Do NOT cut down that dead or dying tree

Create your own “wildlife tree” in the backyard

A tree growing beautifully in your woodland is wonderful, but to birds, bugs and other backyard critters a dead or dying tree is even better.

If you have a dead or dying tree in your yard (often referred to as a “snag”) consider doing everything possible NOT to cut it down. These trees are just too important to the local wildlife to cut down for no reason than it has succumbed to the ravages of time or disease. The dead tree will quickly become a magnet for important birds, insects, and microbial fungi that might not already be present in your woodland garden.

Woodpeckers, warblers and other insect eating birds will find the dead tree irresistible and over time use it as a resource for food and possibly a home to raise their young. Depending on where you live, small mammals like raccoons, skunks, martens and even porcupines might decide to take up residence in your “wildlife tree.”

This Pileated Woodpecker was photographed working on a dying tree in a back corner of the yard.

The snags can even become more important in winter where birds that depend on insects for survival look to the snag as a source for insect, larvae and other potential food sources. During winter, birds, bats and other small animals will often roost behind the loose bark and large cracks in the wood for both warmth and shelter.

Studies show that in areas of the United States West of the Cascade Mts, 39 species of birds and 14 species of mammals depend on tree cavities for survival. Similar numbers (39 bird species and 23 mammal species) East of the Cascade Mountains depend on snags. (USDA Forest Service)

The wildlife tree is the perfect “snag” with vines beginning to climb up the trunk and natural nesting cavities.

Of course, if the dead or dying tree poses a significant danger to either individuals or your home, steps should be taken to ensure the situation is made safe. This does not, however, automatically mean that the tree needs to be cut down.

There are options to save many of these trees that we will discuss later in this article.

Unfortunately, most snag or “wildlife trees” are too quickly cut down by homeowners, city parks and even within urban forested areas for fear of injury.

These trees are too often cut down without much thought, if any, to their wildlife value or of the potential options that could save all or most of the trees to live on as an important wildlife tree.

Many of our backyard animals depend on snags for both nesting and living accommodations as well as foraging for food.

Why preserve a dead or dying tree?

The dead trees, especially larger ones, provide optimal habitat for woodpeckers and other primary cavity nesters. In fact, large snags from mature trees are critical for big birds such as Pileated woodpeckers that require more available internal space for raising their young.

Woodpeckers such as the Pileated or Northern flicker actually create several new cavities in dead and dying trees per year. Many of the cavities are started by the woodpeckers for possible use in future years, but in the meantime, are often used by smaller bird species.

The woodpeckers will often start the cavities in areas of the tree that is weakened and then leave to allow nature to finish a lot of the hard work.

Fungus eventually invades the cavity and softens the wood over time. The following year, the birds may return to continue hollowing out the cavity’s internal wood, which has now become softer and easier to excavate.

Wildlife tree

Can’t you just imagine a large eagle sitting atop this old snag scouting the area for its next dinner? It’s more likely home to an owl along with a host of smaller birds, bugs and other critters.

Woodpeckers, in turn, create habitat for more than 80 other species of secondary cavity nesters, including American kestrels, a host of owls from the diminutive Screech owl to Barn owls, Barred owls and even Great Horned owls, swallows including the tree swallow and purple martins, bluebirds and a host of wrens, chickadees and nuthatches.

Owl box on pine snag

A screech owl box on this dying fully mature pine tree provides and opportunity to attract the diminutive little predator even if you do not have a large enough dead tree in your yard.

What do all these birds have in common?

They are primarily carnivorous or insect-eating birds that will help to naturally control mice, rats and insects in your garden. Without them, your garden can easily get out of ecological balance. In fact, many urban gardens, where dead or dying trees no longer exist, are overrun with mice and rats and skunks in part because of a lack of nesting cavities in the area for higher predators. Great Horned Owls, for example prey on skunks.

If your area has few if any natural snags, it may be the perfect time to look into installing screech owl boxes that provide nesting opportunities for these small, but highly efficient mice and rat controllers. If attracting screech owls sounds interesting, check out my full article on installing screech owl boxes in your garden, go here.

Even small snags are vital to wildlife

This American Bittern was attracted to this fallen snag in a pond. A dead or dying tree, whether it is standing or fallen over, can attract an amazing variety of birds, animals and insects.

Smaller snags, particularly if the wood is beginning to break down and becoming soft, provide the opportunity for smaller birds such as chickadees to make tiny cavities in dead wood as small as 4-inches in diameter.

So, even if a smaller tree dies in a corner of your garden think twice before removing it. This is the perfect opportunity to grow a vine up the snag or plant a native berry producing shrub in front of it not only to hide it from view but to provide an abundance of natural food to inhabitants of the snag.

Snags as nesting sites and foraging habitat

This small DIY snag is the result of burying a branch into the ground and allowing the woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees to go to town on it. Eventually it will rot and I’ll replace it with another.

Although many gardeners will recognize the benefit of the snag providing nesting habitat for a variety of birds and mammals, don’t overlook the foraging opportunities these same snags provide.

The dead and dying trees’ wood softens as fungus begins to take over the once dense woody interior of the tree. This soft wood, which can also exist on dead branches on live trees, provides habitat for a host of insects and other potential prey items for birds.

You might be surprised just how many invertebrates depend on dead and dying trees.

A close inspection would likely include a host of beetles, spiders, various ants, millipedes, earwigs, earthworms as well as possibly salamanders and toads on the ground beneath the tree living under the decaying bark and branches that often fall from the tree.

This snag continues to show life in another part of the tree, providing needed cover for birds and animals that are using it for habitat.

Some of the best trees for snags

• Large trees provide the most habitat resources for birds both small and large

• Conifers such as cedar, fir larch, and pine make excellent snags because they rot slowly and can remain standing longer.

• Snags of more than 12 inches in diameter and about 15 feet tall are perfect hunting perches for larger raptors.

Brush Piles

A red squirrel enjoys the bounty provided by the woodpile that can help to take the place of a snag. If you are limbing a dead tree, consider using the branches to create a wood pile. Eventually the rotting branches will create a similar benefit to wildlife that the standing dead snag would provide.

Create your own DIY snags

If your property has no dead or dying trees, you could create your own either by killing an undesirable tree in your yard, or better still by burying a large branch in an appropriate area of your yard.

Maybe a neighbour is cutting down a large tree and the tree service has no problem dropping off a large branch to your home. By simply digging a hole and burying it in the ground, you could create many of the benefits a traditional snag would bring to the yard.

I doubt you would get a pileated woodpecker making it’s home there, but you will attract woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and other insect-eating birds to the yard.

If the branch is big enough, you may be able to get nuthatches or other small birds using it to raise their young.

You might want to drill some large holes in the branch to get the process started.

Snags in our yard

In our bckyard, we have a large natural snag in a corner of the yard that most visitors would be hard pressed to see unless they walked back to the more wilder area of the yard. Judging by the holes bored into it, I’m sure it is and has been home to several smaller birds.

Last year, a Pileated woodpecker was working the snag foraging for insects. I heard it before I saw it. In fact, I had to walk to the back of the yard to see the massive woodpecker at the snag.

In another area of the garden near the bird feeder, I have buried a mid-sized branch in the ground for birds to use both as a perch as well as a snag.

By drilling holes in the branch and filling them with suet and WBU bark butter, the DIY snag is regularly visited by a host of woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees as well as the perfect high perch for red squirrels watching for the neighbourhood fox.

If you want to take DIY snag creation to a higher level, consider wrapping a rope tightly around a large branch to cut off its nutrients from the main trunk. In time the branch will die off creating a form of snag on the tree. (I would not recommend this procedure on your favourite tree).

Smaller DIY snags can be easily made from large branches that can be drilled out, filled with suet or Bark Butter, and hung from a nearby tree. For my story on building your own hanging DIY suet feeder, check out my story here.

We have created a large DIY snag branch on a very mature crab apple tree at the back of the property. For the most part, the dead branch is hidden by the still living branches, but still provides many of the benefits attracting insects that are eventually food for the backyard birds.

In our yard, we have also created a large wood pile that can take the place of a snag by providing small animals with a relatively safe habitat as well as a good foraging location for birds. For more on building a brush or wood pile, check out my full story here.

By wrapping a rope around a branch of one of our crab apple trees we are able to create a snag in a living tree. By doing this, you can create a snag where ever you choose.

Managing snags in your landscape

There is no question that a large dead or dying tree can pose a risk to life and property if not dealt with properly.

If a snag threatens the safety of a patio or play area for example, consider moving them to a safer area if possible. If that is not possible, reducing the potential damage that could be caused by the snag falling over is certainly a consideration. By removing the larger branches and using them in a woodpile for example, you keep the benefits of the dead wood without the dangers.

If the snag is a large, mature tree and poses too much danger to leave it as it is, have a tree company remove the dangerous branches and cut the tree down in size so that if it did fall, it would not hit anything and, its reduced size would pose little danger.

How long can a dead tree remain standing?

It’s also important to remember that a dead tree can stand for many years before it topples to the earth. In fact, depending on the size and type of tree, it’s likely that the dead tree will still be standing long after we are gone.

Finally, if you are concerned about a tree on your property that might be dying or has already passed, contact a local tree specialist for their expertise.

Just remember that a lot of these “tree experts” are not only in the business of making their livelihood from removing trees, they also do not want to be responsible for any chance of injuries or property damage resulting from a falling tree that they did not remove.

Common sense is always the best approach, but keep in mind there are alternatives to complete removal and they are almost always a lot less expensive.

While I get great enjoyment from my bird feeding stations, providing natural food sources to our feathered friends is always the goal we should aspire to in our gardens. I have written a comprehensive post on feeding birds naturally. You can read about it here.