Find out how you can help migrating birds just by making a few additions to your yard.
I'm Iain Macleod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and this is Something Wild.
Many people want to attract birds to their backyard, and there certainly has been plenty written on the subject. However, most of what you find is general information, and new research underway right here in New Hampshire is showing us that the size of your house lot greatly influences how you should landscape.
For instance, neighborhoods with house lots of a third of an acre or less tend to be in more urban or suburban areas, so focusing your plantings on helping migrants can really help.
Research is showing that migrating birds become disoriented by city lights, and may circle in the lighted area until they drop from exhaustion. Once on the ground, they need shelter and food, so what you do can really make a difference.
For shelter, evergreens such as yews, hemlocks and spruces have dense foliage regardless of the season. Spruces, in particular, provide familiar habitat for some North Country visitors. For example, last May, biologists in Concord found blackpole warblers singing from the tops of nearly every backyard blue spruce.
For food, flowering ornamentals such as cherries, plums and crab apples are usually in bloom when many insect-eating migrants are passing through. The blossoms attract abundant insects.
Finally, a little spring procrastination can really help migrants. Although it is tempting to put the rake into action once the snow disappears, all those dead leaves and other debris harbor insects that can help ground-feeding migrants survive.
I know it's hard not to rake - if you can't take it, just rake your front yard, but leave your backyard for the birds for a few weeks. And look on the bright side - it's hard to find a situation where a little procrastination can do so much good!
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, NHPR and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain Macleod.
