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REQUIREMENTS FOR WILDLIFE
Alabama’s diverse wildlife population is being threatened by rapidly growing urban development which is destroying native wildlife habitats. As our communities expand, we lament the loss of birds and other wildlife, but often our own yards are partly to blame.Your Alabama Yard Can Provide Habitat for Wildlife in Two Major Ways:
1. By increasing biodiversity, in part by using a variety of plants in your yard’s design.2. By creating landscaped islands and natural corridors of plants (in essence building shelter for wildlife) that connect bordering properties. Animals use these corridors to travel from one natural area to another, which in turn benefits wildlife on a larger neighborhood scale.
As you create a new landscape or improve your existing one, add a few features for wildlife, and you will bring your yard to life with birds, butterflies and beneficial insects. Just remember that food, water, and cover attract wildlife, but providing habitat is not enough. You also need to maintain your yard so that it has minimal impact on the environment.
Try a Few of These Ideas for Luring Wildlife to Your Yard:
Food
Provide food in the form of plants that bear seed, fruit, foliage, or flowers that you’re willing to have eaten by birds, larval butterflies (caterpillars), or adult butterflies. Berries, fleshy fruits, nuts, and acorns are all treats for wildlife. Wildlife find meadow grasses especially attractive and they add a graceful feature to any landscape.Running Water
The sound of running water will attract wildlife to your yard. This sound could come from a natural feature, such as a pond, creek, or other body of fresh water. A fountain will also beckon wildlife. Even a simple birdbath that captures rainwater can suffice. Empty and clean your birdbath every few days. Do not clean it with soap or bleach; just physically scrub all surfaces with a brush or scouring-type sponge. Changing water regularly prevents mosquito breeding and bacterial contamination.Birds
To attract birds, design planted areas that include a tree canopy, smaller understory trees and shrubs, and grasses or flowers. Allow grasses and flowers to go to seed on occasion as this is a real draw for birds.Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are attracted to red, orange, and pink tubular flowers such as trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). However, you can also use hummingbird feeders filled with red sugar water to attract them.Butterflies
A combination of both larval (caterpillar) and nectar plants will attract a variety of butterflies to your yard. Nectar plants are those that unfurl flowers, and profuse bloomers are even better.Caterpillars
These are the larvae of butterflies and moths. Each butterfly species lays its eggs on a preferred host plant, which may differ from the adults' preferred nectar source. Caterpillars of butterflies must eat to grow large enough to form a chrysalis, so they often strip larval plants of leaves. If you want to attract butterflies to your yard, expect a certain level of damage. One way to keep outdoor living areas attractive and to cultivate a crop of butterflies is to intersperse larval and nectar plants in a bed. Or devote an entire planting area that is out of view to larval plants.
Chrysalis: the pupa (last stage before adult) of a butterfly. Snags
Leave dead trees in place if they do not create a hazard. Many birds use snags for perching, nesting and feeding.Manage Pets
If you permit pets to harass wildlife, you will only frustrate any efforts you make toward attracting wildlife. This is especially true for house cats allowed to roam in yards. If you permit your cat to wander in your yard, it is better not to try to attract birds and other animals whose lives would be in danger.Reduce Insecticide Use
Each time you apply an insecticide to your landscape, you reduce insect populations, which form an important food source for birds. Some chemicals also can poison birds and other animals that feed on affected insects.Reduce the Amount of Mowed Lawn Area
Over time, unmowed areas contain more plant species than mowed areas. Reduce the mowed area around your house, especially in low-traffic areas, such as corners of the yard. In other spots, trade turf for diverse plant species that will create shelter and food for many animal species. Plant diversity attracts more wildlife species.Increase Vertical Layering
Plant a variety of plants in different sizes and heights. This provides more cover and feeding opportunities for wildlife species.BUTTERFLY GARDENS
Butterflies are not just ‘pretty faces’; research has demonstrated that butterflies can in fact associate certain flower colors with “prime” nectar supplies, and improve their nectar-sipping techniques with practice. Butterflies have co-evolved with certain flowers; for example, they prefer blooms that occur in clusters, such as coneflowers (Echinacea sp.) and milkweed (Asclepias sp.). These flowers also provide adequate landing pads for butterflies that walk around sipping nectar from each flower. This sipping is done via a long straw-like tongue called a proboscis, which uncoils to feed then coils back into their heads for easier flying. It is during the feeding process that adult butterflies accidentally pollinate many plants.Different butterflies also prefer different nectar sources. Some prefer larger flowers; many prefer smaller flowers. Skippers seem to be especially drawn to purple flowers, while many hairstreaks prefer white flowers. And, because butterflies fly from early spring to late fall, you'll want a procession of flowers for use as butterfly feeding stations throughout the year.
In addition, many butterfly species feed on small, inconspicuous plants that most gardeners would regard as "weeds." If possible, allow a few areas of your garden, perhaps areas that are not easily seen, to become weedy. With careful planning, a butterfly garden can sustain the entire life cycle of butterflies; nectar for adults and foliage for the young, or caterpillar stage. A well-planned garden contains plants that bloom for a long period, or a series of plants that provide bloom from spring through fall.
PLANTS FOR BUTTERFLY GARDENS
Brightly colored flowers in shades of red and orange are favored; in the Southeast, try planting some of these in sunny spots.
Host plants for Caterpillars:
False indigo (Baptisia australis)
White turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
White wood aster (Aster divaricatus)
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnate)
Rough-leafed goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)Nectar Plants for Adults:
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Ascelpias tuberosa
Echinacea purpurea
Rudbeckia lacinata While the list of butterflies found in Alabama is extensive, a few of our best known ‘flying flowers’ are: Red-spotted Purple, Gulf Fritillary, Monarch, American Lady, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Black Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail, and numerous members of the Skipper family.
In addition to plants listed above, a number of shrubs, vines, and trees provide both host or nectar sources for our butterflies.
A Few Tips Whether You Are Planning to Expand an Existing Habitat or Want to Create a New Butterfly Habitat:
- Locate flower borders in the sun; butterflies avoid cool, shady areas.
- Provide shelter from the wind in the flower border; butterflies aren’t strong fliers.
- Install plant materials that bloom spring through fall.
- Exercise biodiversity by growing clumps of several butterfly attractant species rather than a monoculture.
- Plant a diversity of flower colors, especially reds and oranges.
- Grow plants for adult and caterpillar stages to keep butterflies around throughout the season.
- Create a shallow puddle for species such as swallowtails that need it.
- Grow weedier looking nectar and caterpillar plants in a corner of your yard.
- Provide a place for butterflies to overwinter.
- Refrain from using pesticides; even ‘safe’ ones can kill caterpillars.
HONEY BEES
Butterflies are beautiful as they flit from flower to flower accidentally pollinating many plant species. But bees are the workaholics of pollinators; they are diligent, dependable, and female. Female “cupids” fertilize most of our favorite flowers and pollinate approximately one third of the plants we consume. They are the exclusive pollinators of many wildflowers, some of which are imperiled, such as native monkshoods and lady’s tresses orchids.As many gardeners are aware, bees are in trouble. The problem includes our native or “feral” bees, as well as the non-native, but much valued, honey bee. Honey bee populations have been undermined in recent years by parasitic mites; their natural habitats have been degraded and destroyed; and a mysterious malady called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has wiped out large numbers of our winged honey producers. It is important to protect honeybees from pesticides.
Other bees that offer pollination services are bumblebees (chubby bees with stripes on their furry rear ends), solitary bees (so named because they don’t live in hives), carpenter bees (look a lot like bumblebees except their rears are shiny), mason bees, and digger bees.
Gardeners act as “bee helpers” when they plant flowers that attract them whether the garden is an acre or a window box. Gardeners should provide a steady supply of food by growing plants that bloom during seasons when bees are active (spring through fall). Nesting sites are important to attract and keep bees in an area. This can be an out of the way brush pile, some clumps of moss, or any other natural area.
Bees are attracted to flowers that usually bloom yellow or blue; some blooms have lines or spots on their petals that guide the bees to the “spot.” Bees have good “noses” so flowers they pollinate usually have delicate, sweet scents. Bee attracting blooms usually have small, narrow floral tubes to accommodate their tongue length which has evolved over the years. Some flowers are particularly suited for pollination by bumblebees; modified lower petals serve as landing pads; flowers like monkshoods will open only if the bee is hefty enough to pop open its petals.
GOOD PLANTS FOR BEE POLLINATION
Click here for more information on nectar and pollen producing plants of Alabama.Native Trees and Shrubs:
Bee brush (Aloysia gratissima)
Buttonbush (Cephalanthes occidentalis)
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
Dogwoods (Cornus sp.)
Elderberries (Sambucus sp.)
Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.)
Viburnum species (Viburnum dentatum, V. cassinoides, V. lentago)Native Wildflowers:
Monkshoods (Aconitum sp.)
Aster (Eurybia sp. and Symphyotrichum sp.)
Indigo bushes (Dalea sp.)
Buckwheats (Eriogonum sp.)
Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Blazingstars (Liatris sp.)
Lupines (Lupinus sp.)
Penstemons (Penstemon sp.)
Salvia (Salvia azurea, S. clevelandi, S. farinacea)Herbs:
Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Borage (Borago officinalis)
Marjoram (Origanum majorana)
Italian oregano (Origanum x majoricum)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)Nonnative annuals and perennials:
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus, especially old-fashioned, single-flowered varieties)
Lavenders (Lavandula sp.)
Catmints, catnips (Nepeta sp.)
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Speedwell (Veronica spicata)
Lupinus polyphyllus
Penstemon barbatus
Lavendula stoechas
Rosmarinus officinalis
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