First things first, turn off your outdoor lights at night. We do this every night but it's especially important now.
We can
expect millions of birds to fly over many of our cities.
Birds migrate south as winter approaches
because insects and other foods are dwindling. They're traveling to
areas that have food and nesting. Some birds stay put because they can
find adequate food and water, others are traveling anywhere from a
hundred miles to several hundred. The birds that are being monitored by Bird Cast
are long-distance migrators. "They typically move from breeding ranges
in the United States and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and
South America. It's an arduous journey and over 350 different species of
North American birds are long distance migrators." (source)
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| Nuthatches don't usually migrate from middle TN. They are frequent visitors to bird feeders |
Migration
is a natural phenomena that happens every fall and spring. Their
journey is physically taxing and the lack of adequate food supplies
along the way, bad weather, exposure to predators and the ever
increasing danger from colliding into lit up buildings all add to making
this journey hazardous.
There are things we can do. Very important things!
- Provide food
- Fill your garden with native plants that attract insects that birds will need or have seeds that birds eat both provide needed fuel. Plant these: sunflowers, purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and various asters, goldenrods, and native grasses like Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem. For birds that prefer nuts, plant native oaks, hickories, and hazels. Leaving these plants standing with their seed heads intact through fall and winter provides a crucial food source for migratory birds.
- Provide fresh water
- Make
your windows obvious, especially the big picture windows. Windows are reflective and confuse birds.Add decals,
paint spider webs, stripes or designs, this will keep birds from
colliding into them when they stop at our feeders.
- Go lights out at 11pm to 6am during migration (spring and fall)
- Become an advocate: Work to get your community involved in turning off their outdoor lights from 11pm to 6am every night.
- Join local groups advocating for birds and other critters: Bird Safe Nashville, Nashville Urban Bird, The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, Tennessee Environmental Council
- Investigate where migrating birds might be staging near you. For years Purple Martins have been roosting in the trees in downtown Nashville. Last year they were roosting in the trees in the parking lot of Titan's stadium and this year they are roosting in the trees along John Lewis Way S and 6th Ave S. Nashville.
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| Sept 1, 2025 downtown Nashville |
Let's take a closer look at how we can provide food and water:
Because we get a lot of joy from observing them in our gardens, Michael
and I feed the birds and provide water year round. I garden for
wildlife so the garden has been designed with critters in mind. In fact,
nearly every plant has been chosen with birds, insects and
other critters in mind. My native shrubs provide food, nesting and
shelter for mammals and birds, as well as being a host plant to
butterflies, moths and other insects that keep my wildflower garden
thriving. Native plants are also a haven for tasty insects which so many
migrants, particularly the Warblers need for fuel.
I
hope that there's enough food in the garden for hungry migrating birds
that stopover; if not, there will always be supplemental seed and suet
in feeders and water in the bird baths and raised ponds. Biologists
refer to places as “stopover” habitats, areas where birds stop to rest,
eat, and seek shelter from predators. Some stopover sites are so large
they can even be called “staging areas” because so many birds come
together to rest and then continue their migration. One of the most
famous staging areas around the world is along the Platte River in
central Nebraska, where more than 500,000 sandhill cranes gather in a
spectacle of migration! (source) That's on my "got to see list".
We asked John, the owner of The Woodthrush, what we could be doing for migrating birds. He said that water was super important for migrating birds. We are keeping our. birdbaths topped up with clean water if any travelers stop by, especially important in the middle of our drought.
According to University of Rhode Island researcher, physiological
ecologist Scott McWilliams, here's what's going on with migrating birds. "The digestive systems of birds adjust to
meet the changing energy demands of migration. The birds’ bellies
increase in size and the cells get larger so they can eat more and store
energy for their long flights. The digestive systems of migratory birds
essentially shut down during migration so most of their energy can be
used in flight. When they stop to eat along their routes, they eat less,
until finally their systems re-adjust when they arrive at their
destinations where food is plentiful again." (source)
Here's a little bit more about birds and water that you might like to know.
Birds need water just as much as they need food. The birds that live and visit our garden need dependable water to survive. Each
day, an adult bird needs to drink enough water to make up 5 percent of
its body weight to replace the water lost from waste removal,
respiration and evaporation. Water performs a number of important
functions: bathing, to clean feathers and remove
parasites. They get some of their water/moisture from the insects and
fruit they eat, but, they need to drink water every day.
How we can provide water:
- Bird
baths. Place them near cover so birds can hide from prey. Place in
shade so water stays fresh. Change water often. I heat mine all winter
so there is water for birds when it's freezing out.
- Place water dishes on the ground since many birds prefer drinking water like this.
- If you have the resources a pond or stream would be ideal.
- Raised bed ponds with a way for birds to safely drink.
- A shallow galvanized container with rocks for birds to perch on works well, too.
- Misters, water wigglers, and drippers invite birds to come to bird baths and natural pools.
- When
desperate for rain, as we've been lately, I turn on an over head
sprinkler and watch the birds fly in and out of the water. It's magical,
they arrive the minute the water is turned on. It makes me happy and
takes care of many of the critters. I do it for the birds post.
Migrating birds need this very important thing to happen.
Birds
that migrate or hunt at night navigate by moonlight and starlight.
Migratory birds depend on cues from properly timed seasonal schedules.
Artificial lights can cause them to migrate too early or too late and
miss ideal climate conditions for nesting, foraging, and other
behaviors. It can also cause them to be attracted to illuminated
building where they can collide and die. (source)
Collision
hazards for birds come in many forms and can affect many types of
birds. In fact, nearly one billion birds collide with glass in the U.S.
alone each year. Most of these (preventable) fatalities happen at homes
and buildings shorter than four stories tall. Please make note of that
fact...Birds are in danger of our lit-up homes, not just sky-scrappers, wind-turbines or towers.
According to research scientist Christopher Kyba, for nocturnal
animals “the introduction of artificial light probably represents the
most drastic change human beings have made to their environment.”
“Predators use light to hunt, and prey species use darkness as
cover,” Kyba explains. “Near cities, cloudy skies are now hundreds or
even thousands of times brighter than they were 200 years ago. We are
only beginning to learn what a drastic effect this has had on nocturnal
ecology.” (source)
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| Migrating Purple Martins 2024 |
One last thing.
So,
this is my plea to you all. Please turn off your outdoor lights from
11pm to 6am every night. I wish you would consider turning off your
eave lights, tree up-lighting and porch lights every night, but if not
always, please, turn them off during bird migration. For more
information about the effects of artificial lighting on all living
creatures go to my post First Wednesday Challenge: Every Day Needs A Night.
Thank for reading, xoxogail
PS. Birds you might not recognize could be stopping by to nosh at your feeders and take a dip in your water features. To help you id them I recommend the Cornell University Merlin Bird Id.
First Wednesday Monthly Challenge
Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?
The
first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of
things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens.
Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for
our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be).
Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they
have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial
relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live
in our gardens.
Activities that increase our
knowledge of
the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about
nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can
do.
The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your
blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve.
Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post
it? Because positive publicity is needed to
educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even
the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds,
insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us.
Why now? My
neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home
along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern
cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals
lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction
soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of
debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to
streams and rivers. It's
important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees
are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing
oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water,
preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.
In place of the "bee
lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis,
fleabane,
Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my
neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded
with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:
- Gone
are the lightening bugs.
- Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native
bees.
- Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters.
- Gone
is plant diversity.
- Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths,
butterflies and other insects.
- Gone are the nesting sites for
woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds.
- Gone is a healthy foodweb.
It breaks my
heart.
We can't stop the progmess, but,
maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors
see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.
A gardener can hope!
xoxoGail
Here's an
incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your
garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check
out the
internet for ideas.
Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.
Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.
Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.
Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren.
Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers) Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.
Plant
your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after
they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife
so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.
Plant
more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban
landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that
trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source)
Plant
for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from
February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis
and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas,
spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a
variety of pollinators.
Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.
Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double
flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and
no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native
wildflowers”
If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of
space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers.
You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.
Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.
Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden.
Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.
Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.
Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.
Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and
seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as
you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves. Leave
a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and
butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from
the trees in the fall and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.
Allow
a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a
perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and
squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.
Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles.
Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good
bird, toad and small critter food. Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and they're great bird food!
Add nesting boxes for birds.
Turn
off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm.
This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes,
insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)
Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.
Keep a nature journal: You can observe visitors to your water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces.
Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)
Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization. (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)
Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee, Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)
Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.
If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.
Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program
Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id.
Take an online course on designing with native plants.
Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."
Read!
There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment,
and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and
informative articles.If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)
Join the Xerces Society.
Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info.
Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)
Support
trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more
trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are
tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your
community.
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.
