term adaptation to severe temperatures; and, finally, early preparation for the storm.

A red-breasted woodpecker searches for insects in the bark of a tree during a winter snowstorm.

How birds find shelter in a storm

Birds are well aware of the existing microhabitats in and around where they live. A thick cedar hedge where they can tuck into and escape winds and heavy snow is ideal for many small- and medium-sized birds.

Larger birds might simply find a tree branch or even a building on the downwind side of a tree to protect themselves from wind, snow, heavy rains and even extreme cold.

Mature spruce, hemlock and pine trees are also excellent places for larger birds such as owls and hawks to wait out a storm.

Many birds will even go to existing tree cavities or birdhouses to seek protection. It’s important that we leave these snags (or dead and dying trees) up in our gardens to act as natural safe havens from storms and other severe weather conditions.

The growing importance of roosting boxes

The growing popularity of commercial or DIY roosting boxes is a sign of how important they have become for our feathered friends. One of the biggest problems birds face, especially those living in an urban or suburban environment, is the loss of nesting habitat created by dead and dying trees (snags).

Too many homeowners and even municipalities are removing every sick, dying or dead tree, eliminating tree cavities that are vital for the survival of many cavity-nesting birds such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, bluebirds, Tufted Titmouses, chickadees, Kestrels, owls, the Prothonotary warbler and even several ducks including the wood duck and mergansers. Whenever possible, it is best to leave these older trees in your yard even if it means removing some of the more dangerous branches but leaving the main trunk for the birds.

““Feed the birds in winter; in return, they will feed your soul with the look of gratitude!””

— Mehmet Murat ildan

As the Canadian Wildlife Federation explains on its website: Some species, like the Eastern Bluebird, once faced serious decline because of the dwindling number of natural cavities available to them, but rebounded because of nesting box programs organized throughout their range.”

Bird houses and roosting boxes are stepping in to replace many of these missing tree cavities.

Although birds will use regular nesting boxes to escape severe weather, roosting boxes are designed to offer more birds an escape from harsh weather, and a potentially warmer environment than even a birdhouse can provide.

Not only are the roosting boxes larger – designed to fit more birds into them – the entrance hole is often located at or nearer the bottom of the box rather than the top where warmth generated from the other birds using the unit would escape. These two factors, in addition to an abundance of perches for the birds, can create a warm and comfortable place to ride out the storm.

Owl box conversion to roosting box

The importance of roosting boxes has convinced me to convert an existing screech owl box into a roosting box for the winter. I think one owl box on our property is probably sufficient, so our second box will be getting a small makeover involving putting in several twiggy branches to give the birds places to perch on and caulking the box to hold in more heat. The entrance hole is already closer to the centre of the box than the top, so it should hold the heat sufficiently.

Tufted Titmouse sits in crab apple patiently waiting its turn at the bird feeder.

Five ways we can help birds survive winter

1) Natural shelters: Provide a cedar hedge or plant other natural habitat where backyard birds can escape to during inclement weather. A large cedar hedge provides sheltered places for birds during cold spells and even extremely hot times of year. They also provide food in the form of insects and seeds as well as excellent nesting habitat. During severe weather, consider hanging a bird feeders in the cedars so birds can get food without expending too much energy wandering far from their roosting spot.

2) Water source: Don’t forget to provide birds with a reliable source of water during difficult weather. Although the birds can likely get drinking water from the snow, they still need to keep their feathers clean and in top shape to provide the insulation they need to maintain their body heat. There is some evidence that suggests birds bathing in extremely cold weather could get into trouble if water on their feathers freezes. Take precautions to provide access to a birdbath that allows the bird to drink without having to get wet. A gentle slope into the heated birdbath or rocks where they can perch to get a drink are good choices.

3) Extra Feeders: Ensure your feeders are full and accessible. Often, snow covers critical areas of your feeders making it difficult for the birds to access the food. This is particularly important with tray feeders that can quickly get covered with snow burying the seed. Consider adding an extra feeder during difficult times to accommodate additional birds that may be counting on them for survival.

4) Roosting boxes: Provide roosting boxes and leave your nesting boxes up throughout the winter to give birds a place to hide out storms. If possible, seal up any air vents of your traditional nesting boxes in an attempt to hold more heat in the birdhouse. Locate houses and roosting boxes in sheltered areas where they get lots of sun to warm the boxes during the day.

5) Provide high value food: Feeding high quality, high fat food sources is always important but takes on a greater importance in severe weather. Fat balls, high-value suet and meal worms will be greatly appreciated by your feathered friends as the weather turns ugly. Providing food in our feeders is certainly a good first step, but natural food sources are also critical for our wildlife. Allowing areas of our garden to naturalize and leaving fallen leaves (earlier post) on the ground encourages insect-eating birds to forage for high-value food sources such as insect larvae, eggs and small mammals that depend on the leaves for winter survival.

Birds are built for bad weather

There are days I go out to fill the feeders and just walking to them chills me to the bone. It doesn’t take long before my frozen fingers are struggling just to open the steel feeder top. It’s often so cold that getting the feeders filled feels like a race against frost bite.

The good news for birds is that they have physical and behavioural adaptations to help them survive throughout the year.

Did you know: Some small birds such as kinglets and chickadees can drop their body temperature and go into controlled hypothermia to save energy.

Birds’ feathers are the first line of defence. Birds fluff their feathers to trap air between their feathers and bodies. The result is a natural layer of insulation, not unlike a down jacket or sleeping bag. The importance is made evident by the fact that birds even tuck their bills under their wing feathers in order to breathe in the warmer air.

Did you Know: Birds have oil producing glands that allow them to preen a coating of waterproof onto their feathers to avoid the down coats getting wet.

Birds are warm-blooded and have a high metabolic rate and so, in winter especially, they must eat regularly to maintain their heart rate. They also need this energy to shiver, which is an important way they generate heat to maintain their body temperature.

Okay, that is all well and good, but as I’m filling the feeder, the chickadees are standing on the cold steel feeder hangers scolding me for taking their food source away for a few short minutes.

How do their feet not stick to the freezing steel? If I so much as touched it, I would need a kettle of hot water to “unstick” my hand.

How does countercurrent actually work?

The birds that come to our feeders have naked feet, (imagine having to live outside in the snow barefoot.) But, a countercurrent blood exchange in the feet helps keep the heat loss to a minimum while preventing frostbite. The Countercurrent blood exchange is complicated but in simple terms: as cold blood runs up the leg from the foot and passes by the arteries, it picks up most of the heat from the arteries through conductance. As it travels, the blood flowing down is cooled, and the blood flowing up is warmed. Thus, by the time arterial blood reaches the foot, it is cool and does not lose too much heat standing in snow, on steel or even in cold water.

In extreme cold, you may also notice a bird warming its feet by alternatively tucking up one of their feet under its feathers, while standing on a single leg.

Putting on weight to fend off a storm

If your feeders are busier than usual, chances are a storm is brewing. The birds seem to know that a higher fat content helps to guarantee them a much better chance of surviving a severe winter storm. When they sense changes in the air pressure you will notice them zeroing in on your bird feeders. (This is a good time to ensure your feeders are full and ready for the onslaught). The birds will eat as much high-fat food at your feeders as possible and then stash as many seeds and nuts as possible in case the severe weather continues for several days.

This brings us back to birds lining up at our feeders prior to and during a snowstorm.

Our backyard birds use it as an opportunity to fatten up before the storm officially grounds them for hours and possibly days before breaking.

We photographers can also use it as an opportunity to focus on the activity of our feeders to capture the birds that are too busy filling up to really care much about our presence.

It’s important not to interfere with their feeding habits at this critical time. If you use a photographic blind or keep a respectable distance the birds will go about their business and provide you with a frenzied feeding situation in a fairy-tale environment of snow-covered branches.

This is the time to get out of your comfort zone (in a warm, dry house) and get out in the snow to capture these special moments that only happen a few times of year.

Tips to photograph birds in a snowstorm

If your past attempts of photographing your garden or backyard birds have resulted in dark photographs with a very strong blue cast, you are not alone. In this article, I am going to gear most of the information to amateur photographers. Afterall, most of us are woodland gardeners, not professional bird photographers.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t get some stunning bird shots. The combination of a good snowstorm and a Tragopan Photographic Blind can produce some very impressive images without the expense of large telephoto lenses.

However, even today’s modern cameras with advanced exposure technology, struggle to deal with the extreme exposures of snow scenes. The results are almost always underexposed images. Snow scenes almost always have a dark blue tone to them.

But it’s not just the blue tone to the images that detract from the final result.

If you’re photographing a bird in that scene, for example, it will also be underexposed. Depending how much it is underexposed will mean the difference between whether the image can be saved in post processing via Lightroom, photoshop or any other digital photo software you might be using.

Why are my snow shots blue and underexposed?

Photographing a relatively small subject in a sea of white is not always easy. Even with today’s modern cameras, there is no guarantee that you are going to be able to get the proper exposure. The problem is that the camera’s exposure meter is trying to turn the beautiful pure white snow into middle-gray, dirty-looking snow.

If the image was converted to black and white, you would get dirty-gray snow. In colour photography, the image takes on a blue cast reflecting the colour of the sky, much the same as large bodies of water.

Solving the problem is not difficult but it does require some thought. The photographer needs to make an adjustment to the exposure “to put back the white in the snow.”

When shooting in the snow, the photographer needs to overexpose the image by one or two F-stops depending how much snow is in the scene. If, for example, the bird takes up 50 per cent or more of the image, probably no exposure compensation is necessary. If the bird takes up 25 per cent or less of the image, 1-1.5 overexposure would probably be necessary to get the correct exposure.

The beauty of today’s digital cameras is that they allow you to take test shots to help determine the correct exposure. Look for an exposure that gives you fairly clean white snow. Any further compensation could probably be achieved in post processing of the image.

How do you achieve proper exposure compensation

Depending on your camera, achieving exposure compensation usually involves one of three choices.

If you are using a digital SLR in shutter priority mode, use the camera’s suggested exposure setting and then open up the f-stop of the lens 1-2 stops to add more light to the image. (If this sounds like jibberish to you, don’t worry. There is an easier way.)

For most cameras, including DSLRs, there is an exposure compensation dial that allows the photographer to dial in more exposure (+) or less exposure (-). In many point-and-shoot cameras, these settings need to be changed in the camera’s screen settings. I suggest you do that in the house before you even step outside.)

The best way to guarantee a proper exposure is to experiment in the field with these settings. Take some test shots to get a feel for the exposure. Look for white snow. A little blue in the snow is fine. If your image has pure white snow without any detail, you may be overexposing the image a little too much. In that case, it’s probably better to reduce the exposure 1/3 to 1/2 a stop to keep the snow from overexposing. If this too is confusing and overwhelming, don’t worry, there is an even easier way to achieve proper exposure.

On almost all amateur digital cameras, there is a setting for snow scenes. Some are easy to find; others may be buried in the menu of the camera and require going deeper into the menu items until you find the “scenes” module.

Choose snow scenes and you would probably be safe to shoot away. If, however, you are taking closeups of birds, your need for any exposure compensation is probably unnecessary.

I know it can seem complicated and it was when we were shooting film. But the ability to take test shots and see the results immediately on the screen, certainly simplifies the whole process.

Just don’t let the next snowstorm stop you from getting out. It very might well be the best bird photography you ever experienced.

But don’t forget, dress warmly. You’re not a bird.

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