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
Dakota 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 Dakota.
Trees
Eastern Red Cedar; Silver and Sugar Maple; Bur Oak;
Hackberry; Black Walnut, Eastern Cottonwood; Green
Ash; Paper Birch; Downy Hawthorn; Ironwood; Quaking
Aspen; Wild Plum; American Linden
Shrubs
Wild and Smooth Rose; Leadplant; Indigo Bush;
Bearberry; Gray and Red-osier Dogwood; American
Hazelnut; Common and Creeping Juniper; Common
Ninebark; Sand Cherry; Chokecherry; Smooth Sumac;
Buffalo and Golden Currant; Pussy Willow;
Elderberry; Silver Buffaloberry; Meadow Sweet;
Snowberry; Black Haw; High-bush and American
Cranberry
Wildflowers
Red Baneberry; Wild Garlic; Prairie Onion;
Windflower; Thimbleweed; Columbine;
Jack-in-the-pulpit; Wild Ginger; Swamp Milkweed;
Whorled Milkweed; Heath, Smooth, New England, Sky
Blue, Swamp and Silky Aster; Bunchberry; Prairie
Larkspur; Tick-trefoil; Purple Coneflower;
Fireweed; Boneset; Flowering Spurge; Grass-leaved
Goldenrod; Wild Strawberry; Prairie Smoke; Stiff
and Ox-eye Sunflower; Roundheaded Bush Clover;
Rough Blazing Star; Gayfeather; Prairie Blazing
Star; Turk's Cap Lily; Great Blue Lobelia; Wild
Bergamot; Common Evening Primrose; Large-flowered
Penstemon; White and Purple Prairie Clover; Prairie
Phlox; Solomon's Seal; Black-eyed Susan;
Ropsinweed; Cup Plant; Gray, Stiff and Showy
Goldenrod; Blue Verbena; Ironweed; Meadow
Violet;
Vines
American Bittersweet; Virgin's Bower
Grasses
Indiangrass; Big, Sand and Little Bluestem;
Sideouts Grama; Switchgrass; Prairie Brome; Prairie
Dropseed; Western Wheatgrass; Buffalo Grass; Canada
Wild Rye; Junegrass, Blue Gramma; Bluejoint Grass;
Bottlebrush Grass; Porcupine Grass
From east to west,
North Dakota is divided into three geographic
regions. In the east is the Red River Valley. To
the west of the Red River Valley is the Drift
Prairie. The southwestern half of North Dakota is
covered by the Great Plains.The Red River Valley is
flat. It lies along the border of Minnesota and is
one of the most fertile areas in the world. This
area of North Dakota is farm country and wheat and
other crops cover the area along with livestock. To
the west of the Red River Valley is the Drift
Prairie, rising from 200 to 2,000 feet over the Red
River Valley. The Drift Prairie is separated from
the Red River Valley in the north by the Pembina
Hills. This area is marked by rolling hills, stream
valleys, and numerous lakes where thousands of
ducks nest every year. In the north are the Turtle
Mountains. About half of North Dakota is covered by
the Great Plains. The Great Plains, in the
southwestern section of the state, rise about 300
to 400 feet above the Drift Prairie east of the
Missouri River. The area is hilly and rich in
mineral deposits. Along the Missouri River, the
land is lower. To the south and west of the river
is an area of rugged valleys and buttes called the
Slope.The Badlands lie in southwestern North
Dakota. This strip of beautiful monuments to nature
stretches about 190 miles and is about 6 to 20
miles wide. The Badlands are a valley of stone and
clay where wind and water have shaped the land into
strange and beautiful formations; buttes, pyramids,
domes, and cones colored in shades of browns, reds,
grays, and yellows. The Great Plains Botanical
Society can provide lists of local
plants.
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.