Providing a Safe Place for Wildlife

Jonell Schlund used to roam the orange groves on the citrus ranch she grew up on and avidly read Ranger Rick Magazine. Although her work centers on the business world today, Schlund has managed to stay tied to her agricultural roots.

In her Orange backyard, she provides a home for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. She’s even had her property certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

It was in the late 1980s that Schlund heard about the program, but she thought her 1,500-square-foot yard wasn’t large enough to provide a refuge for birds and other wildlife.

“After looking into it, I found that I have plenty of space to attract birds and butterflies to my yard, “ says Schlund, who is also a UC Master Gardener. “All you need is four critical ingredients: food, water, shelter and a place for animals to raise their young.”

There is no minimum size for a backyard habitat, says Craig Tufts, who heads up the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program that has certified 25,000 habitats nationwide and 90 in Orange County.

“We’ve certified people who have provided what’s necessary on a 25-square-foot balcony in the middle of the city,” says Tufts, the chief naturalist for the Vienna, Va.-based National Wildlife Federation. “The purpose of the program is to make people understand what is necessary for a wildlife habitat and how to provide it.”

Interested gardeners can receive an application form on which they can describe how they provide wildlife with the four basic requirements. If the criteria are met, applicants are sent a certificate that designates their property as an official NWF Backyard Wildlife Habitat.

The purpose of the program is simple, Tufts says.

“A lot of people feel powerless to do much about global warming or the cutting down of the rain forest,” he says. “This program shows them that they can make a difference in their backyards.”

“Although a balcony garden in the middle of the city may not save an endangered bird, it does provide a pit stop for migrating birds that will gladly welcome some greenery, bird food and a good drink of water,” he says.

Backyard by backyard, the NWF hopes to plant the seeds for stewardship of the land.

“Our goal is that through programs like this, we can leave the world even better for generations to come,” he says.

The idea of gardeners providing a wildlife refuge in their backyards is catching on. This year the Azusa-based wholesale grower Monrovia, in conjunction with the National Audubon Society, launched the Audubon Habitat Collection. The 150 plants, which attract butterflies and birds, are available at Southern California nurseries.

“We started this collection, because our research showed that gardening is the No. 1 pastime in the country and birdwatching is No. 2,” says Katie Bloome, a landscape architect and a manager for Monrovia. “Many gardeners want to provide plants that are attractive to birds.”

The Audubon Habitat Collection program is a much-needed educational program, says Jesse Grantham, executive director of the Mississippi state office of the National Audubon Society.

“We’re trying to educate people to how important plants are to all wildlife,” says Grantham. “If we want to reverse or slow the decline of bird populations, which is Audubon’s focus, we must restore, enhance and create more habitat, and the way to do this is to educate people about the importance of plants.”

‘Something That

Everyone Can Do’

Schlund finds satisfaction in her work.

“We need to protect our environment for the future, and creating a wildlife habitat is something that everyone can do,” says Schlund, who has seen a variety of birds and butterflies in her backyard, including yellow finches and hummingbirds. She has also spotted butterflies such as the painted lady, the anise swallowtail and monarchs.

To provide birds and butterflies with what they need for bearing and raising young in her yard, she makes sure to put in plants that not only provide nectar, but also food and a place to nest.

“Adult butterflies are selective about what plants they lay their eggs on and they congregate around specific larval food sources,” she says. “In my garden, I have plants such as nasturtium, passion vine, plumbago, baby’s tears and milkweed,” which monarchs depend on for laying their eggs.

For nectar sources, she has many flowers and herbs, including buddleia, lantana, shasta daisy and yarrow.

Many of these plants are also attractive to hummingbirds and other birds.

What You Need

for a Habitat

You don’t have to be a botanist or zoologist to create a backyard wildlife habitat, says Tufts, who has directed the habitat program for most of its 26 years.

Applying for backyard habitat certification gives backyard gardeners a mini-course on gardens and opens their eyes to nature. The program requires that the applicant make a diagram of his or her garden and label plants and other features that provide the necessities of water, food, cover and nesting areas.

Here are some tips for providing those ingredients:

* Food. This not only refers to bird feeders, but also the plants in the landscape that provide food such as fruit, nuts, seeds and berries.

Other sources of food include beneficial insects, which birds rely on for protein. By avoiding pesticides or herbicides, you’ll attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings.

Another basic food group that is easy for the home gardener to offer is flower pollen and nectar, which attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other insects. It’s found in a wide variety of flowers.

* Water. This is important to wildlife for drinking and bathing. Keep in mind that any water feature you add needs to be relatively shallow and gently sloping so that creatures can enter the water and not get stuck and drown, Tufts says.

You can provide water through a birdbath, a fountain with a sloping base, a small pond or any container that holds water. Even a small, shallow dish placed on the ground will work.

* Cover. It’s critical that the habitat have hiding places. Most evergreen trees, shrubs, ground covers or vines offer a year-round haven from predators. In spring and summer, deciduous trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers also offer protection.

Rocks, logs and compost piles also offer effective cover. Small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects can quickly find safety in any of these places.

* Places to raise young. A mini-ecosystem in your backyard wouldn’t be complete without an area where wildlife can reproduce. Nest boxes (birdhouses) work well for some species of birds such as bluebirds, chickadees, wrens and purple marlins.

Evergreen and deciduous trees also provide nesting areas for birds, many of which want to create nests.

Shrubs and bushes, rocks, logs and compost piles give small animals such as rabbits, mice, snakes and salamanders a place to lay their eggs and raise their young.

A pond can provide a birthing ground for a number of aquatic animals such as frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and other insects.

Various perennials, herbs, shrubs, trees and vines offer a habitat for butterfly eggs and caterpillars.

Plant milkweed in your garden, for instance, and you’ll attract monarch butterflies, which lay their eggs only on this plant.

Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is available at the Fullerton Arboretum plant sales, which are held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. 1900 Associated Road, Fullerton. (714) 278-3579.

Milkweed (A. fruiticosum) is available at the UCI Arboretum’s plant sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 6-7 on the UCI campus, one block south of Jamboree on Campus Drive. $2; parking free. (949) 824-5833.

More Information

For more information about the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, including a brochure that explains the program and how to apply for certification, call (703) 790-4100, or visit the Web site at https://www.nwf.org.

There is also a kit that provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a backyard habitat ($12.95). Call (410) 516-6583.

To locate a nursery in your area that carries Monrovia’s Audubon Habitat Collection, call (888) PLANT-IT.

For more information about Audubon programs, call (212) 979-3000 or visit the Web site at https://www.audubon.org.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Plants for Butterflies, Hummingbirds

* These plants attract butterflies as food or as a nesting place:

African basil

Alyssum

Armeria

Aster

Baby’s tears

Bee balm

Birch

Borage

Bougainvillea

Buddleia

Butterfly bush

Cabbage family

(broccoli, cauliflower,

kale, collards)

California fuchsia

Cassia (Senna)

Ceanothus

Chinese elm

Citrus

Coreopsis

Cosmos

Currant

Daylily

Echinacea

Escallonia

Evening primrose

Fennel

Foxglove

Gooseberry

Heliotrope

Honeysuckle

Hydrangea

Lantana

Lavender

Lupine

Maple

Mexican sunflower

Milkweed (Asclepias

tuberosa, A.

fruiticosum)

Mint

Nasturtium

Parsley

Passion vine

Penstemon

Phlox

Pentas

Pincushion flower

Pineapple sage

Pine

Plumbago

Polygonum

Queen Anne’s lace

Rhododendron

Rosemary

Rudbeckia

Rue

Salvia

Scabiosa

Shasta daisy

Snapdragon

Sweet pea

Thyme

Toyon

Valerian

Verbena

Veronica

Violet

Western sycamore

Willow

Yarrow

Zinnia

* These flowers attract hummingbirds:

Abutilon

Agastache (hyssop)

Aloe

Arctostaphyllus

Bee balm

Bottlebrush

Buddleia

Calliandra

Carolina Jessamine

Cape honeysuckle

Ceanothus

Cestrum

Citrus

Clarkia

Cleome

Columbine

Coral bells

Cotoneaster

Cross vine

Delphinium

Elderberry

Eucalyptus

Foxglove

Fuchsia

Geranium

Grevillea

Heliotrope

Heuchera

Hibiscus

Lantana

Lavender

Lobelia

Lonicera

Lupine

Manzanita

Monkey flower

Nasturtium

Nicotiana

Night-blooming

Jessamine

Penstemon

Polygonum

Rosemary

Salvia

Stephanotis

Veronica

Yellow trumpet

vine (Campsis)

Yucca