Let your yard go wild

Want to attract more wildlife to your yard?  Making a few simple changes could increase the number and variety of birds, butterflies, and other species visiting or living on your property.  To entice more wildlife to your backyard, consider these four basic habitat needs:  food, water, cover, and space.

Food

Food includes seeds, fruit, nectar, and insects.  How many of these are you providing?

Many of us are already providing raised bird feeders in our yards.  A simple adjustment you could make to attract a greater variety of birds is to spread seed on the ground to ground feeders such as mourning doves, cardinals, and eastern towhees.  White millet seed is the seed of choice for many of our ground-feeding birds, so add this seed to the top of your shopping list.  Choose a feeding spot within 10 feet of cover to allow your birds a quick escape from predators.

Water

Not everyone has a pond or other natural water source on their property, but many of us have raised bird baths.  Here again, think ground level.

A simple dish on the ground will offer a wider of birds and small mammals the opportunity to drink and bathe.  This water source should be two to three inches deep, 24 to 36 inches in diameter, and, again,  within 10 feet of escape cover.

A longer-term project would be to add a small pond to your wildlife site.  In addition to the small mammals and birds this will attract, a pond will also provide cover and a reproduction area for small fish and amphibians –and it’s a beautiful improvement to your landscape, too!

Cover

Cover is necessary for nesting, roosting, and for escape.  This is usually the least considered habitat need — and one of the most important.

If you are presently lacking trees, shrubs, and ground cover within 10 feet of your feeders, consider adding a few.  Clustering these plants close together will allow your wildlife to move around easily with exposing themselves to predators.  At least one good cluster of evergreen trees and shrubs will offer year-round protection from both the weather and predators.  Think about adding a blackberry bush for cover; it has the added benefit of doubling as a good source of food.

Rock and brush piles are another great addition to consider for attracting small mammals and amphibians.  A brush pile near your feeders will also increase the number of birds you see.  Construct a pile with treetops, an old Christmas tree, or other loosely stacked debris.

When choosing plants for cover, strongly consider using plants native to North Carolina [or your state].  Native plants are usually better for our site conditions and require less maintenance.  This means less time and money for you and provides better food, protection, and nesting choices for your wildlife.  The publication “Landscaping for Wildlife with Native Plants” has an excellent list of a wide range of native North Carolina plants.  [For NC and all other states, see National Wildlife Federation's website below.]

Space

Space is easy.  This is your yard.  After designating areas for more formal gardens (most likely your front yard) and areas for family activities, plan a space in a more remote section of your property as your wildlife area.  Wildlife like things a bit messy (like your new brush pile) and tucking your habitat in a remote corner may keep your neighbors happier, too.

If you would like more in-depth information on planning your wildlife area, check into these two useful Internet sites: The National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat site, www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat and a site maintained by North Carolina Extension Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture at www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild.

So, go wild — and have more wildlife in your yard!

 Published in the Sanford Herald.