Homemade Homemade BIRD HABITAT

by Brenna Marsicek

There’s something so instinctually satisfying about having a beautiful bird visit one’s yard. It’s both an honor and a compliment that such an incredible and independent creature should choose your feeder of all feeders or your tree to nest in of all trees. You get to enjoy the birds and know the birds are enjoying your space.

Creating bird habitat in whatever area we have is not just fun and beautiful, it’s also a powerful act of conservation. Birds need food (seeds, insects, caterpillars, worms), shelter (trees, shrubs, clumps of grass, nest boxes), and a place where they’re safe from harm (pesticides, cats, and window collisions).

And here’s the best part: no matter what your housing arrangement is, you can provide some or all of those things. Balconies, yards, farms, schoolyards, neighborhood parks, they’re all spaces we can convert to thriving wildlife habitat, big or small. And what’s good for birds is also good for pollinators, fireflies, amphibians, and other beloved critters.

Doug Tallamy, faculty at the University of Delaware and a New York Times bestselling author, recently gave a great interview for Fine Gardening magazine entitled “Why Native Plants Are Key to Saving Our Ecosystems.” My favorite takeaway from the interview was the importance of incorporating one or more of eight keystone plants into your yard. These plants support tons of caterpillars, which support tons of other animals. In the article featuring Tallamy, writer Christine Alexander says these keystone plants are “massive ecological boons to the environment” and a natural version of a bird feeder. You don’t need to add all eight at once, so start small and see how many of the following plants you can incorporate into your area!

1. Goldenrods (Solidago species, including stiff, showy, zigzag, etc.)

2. Asters (Aster and Symphyotrichum species, including New England, frost, blue wood, smooth, etc.)

3. Sunflowers (Helianthus species, including ox eye, tall, woodland, saw-tooth, etc.)

4. Oaks (Quercus species, including black, white, red, bur, swamp, etc.)

5. Cherry (Prunus species, including black)

6. Willows (Salix species, including black, white, pussy, etc.)

7. Birches (Betula species, including river, paper, white, etc.)

8. Cottonwood (Populus species, including eastern)

Birds need water just like we do, so a bird bath, pond, or some type of water source is ideal. Bird feeders can be a fun way to support birds too, and the types of feeders and feed vary based on which species you’re hoping to attract. Ask a salesclerk at a backyard-nature store, like Wild Birds Unlimited in Middleton, about which types to get. Keep feeders and baths clean (wash with a 10 percent bleach-water solution every other week) to keep birds healthy and avoid the spread of disease.

Now that your outdoor space is a beacon for birds, it’s important to think of ways that we can prevent these spaces from also being a source of danger for birds. Chemicals designed to kill weeds, insects, and rodents can also be harmful to birds, so use sparingly and choose the least toxic options or alternatives. Outdoor cats kill over two billion birds every single year in the United States alone, so these cute but ferocious hunters should be kept indoors. And windows can kill up to a billion birds each year, so pay close attention to whether birds are hitting your windows. If you’re hearing or seeing birds hit your windows, put up a window treatment, like Feather Friendly or CollidEscape dots, or hang a Zen curtain made of paracord on the outside of the glass. These are easy, fun DIY projects, and the birds you love will be better off because of them.

All of these actions will create a marvelous place for birds to thrive. Whether you like hearing their songs, seeing their colors, observing their behaviors, or just knowing they’re there, having a bird-friendly outdoor space is fun and important. Thank you for caring about nature, and happy birding!

Brenna Marsicek is the director of communications and outreach for Madison Audubon. Connect with the team at info@madisonaudubon.org or follow them on social media @madisonaudubon.

FINE GARDENING ARTICLE: finegardening.com/article

/why-native-plants-are-key-to -saving-our-ecosystems-an -interview-with-doug-tallamy

FIND A NATIVE PLANT NURSERY IN WISCONSIN: widnr.widen.net/s/rfsbfc22w6 /nh0698

LEARN MORE ABOUT PREVENTING WINDOW COLLISIONS AT HOME: madisonaudubon.org /prevent-collisions

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SAVE OUR SONGBIRDS EFFORT: sossaveoursongbirds.org

Library Park, about 20 miles southwest of Madison and one of five parks in the Village of Belleville, is central to life in this community straddling Dane and Green Counties. The park is bounded by Pearl, Park, Vine, and Main Streets in the heart of Belleville. The park’s first permanent structure, a brick building built in 1894, still stands to this day. Library Park and the building were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

As noted in the National Register nomination, “Library Park is a reminder of the civil development of the Village of Belleville.” John Frederick of Belleville, Ontario, Canada, acquired property around the Sugar River in 1845 and began the first construction in the namesake Belleville, Wisconsin—a dam and a sawmill. Four years later, he added a grist mill. Frederick and other early settlers platted Belleville in 1851 around a central village green space designated as public ground. This was the site of Library Park.

According to its history, the area was used to graze cows and there was a shallow well providing a public source of water. Library Park became a tent city for laborers who built the railroad that came through Belleville in 1887. The land occupied by Library Park was crossed by an early Native American trail that led from a Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) camp in Green County to another camp near Lake Waubesa.