Simple Gifts for Winter Wildlife
Here are three easy ways to support our wild neighbors during this holiday season of giving.
Leave the Leaves: Do nature a big favor by raking your fallen leaves into your flower beds or around your trees, or by simply leaving them where they lie, then letting them work their magic! Those leaves protect soil moisture needed by soil organisms including the mycorrhizal fungi trees depend on. A layer of leaves also prevents erosion, returns nutrients to the soil, and provides habitat for a host of critters. There are dozens of leaf litter moth species, for example, whose caterpillars eat dead leaves and provide food for leaf litter predators like fireflies and birds.
Clean Water for Birds: The best way to support wild birds is to provide both clean water and native plants and trees for food and shelter. A well-maintained bird feeding station can also provide supplemental nutrition while allowing people the pleasure of observing beautiful birds, keeping in mind that cleanliness is key to feeding birds responsibly. Think about leaving a hummingbird feeder out, too, in case a winter hummingbird stops by! If it happens, please notify Cyndi Routledge at Southeastern Avian Research; she is accumulating more information every year about winter hummingbirds in the Southeast.
Remove An Invasive Plant, or Several: Some of our peskiest invasive plants in this area stay green all winter, which means winter is a great time to easily distinguish them from our deciduous natives and give them the heave ho. You can go to town on privet, Asian honeysuckle, winter creeper, and other invasives with much less interference from mosquitoes, ticks, poison ivy, and other warm weather issues. This is one of the best ways to restore ecological integrity by giving native plants the light and space they need to grow. It's great exercise, and kids often seem to enjoy it, too.
For more information on helping wildlife, check out the following National Wildlife Federation article, and two recent webinars from Dr. Doug Tallamy, entomologist, ecologist, and the author of Bringing Nature Home and other books on the importance of native plants.
“Seven Species That Need You to Leave the Leaves”
Learn simple, science-based ways to support winter wildlife, from leaving leaf litter to helping birds and removing invasive plants.
.jpg)
