Wildlife Friendly Backyards are Easy to Establish!It's actually very easy to attract birds and butterflies into your garden!As well, you can provide habitat for other species, such as lizards and frogs. You just build small wildlife sanctuary in your own back yard! If you provide the essentials for all life, food, shelter, and water, the birds and butterflies will come to you! Before we go any further, if you have a cat, you must keep it inside if it is a hunter. Wildlife and cats do not mix. If you do have a cat, there is a link on the links page where you can find out how to stop your cat from being a hunter. You should use native plants that grow naturally in your own area if possible. You simply set up an ecosystem that is sustainable, provides flowering plants, and maintains itself. Wildlife needs water, shelter, food, and in the case of birds, somewhere safe to nest. This is not as hard as it sounds, and it will be a very nice area for you to relax in too!
They like edges, where they can get some sunlight, flowers and insects for food, and water not too far away. Most of all they like to be close to dense shrubs where they can dive into hiding if a threat appears. Butterflies especially like to have flowers to sip nectar from, not too close to the ground, and in the sun, and they like to rest in the sun as well. It’s not that hard to set up a small backyard sanctuary, and it can be done over several planting seasons. Water, a clump of native grasses in corner, a pile of sticks or small logs for shelter, a bird house, and perhaps a possum house in a tree, is all it takes. As with other garden projects, planning is important. Draw a map of your back yard, and make a note of what plants and trees you have now, and which of those ones will attract birds and butterflies. Visit your local botanical gardens and/or native plant nursery, read some bird and butterfly guide books from your local library, and make a list of those plants you will need to acquire. Its important to remember that many Australian native plants are widely variable in the wild. For example, yellow buttons, a beautiful groundcover, grows naturally in every State of Australia. However in some areas it looks quite different from buttons growing in other areas. Climate, weather, and soil quality all contribute to varying plant charactaristics. The same applies to grevilleas, banksias, and many other species. Over the last couple of decades, botanists and native plant nurseries have developed much improved varieties of native plants. So the plant you collected from the roadside, or collected illegally from a Conservation Reserve, may be quite different to the same plant you would buy at native plant nursery, and which would probably also be easier to grow. You will need to find about what species of local butterflies are in your area, and what host plants they use. They don’t just lay eggs on any plant, they have specific plants that the young caterpillar can eat, as it matures to chrysalis stage.
Butterflies like all the colors above, but also yellow, purple, white and blue. They also have a three phase breeding cycle, from egg to chrysalis, to butterfly. The butterfly stage life span is often only a few days. Use a series of different plants that will provide seed or flowers all year round. Many small birds eat grass seeds, so put a few clumps of native grass somewhere near shelter, and let it go to seed. Same with dead flowers, don’t pull them off, leave them there for the birds!
While many people feed wild birds in their backyards, please do not let the birds become dependent, and DO NOT feed meateating birds because they will become habituated and chase everything else away. In City and urban areas, sparrows will drive native birds away too. It's better to grow flowering native food plants than to feed the wild birds.
 Start buying and planting as soon as you are ready. Start in the corners of the yard is a good idea. Plan to plant in layers, because both birds and butterflies like to move from one edge to another. Try to work in a few fruit trees as well. You will get some fruit off them, and they also provide food and shelter for birds. Outside the window of the WPAA office, we have some peach and nectarine trees. Redwinged parrots, honeyeaters, and friarbirds all visit and feed off the fruit. Sometimes they even leave some for us! Most birds like some dead timber or trees to sit on, and hide in. Leave some dead branches or an old stump somewhere, out of sight of visitors if you like. Make sure there is water in the yard, shallow water. Birds can’t swim, and will treat deep water with distrust. Of course if you have built a garden pond you have already solved the water problem. Birdbaths are good, but they must be kept clean, and they should have some perching areas handy. Even in winter in the colder States, when everything is frozen, any birds around will still need water. If you have provided shelter, water and food, and a safe habitat for them, they will over winter in your yard. You need to remember that even if you haven’t got a cat, one of your neighbors might, so try not to have a pouncing spot next to water. If you do have a stray cat problem, most local councils have cat traps which residents can borrow. The cat then goes off to the local animal shelter who then try to find a home for it. You also need to ensure you do not use any garden poisons. Not only do poisons kill the insects that attract the birds, but any sick insects they eat may kill them as well. If you mulch the soil, that keeps down weeds, helps with water conservation, and provides nesting material and shelter for frogs and lizards. Once you actually start planting, it becomes much easier, because you will begin to see the birds arrive, as the habitat becomes more suited to them. Then you can sit back and enjoy your own back yard wildlife and nature reserve! Happy days!
|
One of the biggest off-puts to bushbirds, song birds, and butterflies are lawns, driveways, and large open spaces. The more opportunistic species like these conditions, but smaller and more timid birds do not.
Birds like flowers with bright colors, especially reds, pinks, and oranges. Birds and butterflies are also attracted by the scent of many flowers. Try to have something flowering all year round if the climate permits. Grevilleas usually flower all year round, and there are hybrids available with several diffent colors.
