Backyard Exterminators

Remember that pest control crew I wrote about last October under the title Insecticides? Well, they’re now hard at work and keeping the plant-devouring insects at bay in my backyard. 

 A young Downy Woodpecker searching for insects in my ancient and now decrepit Hawthorn tree

In my previous article I talked about the types of food you could use to lure these hard-working exterminators to your yard.  There are other things you can do to ensure that YOUR yard is the most inviting environment in the neighborhood! 

 A Nuthatch at one of our birdfeeders

Number One on that list is DON’T SPRAY FOR INSECTS!  If you spray, you’ll be killing off the primary food source for these free pest control experts.  I know, I know, it’s really hard to keep your hands off of the sprayer!  RESIST!  Instead of reaching for the sprayer—reach for the birdseed, or the suet. 

A Brown Thrasher drying off after a dip in the birdbath 

Number Two on the list.  Install a birdbath—or two—in your yard.  It doesn’t have to be a fancy one if funds are tight.  It can be as simple as a plant saucer or other shallow container that you might have around the house.  The key here is to hose it out every day so that mosquitoes don’t breed.  If you want to get fancy, Wild Birds Unlimited sells a device called a Water Wiggler that keeps the water moving and discourages mosquitoes from laying their eggs.  (They need still water for egg laying.)

Our now shady backyard with plenty of cover for our exterminators 

Number Three.  Provide habitat.  You don’t have to live in a woods to have habitat.  Many years ago when we first moved to our home it was a barren field.  The six-foot oak trees that we planted forty years ago are now towering giants that invite the birds to perch, shelter, feed and raise their young.  However, you don’t need to wait forty years to have trees that invite the birds into your yard.  Hawthorn trees (the tree that bears the Missouri State Flower) are fast growing, have beautiful flowers when in bloom and produce a crop of berries that the birds love. 

 Doves are one of the most prolific backyard birds

The third year after we planted our Hawthorn tree we watched a dove raise six clutches of babies in this young tree.  Yes, believe it or not, I said six!  I know that’s an unbelievable number (we were amazed), and it’s the only time I’ve seen it.  It was a long, very mild season, and she started the first clutch very early in the year, and was still sitting on eggs in late fall.  The young were barely out of the nest and she was back to egg laying.  My research says that in warmer climates Doves have been known to lay as many as five or six clutches.  Guess she didn’t know that this is Missouri!

 A flock of Cedar Waxwings may pass through in the Fall

Occasionally in the fall you may see a flock of Cedar Waxwings stripping the berries from your plantings as they make their way south.  Of course you could also plant a Dogwood (our Missouri State Tree) for it’s beautiful Spring flowers and the Fall berries that the birds love.

There are any number of other landscape plants that will attract your exterminators – Pyracantha bushes, Lilacs, Ninebark, etc.  

A Carolina Wren singing to attract a mate in the branches of a Hawthorn tree

Don’t forget low growing plants for the understory vegetation where birds such as Wrens, Sparrows and Brown Thrashers love to hunt.  For more information on plants suitable for your landscape click HERE  for the Missouri Botanical Garden’s “Grow Native” website.  If you do not live in Missouri, contact your local botanical garden for information on non-invasive plants or plants native to your area.  For more information on invasive species go to the USDA National Agricultural Library or the U.S. Arboretum websites.

Number Four.  It’s still nesting season for some species.  Help them along by providing nesting materials.  A new technique I’ve tried this year has worked beautifully.  I have a dog that sheds unbelievably.  When I brush him I take the hair I’ve just removed from the dog, and stuff it into an old suet feeder that sits in my backyard.  The birds love it!  They are regular customers at my “hair feeder”.  I’ve since discovered that stores that carry birding supplies sell a “nesting ball” which is essentially the same thing—only it’s round.

A baby Downy Woodpecker learning to perch on the Hummingbird feeder for a drink of sugar water

Had I kept up the spraying routine that was standard practice when we bought our home I would not now be watching the young Downy Woodpecker perching on my Hummingbird feeder to get a drink, or the Brown Thrasher baby following mom like a shadow, waiting for a tasty morsel.  I would be out there with sprayer in hand, once a week, fighting the chemical blowback caused by the wind, and in the end would end up with a sterile yard with no wildlife and “moth eaten” plants.

 A view of the backyard showing some of the understory plants the birds love

As I sit on my patio with my cup of coffee in the morning and watch my exterminators hard at work, I thank my lucky stars that I learned long ago to keep my hand off the insect sprayer.  

Submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer

Confessions of a Lazy Gardener

I have plants--LOTS of them! 

Even though I enjoy working in my garden, I have to confess to a lazy streak when it comes to some aspects of gardening.  Therefore, I employ a full time 365 day a year crew of helpers.  Am I wealthy?  Not by a long shot. This crew works for peanuts--literally!

The fact of the matter is, I hate to spray--and haven't used an insecticide for at least thirty years.  How, may you ask, do I keep the insects from devouring the several hundred plants that inhabit my backyard?  Remember that 365 day a year grounds crew?  You guessed it--I feed the birds!  They do, literally, work for peanuts (and seeds), and they keep my yard essentially pest free year round.

This past year our area was inundated with Japanese Beetles (actually they've been a problem for the past four years).  At least that's what my friends and neighbors tell me.  They've spent hundreds of dollars on insecticides and "Bag A Bug" traps, and still have beetles, as well as other plant devouring insects.  They spray, and kill every insect in sight, only to have a new crop hatch out in a few days or weeks.  They all want to know what I do to keep the insects from devouring all my plants.  When I tell them I feed the birds and I never spray they look at me like I've lost my mind.

Have you ever watched a wren, sparrow, or other backyard bird for any length of time?  They're always busy searching in, under and around your vegetation for insects.  Watch one wren in action for about fifteen minutes.  How many bugs does she catch to feed her demanding brood of chicks?  Multiply that by fifty, sixty, or more birds, and that's a mind boggling number of insects removed from your yard in a fifteen minute period of time.  Now--multiply that by the number of hours of daylight each day, and the number of insects removed from your yard is astronomical!

Why don't I spray to "help" them out?  If I poison the insects, what happens to the birds that eat them?  They ingest the poison along with the insect.  Soon there are no birds in the yard, and the insects return in full force.  Remember, when you spray, you only kill the adult insects--not their eggs--which hatch out into another crop of insects.  It's a vicious circle.  In addition, spraying also kills the "good" insects which prey on many of the plant devouring bugs.

Me?  I'd rather spend a few dollars on nuts, seeds and suet, and sit on my patio, with a cool drink in hand watching the birds, than poisoning everything in sight--myself included.

So to have your own full time yard crew on hand for next spring's plants and flowers, start feeding the birds now.  I prefer a mixture of black oil sunflower seeds and safflower seed in my supposedly squirrel proof feeder.  This feeder attracts almost every variety of bird.  I've found that any seed mix that contains corn draws an inordinate number of starlings and grackles who keep the other birds at bay.  With a corn-free mixture you'll still get some of these species, but not such a disproportionate number.

I also avoid mixes that contain milo.  That's the little round seed that looks like a b-b.  About the only bird that seems to eat it are the doves.  It's primarily used as a filler, and most of it gets wasted.  You won't be discouraging the doves by not using milo, as the doves will eat the other seeds just as well.

By far my favorite is a nut feeder filled with what my co-op calls a "tree nut mix".  It's a mix of peanuts, cashews, brazil nuts and almonds, and looks good enough for human consumption.  If you can't find this mix, peanuts will do also.  The woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and a number of other birds love this stuff.  Normally cardinals like to eat on the ground, but they love this mix and will perch on the feeder just to get to it.

Finally, especially in winter and spring, there is the suet.  There are many varieties available for sale.  If you have squirrels it will be a constant battle to keep them from raiding the suet feeders.  The only real solution I have found to the squirrel problem is to purchase "Hot Pepper Suet".  The squirrels avoid it like the plague and the birds love it.  The only problem is that it is sometimes difficult to find.

By next spring your very own personal exterminators will be on the job and ready to go as soon as those pesky insects start to show up.  The most difficult part is resisting the urge to reach for the insecticide as soon as you see some bugs.

Article and photos submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary volunteer