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.
North
Carolina 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 North Carolina.
Trees
Tall--Canadian Hemlock; White, Red, Chestnut and
Post Oak; Black Cherry; Shagbark and Pignut
Hickory; Red and Sugar Maple; Yellow Buckeye;
Yellow, Sweet and River Birch; Beech; Tulip Tree;
Sycamore; Red Spruce; American Linden
Medium/Small--Serviceberry;
Eastern Redbud; Flowering and Pagoda Dogwood;
American Holly; Southern Crabapple, Eastern Red
Cedar; American Hornbeam; Washington Hawthorn;
Common Sassafras; Sourwood; American Plum;
Persimmon; Blackhaw Viburnum
Shrubs
Short
-- New Jersey Tea; Carolina and Swamp Rose;
Cranberry; Lowbush Blueberry; Maple-leaf Viburnum
Medium
-- Red and Black Chokeberry; Sweetshrub; Silky
Dogwood; Hazelnut; Bush Honeysuckle; Common
Winterberry; Mountain Laurel; Spicebush; Sweet and
Flame Azalea; Elderberry; Coral Berry; Highbush
Blueberry
Large
-- Tag Alder; Mountain Winterberry; Mock Orange;
Smooth Sumac; Silky Willow; Arrowwood
Groundcovers
Wintergreen; Wild Ginger; Mouse-eared Coreopsis;
Partridge Berry; Chalice, wild Blue and Creeping
Phlox; Foamflower
Vines
Dutchman's Pipe; Crossvine; Trumpet Creeper;
Virgin's Bower; Coral Honeysuckle; Passion Flower;
Fox Grape; Virginia Creeper; Coral
Honeysuckle
Grasses
Indiangrass; Little Bluestem; Eastern Gama Grass;
Bottlebrush Grass; Broomsedge; Switchgrass; River
Oats; Oat Grass; Pennsylvania and Plantain-leaved
Sedge; River Cane
The eastern
two-thirds of North Carolina is characterized as
coastal plain and tidewater. Moving west, the next
two-fifths of North Carolina, about 200 miles wide,
consists of a piedmont plateau. In the west, the
land slopes upward from gentle to rugged rolling
hills to the high southern Appalachian Mountains
containing the Blue Ridge and Great Smokey
Mountains. The North
Carolina Wildflower Preservation
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.
