The latest project at our house is creating a wildlife habitat in our yard. That might sound high-minded, but it’s not hard to do, and the reason I decided to do it is because we already had four of the five criteria needed to create a “wildlife habitat.” I also thought it would be a fun project to get the four-year-old involved in.
A few weeks ago we were visiting the Sandy Creek Nature Center, and I picked up a couple of pamphlets that caught my eye: “Create a wildlife sanctuary in your yard” by the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society (ORAS) and “Creating Wildlife Habitat” by the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
According to ORAS, the five basic criteria needed to create a wildlife habitat are: 1) diverse food sources, such as seeds, berries, and nectar; 2) nesting sites, such as bird boxes, gourds, dead tree cavities, nesting shelves or vine tangles; 3) shelter for cover and nesting, such as dense shrubs, evergreens, brush piles, ground covers and rock piles; 4) bird feeders such as platform, suet baskets, hanging or hummingbird feeders; and 5) year-round water supplied by a stream, pond, bird bath or other running water source such as a fountain.
The pamphlet also tells me how to get my property certified as a wildlife sanctuary (for a fee), and though that sounds cool, I’m not going to do it because I need the money and I don’t think the animals will care whether or not our yard is “certified.”
Recently we started to supply our resident birds with some seed. At Christmas we received a handmade gift of pinecones strung up on wire and filled with peanut butter and birdseed. We hung that on our porch and a family of tufted titmice partook of it, and we enjoyed watching them through our window. We have another feeder in the backyard too.
We also have plenty of natural food for birds. We have wild blackberries growing in a patch of woods in our backyard and other berries I don’t know the names of. We have butterfly bushes and various flowers that provide nectar, acorns and other seeds from the trees, and I can vouch that our yard is full of succulent insects that any critter is more than welcome to feed on.
We have woods with thick underbrush, a variety of trees, and we have a decaying woodpile that I know is home to many small critters. We have one birdhouse on our back deck that has welcomed several families of bluebirds over the past few years, and there’s a big hole in one of our trees that I have seen a mama squirrel rear her young in. Birds have nested in there too. Another exciting addition this year is a cardinal’s nest in one of our bushes just outside our living room window!
One year our front porch sheltered two, little brown wrens. Every night they would huddle in a corner on a little shelf just under the ceiling of the porch, but during the day, they were off doing whatever wrens do during the day. This prompted me to want to get an additional birdhouse for the front porch, and we finally installed one last week.
When I read the pamphlets I realized the only thing we did not have was a year-round water source. So now we are in the market for a simple birdbath that we’ll put into the backyard. In addition to this, we’ve added a shallow terra cotta dish filled with water in our front flowerbed because our property is home to toads and lizards too. We replace the water daily.
Here are a few other tips I read on the Georgia Wildlife Federation pamphlet. 1) Remember to allow enough space between feeders because birds are territorial, and also be sure to clean around and under the feeders regularly. 2) Using native plants can cut down on water needs and provide the food resources that animals need.
3) Pesticides, fungicides and insecticides should be avoided. They are washed into streams and throughout our water system, which is harmful to people as well as the wildlife. 4) Likewise, garden pesticides are toxic to butterflies and other beneficial insects. It’s best to use biological controls, such as ladybugs, dragonflies, toads, and a host of other beneficial insects and critters. And the best part is that if you have a healthy habitat, these will be naturally attracted to it.
And finally, 5) Don’t be so neat! The pamphlet says, “Try to facilitate natural processes in your garden. Too much neatness on your property can discourage wildlife.” I was happy when I read that because I have been intending to clear out some of the fallen branches in the underbrush of our small patch of woods, but now I know it’s better not to.
If you’d like more information about how to do this, go to www.gwf.org or http://www.oconeeriversaudubon.org/. I also found this page extremely helpful:
http://www.gwinnettmastergardeners.com/2011/03/nwf-backyard-habitat-certification.htm
Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at writetospabis@gmail.com.
