What’s a garden without birds? Create habitat so they thrive
Associated PressAs I write this, I can hear a cardinal trilling in the backyard. According to Doug Tallamy, a University of Delaware professor of entomology and author of “Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants”, one clutch of chickadees, for instance, requires 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars, delivered by their parents, to sustain them from birth through first flight, which is just over two weeks. Using native plants in your garden will feed native insects, which, in turn, will attract hungry birds. The Audubon Society’s Native Plants Database is an excellent source of bird-friendly plant suggestions for your region. To avoid spreading diseases that can sicken birds, provide only enough seeds to last a couple of days, and clean feeders at least twice a month with a bottle brush and 1 part bleach diluted in 9 parts water.
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For Earth Day, plant native plants, practice benign neglect
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