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Every
gardener knows the problems that plant-eating insects can
cause to the garden. Aphids, cutworms, slugs, mealy bugs and a variety of beetles can
wreak havoc on your tomatoes and gladiolas. And then there's
the constant bombardment of biting insects that can drive
any human to distraction. In desperation, some people reach
for a can of insecticide and spray the yard with a host of
chemicals. However, there is an alternative to chemical
warfare. Birds! Almost all birds, even ones who don't eat a
lot of insects the rest of the year, eat vast quantities of
insects during the mating season and feed even more to their
young later on. Attracting birds to your yard will help
control common garden pests.
Here's
a list of common birds you'll be thankful to have around
your garden.
Chickadees:
Year-round foragers, these well-known birds consume insect
pests such as moths, caterpillars, flies, weevils, and leaf
hoppers. In winter, chickadees scale up and down trees,
searching bark crevices for hibernating insects and moth
eggs, including the invasive gypsy moth. To attract
chickadees to your property in the winter, simply put up a
suet feeder and another feeder for sunflower seeds. In the
spring, mount a chickadee-sized nest-box packed with
woodchips on the edge of a wooded area to attract a nesting
pair to raise their young.
Swallows:
This group of graceful flyers includes the tree swallow,
barn swallow, and purple martin. Renowned for their
consumption of insects, swallows are a bonus for any garden.
As excellent flyers, swallows catch most of their prey
(flies, winged ants, moths, mosquitoes) on the wing. Tree
swallows are easily attracted to nesting boxes originally
designed for bluebirds and prefer nesting near open areas
such as fields. Purple martins are attracted to
condominium-style houses and they prefer to have water
nearby, so the houses should be placed along the shoreline
of a lake or river.
Phoebes:
With their distinctive "fee-bee" call, these
stealthy hunters are a delight to have around. Phoebes can
be seen perched on low tree branches or wires, occasionally
flipping their tails, and scanning the area for mosquitoes,
flies, moths, or grasshoppers to snatch up.
To set up nesting for the summer, phoebes prefer an
area that has open water, such as a pond. And since these
sleek gray and white birds actually prefer to build their
mud nests on or in man-made structures, you can attract them
by providing a nesting shelf under your eaves. Select a
quiet spot away from human traffic.
Vireos:
Although you may not see these secretive birds, you'll know
they're around by the decline in caterpillars in your
garden. In Muskoka, the most common vireo is the red-eyed
vireo, whose up and down song can be heard throughout the
day, not just in the morning and evening like some birds.
Vireos like yards that have clumps of dense shrubs and
trees.
Woodpeckers: The five
species of woodpeckers in Muskoka are a boast to any garden.
Woodpeckers consume large quantities of wood-boring beetle
and moth larvae, ants, and caterpillars. Woodpeckers are
easily attracted to the yard in the winter with the
placement of suet and sunflower feeders. If your property is
large enough, consider allowing dead trees, also called
snags, to stand where they are.
You may be rewarded by the sight of a family of
woodpeckers taking up residence in a burrowed hole in the
tree.
Birds
not only provide sweet songs and beauty to our backyards,
they can also serve as a natural pest control.
Just consider these helpers as a fleet of feathered
marauders!
For
more information, please contact the Muskoka Heritage
Foundation at (705) 645-7393, log on to our website at www.muskokaheritage.org
or visit our resource centre located at 9 Taylor Road in
downtown Bracebridge.
Office Hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:00
p.m.
Muskoka Heritage Foundation is committed to the
protection and preservation of the natural and built
heritage that is unique to Muskoka.
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