Photo: Eastern Bluebird and Eastern Redbud Tree, Glenda Simmons/Audubon Photography Awards
As we finally begin to emerge from this dark and isolated winter, many of us are thinking about getting outdoors into the garden.
Would you like to garden to attract birds and butterflies and create habitat for wildlife in your yard? Are you keen to make your yard more friendly to the environment, and spend less time mowing?
Then check out ASNV’s Audubon at Home program.
In this program, properties are eligible for certification as Wildlife Sanctuaries if the owners take steps towards managing their land in an environmentally responsible way, such as replacing lawn with native plants and trees, and reducing pesticide and fertilizer use. To be certified, they must document that their yard is being used by at least 10 out of a list of 34 Audubon at Home Sanctuary species. The list includes birds such as Baltimore Orioles and Carolina Chickadees, beneficial insects such as Monarch butterflies, as well as box turtles and other reptiles, frogs, salamanders and mammals. The Sanctuary Species are all beneficial species that can be helped by homeowners creating native habitat for them. The motto is, “let the animals decide.” If the critters show up and use your yard, then they’ve decided it’s a Wildlife Sanctuary. Information about the program can be found here.
One nice feature of the program is that you can request a free consultation and site visit by an Audubon at Home Ambassador – a well-trained volunteer who visits your home to walk the property, discuss your goals and concerns, and give you on-the-ground guidance and recommendations for creating your own wildlife sanctuary. To arrange an appointment, make a request here.
Native plants play a key role in the Audubon at Home program because they are critical links in food webs. Native insects are adapted to feed on native plants, and those insects then provide food for birds and other animals. Once a well-functioning habitat is established, insect predators tend to balance out insect pests.
Documenting the species using your yard would be a great summer project for kids—they are all relatively easy to identify. When 10 sanctuary species are documented on your property, then your yard can be certified as a Wildlife Sanctuary and you can receive an attractive sign to put in your yard. Of course, the sign is secondary to the pleasure of seeing birds, butterflies and other wildlife that will show up in your yard!