If you like nature and the outdoors, you will love my new "Gardening for Wildlife" e-book. It explains how to create a wildlife habitat for birds, butterflies, and other creatures in your yard! This illustrated step-by-step guide includes: how to get started, planning checklist, required habitat elements, plant recommendations, maintenance methods, helpful habitat hints, scripture references, educational benefits, how to certify your habitat, related books for children, and additional resources. “Gardening for Wildlife” makes a great homeschool project and/or family activity. It's like a year-round unit study! See more info and download a copy here
Backyard Wildlife Habitats
Do you enjoy hearing birds chirping in the trees, seeing butterflies fluttering among the flowers, and watching rabbits hopping through the grass? Do you care about wild animals, conservation, and the environment? How would you like to create a wildlife habitat so the birds, butterflies, and other creatures can live right in your own backyard? What is a Habitat? A habitat is a native environment that contains everything needed for wildlife survival. With all the imperiled habitats worthy of attention, many people overlook the fact that the one they have the most power to help is right in their own backyard. Wildlife conservation can start with a backyard wildlife habitat. As communities grow and develop, the homes of birds, beneficial insects, and other wild creatures are lost. A backyard wildlife habitat is a portion of a property that provides a welcoming oasis for birds, butterflies, and other wild creatures. It is easy to create a habitat that will attract and support a variety of desired wildlife. Development also reduces the variety of plants in our landscapes. Many native plants have been replaced with imported plants that are not well adapted to our local soil and climate and may not provide food or shelter for wildlife. Creating a backyard wildlife habitat can restore native plants in addition to benefiting wildlife. How to Get Started Inventory your yard. Make a sketch on a piece of paper noting all existing plants, buildings, utilities, and pathways. (Drawing on graph paper helps with dimensions.) Make a list of what you already have and what more you need to provide. Native plants that are attractive to a variety of wildlife may already exist in your yard. This is good, because native species are well suited for providing wildlife habitat. While the existing plants in your yard may be adequate to attract some wildlife, a few changes can effectively enhance the habitat. Make sure there is diversity in the landscape. Avoid straight lines and perfect symmetry. Natural habitat has curves and clumps of vegetation. Wild animals don't care about well-manicured lawns. You will want to keep an open space around the house, but you can landscape the perimeter for wildlife. Animals are more likely to come when the boundary of the yard is designed and maintained as a retreat for them. At the very least, try to set aside an untouched corner of the yard for wildlife. The essential ingredients for a backyard wildlife habitat are: water, food, shelter and places to raise young. Start by examining what your yard already provides in these four essential areas. Then begin introducing new elements (plantings, water, feeders, shelters, etc.) to supplement and enhance your home for wildlife. Water An essential part of any wildlife habitat is a clean, dependable year-round water supply. Water is the most effective way to attract wildlife in our arid climate, and a water source will be visited often. A fountain, a birdbath, or even a shallow pan of water is much appreciated for drinking and bathing. Misters are good for butterflies, bees, and other insects as well as birds. Ponds provide a home for dragonflies, fish, frogs, and other aquatic life. A plastic tub or simple hole in the ground with a liner and border of rocks is sufficient. A shallow container such as a terra cotta dish or upside-down garbage can lid placed on the ground is an easy way to provide water for many other animals besides birds. Locate your water source in a shady spot away from shrubs that could harbor predators, but with protective cover nearby. Edges should slope gradually to a depth of 2" - 3". Place several flat rocks inside to give footholds for birds and to allow gradual entry. (Baby quails can drown if the water is too deep and the sides are too steep.) Food Does your yard have trees, bushes and shrubs that provide seeds, berries, fruits or nuts? What about plants, flowers and vines that provide seeds and nectar? Can you plant another bush or tree? What about some sunflowers at the back of your garden? Perennials and annuals provide nectar for both butterflies and hummingbirds. Choose a selection of native plants that bloom or fruit at various times of the year, so there will always be a natural food supply for wildlife. Supplemental feeders can provide nectar for hummingbirds in the summer months and provide additional seed for birds throughout the year, but avoid making animals dependent on feeders. Shelter Shelter or cover is also essential. Animals need a safe place to hide from predators, a protective cover in inclement weather, shade from the sun, and a place to roost or nestle down at night. Cover forms a foundation for nesting sites, sleeping and feeding areas, and traveling lanes. Multiple areas of cover are recommended for harboring a variety of different species of animals, since many species are very territorial. Cover that doubles as a food source is the most effective. Ideal types of cover include trees, bushes, and dense shrubs. Piles of rocks, logs, and brush or mulch also offer effective shelter for small animals. Chipmunks and squirrels especially like rock and dirt piles. Brush piles can be constructed with fallen branches, old Christmas trees, and plant clippings. Dead or dying trees can be left standing to attract woodpeckers and other birds, and provide cavity-nesting sites. Large flat rocks provide a basking area for lizards and butterflies. Places to Raise Young Trees and shrubs provide nesting areas for birds. Birdhouses or nest boxes can be placed in the backyard habitat to supplement natural tree cavities. Some birds and rabbits raise their young on the ground in dense grass or under boughs of plants. Other animals live in dirt mounds or piles of rocks, logs, or mulch. Frogs and toads deposit their eggs in ponds. Butterfly eggs and caterpillars find safety among herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Helpful Habitat Hints
Certify Your Backyard Habitat The National Wildlife Federation sponsors a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program. This program has certified over 27,000 backyards with some in every state. They also offer special certifications for schools, workplaces, and even communities. Having your yard officially certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat is easy. Anyone who provides the four basic habitat elements and who takes steps to conserve natural resources in their yard may apply for certification by filling out an application, providing a sketch or photos, and sending in a $15 registration fee. There is an information kit that you can order, which contains The Backyard Naturalist book, a planning guide, and an application. Once your habitat is registered, they will send you a certificate. You can also get an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat sign to post in your yard. For more information, call 1-800-822-9919 or write to: National Wildlife Federation, Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190-5362. Our property was registered in 1990 as Backyard Wildlife Habitat #8496. The natural Sonoran desert vegetation on our two acres consists of about 50 paloverde trees, 12 mesquite trees, creosote bushes, desert broom, brittlebush, prickly pear, cholla and other cacti, annual grasses and wildflowers. Wild animals that have taken up residence in our yard include: rabbits, ground squirrels, rock squirrels, and many birds such as quail, doves, cactus wrens, thrashers, flycatchers, hummingbirds, cardinals, and woodpeckers. Javelinas and coyotes are regular visitors. A gila monster sought refuge in our yard one time. A loggerhead shrike, which is an endangered bird species, stopped by one day. Once I even came face-to-face with a mule deer at our birdbath! Backyard Habitats and People Wildlife habitats can be beneficial for people as well as animals. Making a backyard wildlife habitat is very rewarding. You will spend a lot of family time together planning, planting, and then exploring the wildlife sanctuary you made. When the animals move in, you will be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the wildlife. Intimacy with nature-earth and water, beast and bird, herb and tree-enriches one's personal well-being. Watching wildlife can be very therapeutic. Wild creatures hold unbounded interest and delight, especially for children. Children are born naturalists. They might even be considered part of the fauna of a landscape. They have an intrinsic love of nature and a basic need to go on daily foraging expeditions, looking under rocks and logs, climbing trees, and discovering the wonders that await them there. I agree with the philosophy of Charlotte Mason, the 19th century British educator, who said "every common miracle which the child sees with his own eyes makes of him for the moment another Newton." A backyard wildlife habitat provides endless opportunities for nature walks, watching seasonal cycles and weather patterns, practicing observation skills, flora and fauna identification, keeping nature diaries, picture painting, and nature photography. A pure sense of beauty comes from early contact with nature. Children who grow up with an interest in nature studies will also be learning about many fields of science including botany, zoology, geology, ecology, and geography. Did You Know...? Arizona is a state rich in wildlife resources. There are more than 800 species of fish and animals found here, including 136 mammals, 94 reptiles and nearly 500 types of birds. See how many of them you can attract to your backyard! Related Article: Discovering the Desert Backyard Wildlife Websites
www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat
www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/CCS/Backyard.html
www.gwf.org/habitats.htm
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/wildscapes
www.enature.com
If you like nature and the outdoors, you will love my new "Gardening for Wildlife" e-book. It explains how to create a wildlife habitat for birds, butterflies, and other creatures in your yard! This illustrated step-by-step guide includes: how to get started, planning checklist, required habitat elements, plant recommendations, maintenance methods, helpful habitat hints, scripture references, educational benefits, how to certify your habitat, related books for children, and additional resources. “Gardening for Wildlife” makes a great homeschool project and/or family activity. It's like a year-round unit study! See more info and download a copy here
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