Even birds we think of as seed eaters depend heavily on insects when raising their young. Tallamy has highlighted the remarkable number of caterpillars required to successfully raise a single nest of chickadees—often thousands.
Planting native trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers helps provide the insects, seeds, berries, and shelter birds need to survive and reproduce.
Native Plants Support Pollinators
Bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators depend on flowers for nectar and pollen, but many also need specific native plants to complete their life cycles. The monarch butterfly and milkweed are a familiar example: monarch caterpillars can eat milkweed, but they cannot simply substitute another garden plant.
By planting a diversity of native flowers that bloom throughout the growing season, we can provide food and habitat for pollinators from spring through fall.
Remove an Invasive. Replace It with a Native.
Invasive plants are more than unwanted weeds. They can escape our yards and landscapes, spread into natural areas, and outcompete the native plants that local insects, birds, and other wildlife depend upon.
The good news? We can do something about it.
Removing invasive plants is an important first step—but replacing them with native plants is even better. Native plants restore habitat, support pollinators and birds, protect biodiversity, and help rebuild the food web.
Download the card below and get started planting non-invasive plants today!
