Backyard hangouts are the best — the locals humming and buzzing. You want to attract the right crowd, of course. They’ll want drinks, snacks, and comfy places to hang out. With the right attention to a few key areas, your space will come alive. Most days there’s singing, flashes of color, and intrigue. Want to feel important? Step outside and feel all eyes are on you...
Want to be certifiable?
You don’t even have to have a yard. It could be a balcony, container garden or even a schoolyard or work landscape. Any of these can easily qualify to be a Certified Wildlife Habitat® by the National Wildlife Federation. A checklist of the requirements will help you prepare for application online. Once you certify and pay the $20 application fee, you’ll receive a personalized certificate, a one-year membership in the National Wildlife Federation, and a subscription to the National Wildlife® magazine. Certified Wildlife Habitat® signs are available for purchase to educate and encourage others.
A drop to drink?
Providing clean, fresh water is at the top of the list. Many birds, butterflies, and other migrators burn a large amount of their energy reserves just looking for clean water to drink. A solar fountain/water pump in a bird bath helps prevent mosquitoes by not allowing the water to become static. It also allows birds to “shower” and splash about in the water. Solar fountains are inexpensive. Be sure to get one with an automatic shut-off so the engine doesn’t burn out if the water level gets too low.
Bees need water, too, and have special needs in terms of the water depth. A shallow dish like a glass pie plate with a layer of marbles works well. Then, add just enough water to surround the marbles but not cover them. The marbles give the bees a surface to light on and prevents them from drowning. Scientists have found that the colors most likely to attract bees are blue, purple, violet, white, and yellow. (1)
How about some snacks?
Bird feeders provide enticing snacks for a variety of birds, both migratory and residential. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project Feederwatch site has a helpful guide to match the common birds in your area to the food they like. The guide can also help you decide on the best type of bird feeder.
Will hum for food
Hummingbird feeders require special vigilance to keep them clean, but the payoff in seeing hummers flit around can bring so much joy. Try placing a hummingbird swing a few feet from the feeder. Hummers are territorial so they like to hang out near the nectar. As it turns out, they love to swing. It’s hilarious to watch! Some swing gently to and fro, but I had one frequent visitor who rocked that swing like nobody’s business. He was fierce.
No snacks for bees, please
Entomologists recommend against leaving sugar water out for bees. The concern is that bees will become dependent on the sweet stuff and stop seeking nectar, or at least, seek less nectar thereby pollinating less. There's also a chance they'll return to the hive and direct bees to the sugar water instead of plants. Sugar water is also not as nutritionally beneficial as plant nectar. We want to do everything we can to support pollinators, so offering them nectar-rich plants is a much better plan. (2)
Au naturel
Plants native to your area are the best investment you can make. They are hardier and generally need less attention. You’d be surprised at the assortment to choose from, depending on your ecoregion. You can also focus on native plants that are deemed good for xeriscaping, which means they need less water. Supporters of xeriscaping say it can reduce water use by 50 to 75 percent, and you’ll have a unique, distinctive space around your home that supports nature. (3)
No points for neatness
Insects and animals need cover and places to raise their young undisturbed. Ground cover that doesn’t need mowing and can be left alone for long periods is ideal for wildlife families. Is your garden a bit on the messy side? Don’t feel bad. Just know that you’re providing much needed shelter for countless beneficial insects to thrive.
Home sweet home
Bird houses come in a variety of styles. Different types appeal to different species of birds. If there’s a particular bird you want to attract to your yard, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a guide to help you select the best birdhouse.
Not purple, actually a deep blue
“Graceful in flight, musical in its pre-dawn singing, the Purple Martin is one of our most popular birds. Almost all Purple Martins in the east now nest in birdhouses put up especially for them. Martin housing has a long history: some Native American tribes reportedly hung up hollow gourds around their villages to attract these birds. Purple Martins migrate to South America for the winter, but before leaving, they may gather to roost in groups of thousands in late summer.” (4)
If you build it, will they come?
The chattering of Chimney Swifts is a happy sound. Often seen flying in pairs, they have a distinctive shape sometimes described as a cigar with wings. “Chimney Swifts, common in the eastern United States, are now most common over towns and cities; within its range, few forests remain with hollow trees large enough to serve as nest sites.” (5) Chimney Swift towers are all the rage. They are stylish and fun and serve a much-needed purpose. An instruction book walks you through how to build your own. Chimney Swifts are graceful air foragers that can no longer rely on forests to provide their habitat. They need us.
Bee-youtiful hotel
“Bee hotels are places for solitary bees to make their nests. These bees live alone, not in hives. They do not make honey. Solitary bees are much less likely to sting than honeybees because they aren’t defending a hive. Solitary bees lay their eggs in small holes. You can tell bees are using your hotel when they make a mud ‘door’ to cover the entrance hole. This means a female bee has laid an egg inside. After the bee hatches, it will eat a supply of pollen until it is ready to break through the mud and fly away.” (6)
Oasis of peace
The healing power of nature is closer than you think. With a little effort, you can summon it to enhance your day, amuse you, and enrich your life.
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. — John Muir
Video courtesy of Video.net
This video uses this sound from freesound:
“relaxing-forest-birds-chirping-in-the-north-woods” courtesy oftaavhaap (https://freesound.org/people/taavhaap/sounds/528661/) licensed under CC BY 3.0
Photo courtesy of Seyi Ariyo on Unsplash.com
Xerxes Society for Invertebrate Conservation, xerxes.org
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/leaving-sugar-water-out-bees-1794318
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/xeriscaping/
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/purple-martin
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/chimney-swift
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/build-your-own-bee-hotel/
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