The Garden Thyme Podcast
A monthly podcast where we help you get down and dirty in your garden, with timely gardening tips, information about native plants, and more! The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. https://extension.umd.edu/. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
The Garden Thyme Podcast
508 Aug Bird is the Word!
Hello Listener,
This month, we discuss enhancin our landscapes and backyards for our feathered friends, BIRDS! We cover some fun bird facts, types of bird feeders and seeds, and list some plants that will bring the bird to your yard.
- Urban Bird Treaty program: https://www.fws.gov/program/urban-bird-treaty
- Florida Extension Website about Bird feeders and seeds: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW192
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/ https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/
- Audubon Society: audubon.org
We also have our:
- Native Plant of the Month - Devil's Walking Stick ~37:30
- Bug of the Month – Northeastern Wheel Bug ~42:15
- Garden Tips of the Month – ~47:30
We currently have an open survey for ALL listeners. Whether you’ve listened to all of our episodes, or this is your first time. We developed an evaluation to determine if the information we share on the podcast has made a difference in your practices at home. We promise that it is a short, easy 5-minute survey, and we even have exclusive podcast stickers to give to those who participate. We are so thankful for the feedback, and we appreciate you tuning in for the podcast!
If you have any garden-related questions, please email us at UMEGardenPodcast@gmail.com or look us up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GardenThymePodcas.
For more information about UME and these topics, please check out the UME Home and Garden Information Center and Maryland Grows Blog at https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/.
The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Principal Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture; Rachel Rhodes- Senior Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne's County); and Emily Zobel- Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).
Theme Song: By Jason Inc,
University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age,
We currently have an open survey for ALL listeners. Whether you’ve listened to all of our episodes, or this is your first time. We developed an evaluation to determine if the information we share on the podcast has made a difference in your practices at home. We promise that it is a short, easy 5-minute survey, and we even have exclusive podcast stickers to give to those who participate. We are so thankful for the feedback, and we appreciate you tuning in for the podcast!
The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Principal Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture; Rachel Rhodes- Senior Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne's County); and Emily Zobel- Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).
Theme Song: By Jason Inc,
University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.
Garden Thyme Podcast Transcript: S5:E08 - Bird is the World
Note: The Garden Thyme Podcast is produced for the ear and is designed to be heard. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human trancribers, and may contain errors.
: Up Beat Music:
Emily
Hello, listeners. Welcome to the University of Maryland extension presents the Garden Time podcast, where we talk about getting down and dirty in your gardens. We're your hosts. I'm Emily.
Rachel
I'm Rachel.
Mikaela
And I'm Mikaela.
Emily
In this month's episode, we're talking about enhancing our backyards for those feathered friends of ours. Birds.
:UP Beat Music:
I feel like as a lot of us get older, we start to appreciate birds a lot more than we did before.
Mikaela
I think you just have a better appreciation for the environment and the diversity of it, right?
Emily
Yeah.
Mikaela
And birds are an excellent indicator of environmental health and ecosystem integrity.
Rachel
They are.
Emily
And just like all living things, birds need food, not only in their adult form, but for their young. They would need some habitat. They need water, and they need our love from far away, because birds don't really want to be touched.
Mikaela
Right. They love our support. So that's what we can get them.
Emily
You can support them from so far.
Rachel
So did you guys know that a 2019 Cornell study found a steep and long-term decline across virtually all bird groups in the US? And surprisingly, 90 % of those losses come from just 12 typical bird families, including sparrows, black birds, warblers, and finches. So today, we're going to focus on some of the things that we can do in our landscapes to make them more bird friendly.
Mikaela
So many birds live and nest in the Chesapeake Bay Water shed year round, and others move to breeding and wintering sites. Each year, millions of birds migrate using the moon and the stars as their guide. As the fall migration approaches, you'll notice many of our feathered friends moving through or leaving the region. The migration north in the spring is often more rushed, and it's not as much of a prolonged period, but the southerly movement is much more tedious. This provides us with a plethora of opportunities to help birds in our landscapes and provide critical resources as they make that very long journey. It's important to note that not all birds migrate. So a lot of cardinals, crows, mini robins, and actually hairy woodpeckers. These are a few examples of birds that stay and find food throughout the winter, and we call these residents. And there's even a lot of resident geese that do not make a full migration, given our temperate conditions and easy food sources.
Rachel
September through late November is the main migration period, though birds further north will begin earlier. And they take their cues from the dwindling daylight hours between less daylight and the cooling temperatures, we can all feel the approach to fall in the air. For birds, migration is imminent due to the change in food sources, specifically insects, and nesting locations as our trees begin to lose their leaves. Even drought conditions can force birds to leave earlier than average as it affects their food source and their watering source.
Emily
The distance that birds travel depend upon the species. Some will go short distances, such as moving from higher elevations to lower foothills for the winter. Blue jays, blue birds, kill deers, and some sparrows will travel to find better conditions, but they remain within North America. Long distance birds that winter in the Caribbean or South America are considered neo tropical and include a wide variety of birds such as raptors, waterfow, shore birds, hummingbirds, warblers, thrashers, oreos, and tangers. These are true snowbirds. They do not like the winter weather, and they are going south for the tropics. But the true champions of massive marathon migration is going to be the Whooping Cranes and the Arctic Turns, which can travel up to 2,500 and as much as 24,000 miles, respectively. Which is pretty massive, considering they're flying using their own two wings. I can't even imagine walking or running that many miles.
Mikaela
To me, it means, okay, you spend all that time traveling and you turn right back around as soon as you get there and then do it all again. It would take you an incredible amount of time. But we love facts and figures, and we love fun facts, and that's a fun fact.
Rachel
But this hones into why creating an environment that's bird friendly is so important because they need additional food sources to have that energy to fly for that long. Just like a marathon runner needs those extra calories, so do birds.
Mikaela
Right. Imagine running 26 miles and there was no food or water along the way.
Rachel
Exactly.
Mikaela
That's brutal.
Emily
That would be. So the speed at which birds migrate also depends on the size and species of the bird. Generally, they'll travel somewhere between about 20 to 50 miles per hour. Larger birds can obviously fly at a faster speed over a sustainable period of time compared to smaller birds. The average speeds for most of our migratory duck and geese, which is what I think a lot of us think of when we think of a migration, is about 40 to 50 miles per hour, which I still think is pretty crazy.
Rachel
That's insane.
Mikaela
I had to look that number up again because I thought maybe it was fake. But I think given the air currents that probably occur up higher where they're traveling, that is flying.
Rachel
Yeah. You know, one of our favorite activities in the fall at dusk is watching the ducks fly in.
Mikaela
Now, birds also travel at different times of the day. Diornal species will likely still fly during daylight hours, but other species, even water birds, cuckoos, flycatchers, thrushes, warblers, oriels, and buntings will actually take nocturnal flight. And so they begin their flight or their migratory action at nightfall, and then they continue out through the night to fly. And this is why artificial lighting at night can be so disorienting and confusing for migratory birds. It's a really good reason to keep your lights on a motion sensor, or at least maybe on a Timer, so that they go off at a certain period of time overnight. But we have more on that later. So do we know much about how birds know where to travel? Not really. It's still a mystery. But the good scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology believe birds use a variety of techniques that include star navigation the position of the sun, even landmarks, Earth's magnetic fields, and even some smell, although that was very specific to homies pigeons. So waterfall and cranes will follow preferred flyways or flight corridors that have survival resources such as food. And these are things that they know will be there for them if they take that certain path, which makes sense.
Mikaela
You would probably take a path that you knew was going to provide for you or have like good restaurants along the way than some unknown pathway that could have nothing. So it's that same instinctual technology that my children use when they can sense that I'm opening a bag of chips from a mile away. And they somehow find me, but I could be standing next to them, talking to them, and they hear nothing. It's amazing. It's nature.
Rachel
So this gets in to how we can make our properties more bird friendly. And there are several things that we can do that are really easy So first, we can think about our feater placement. Contrary to natural instincts, placing feeders closer to the house that's less than three feet, is safer for birds. There is not enough space to gain speed during flight, and they will avoid window strikes. And then that goes right into window visibility. Using stickers or decals or exterior window screens make them more apparent to birds and also helps avoid window strikes and casualties. I'll never forget, one day at my old job, had a giant three-floor glass window, and I was going in at 7:00 AM and had a Cooper's Hawk fly into the window. Oh, no. It was devastating to me. But if they had installed some type of decals, that would have never, ever happened. And those decals are really easy to find. You can find them in your big box stores, online. Even some of your garden centers will have them as well.
Mikaela
And a lot of those decal stickers, specifically for avoiding window strike, will place dots about two inches apart from one another. It's a very specific arrangement that they have. And they're pretty subtle. It's not like you got crazy colors or anything like that. They're like a frosted white or something. So it's pretty insignificant.
Rachel
Yes, they are very subtle and very easy to install as well. And take off if you need to take them off. So another really important aspect of making our properties more bird friendly is to keep our cats indoors. This is going to be an unpopular option for some people, but there is a lot of literature out there about cats being the primary threat to bird health, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 2.4 billion wild birds are killed by cats each year, not to mention other wildlife casualties. Cats are a non-native, introduced species that is not hunting for survival, but they will hunt on instinct and out of boredom. So let's keep our cats inside and consider adding a catio option or maybe just a little bed right next to the window where they can look outside and see the outside world, but keep them inside.
Mikaela
Or supervised leash walks.
Rachel
That's a good option as well.
Emily
There's lots of things outside that could harm cats. There's vehicles, first of all, but this almost makes me think of the times the birds retaliated because didn't... You had a cat once that an eagle tried to get, right, Rachel?
Mikaela
Oh, that's right.
Rachel
Oh, yeah, I did. So, yeah, that was Don Gatto. Mia, mia, mia. So Don Gatto was deaf, and he got outside, and it was not an eagle, but it was a Hawk got him, and I found him a few days later, and he had these massive talon marks in his back legs. And that was devastating because poor Don Gatto, but he made out fine. I had to get vet treatment. It was expensive. But that's just one instance of how a cat can be harmed unattended outside. There are many more horrific things that can happen, so let's keep our cats inside.
Mikaela
And then obviously, of course, Mikaela is the one saying this, native planting is also a really great option. So no surprise here. We consider planting with native species to be one of the most beneficial practices you can engage in. Birds have co-evolved with these native species, and they provide many eco services for not just bird activity, but they include a lot of attractive qualities for us as well. Use layers of shrubs, trees, and perennials for multiple benefits It's not just for bird life, but for all ecosystem services. This is my other favorite piece of advice, is being a lazy gardener, not just because I'm lazy, but because it's good for the planet.
Emily
It's good for Do it for the birds. Don't you care about the birds? That's right.
Mikaela
Do it for the birds. Do it for the pollinators.
Rachel
Be lazy.
Mikaela
So unraged leaves not only enrich the soil, but they provide more bug and bird foraging activity. Seed heads also provide a food source for birds in the later seasons when not everything is green and the growing season is past. Even dead trees like snags and dead branches can be sources of food and shelter for birds.
Emily
While we When help aid birds through the use of bird feeders and bird baths, we want to make sure that this does not become a location where disease issues will potentially happen and then spread. So you want to make sure that if you do put out things like bird feeders, bird baths, and so forth, you're giving them a good scrubbing every few weeks to prevent disease issues from forming and then getting spread around. So bird baths should routinely be emptied and refilled with fresh water to prevent mosquito breeding and to keep that water source healthy. And I know the second you put it out there, some bird's going to bathe in it, and that's okay. Just dump it every so many days and refill it.
Rachel
Have you guys seen those bird bath water fountain things? The solar things you can put in that makes it move. Oh, no. And yeah, they're pretty cool.
Mikaela
So it prevents mosquito breeding grounds? Is that...
Rachel
Yeah, it keeps the water moving and it gives them a little... It's like a little arch that they can drink from, too.
Mikaela
You know, my mom has a heated bird bath, which is really neat because in the winter they still need water. And in fact, they don't have as much access because everything's frozen. But she lives in a northern climate, so it makes more sense. But still, it's It's cool.
Rachel
That is pretty awesome.
Emily
My mom has one of those, too.
Mikaela
Oh, it's a mom thing. It's very mommy. They're full of good ideas.
Emily
They are. And it raises a good point.
Rachel
Teaching us the ways.
Emily
In addition to bird baths, some water source or supply out in your garden, especially in the heat of summer during migration. And then in winter, for those birds that aren't migrating, could be super useful. So whether that's putting out just a fresh little bit of water every single day and changing it out for mosquitoes during the summer, and we want to make sure that we are providing them with water. So we touched on this a little bit earlier, but we want to try to reduce all that artificial lighting at night as this can disorient birds during flights and those longer migrations. It also impacts nocturnal insects as well, which is one of the main food source for birds. So instead, we recommend either turning off your lights if you can. If you do want to have lights on, you can either use a Timer or you can also put them on motion sensors. This is particularly important during those spring and fall migrations. You can also modify lights so that they point downwards or keep the lighting as low to the ground as possible. So studies have found that Amber, Orange, Red, or those warmer lights tend to be less harmful for most bird species.
Emily
And there's actually an urban bird Bird Treaty program that has started to engage city partners to create more bird friendly environments. And we will put a link to that in our show notes if anyone would like to read about it.
Rachel
We've talked about migration and ways to incorporate bird friendly practices in our landscapes, but I think we need to dive a little bit deeper and talk about bird feeders. In most cases, native plants are the best way to provide food for birds. And as a bonus, they require little maintenance. However, we know that not everyone has a large yard, that they can fill with all the different types of native plants needed to tract all the different varieties of birds that we have in the Chesapeake Bay Water shed. Bird feeders can supplement the food provided by native plants when those natural seed sources are depleted, such as during temperature extremes, let's think about that drought we had in July, or during late winter or even in early spring migrations. And they also provide us a better way to observe birds at a closer range.
Emily
Or your cats that are indoors, safe and sound where they belong.
Mikaela
I was going to say you can solve the boredom of your cat without death.
Rachel
Have you seen the bird feater that has the camera on it?
Mikaela
I know. I thought about getting one of those for my mom. I have, too. Actually, speaking of bird feeders, there are several different types of feeders and seed mixes you can use. Florida Extension has a very nice publication that we're going to link in the show notes about the different types, but we're going to cover just a few. So seed feeders are the most common. There are a few different shapes and types. Some will be designed to be nonselective and used by a variety of species, and others are more selective, attracting only one or two specific species. So the four most common types are I'll cover the first one, is tube feeders. And these are typically used for smaller song birds. They're probably the thing you have in your mind when you think of bird feeders, just that they're very columnar and they have little holes that are spaced in different areas. But they do go pretty quickly. Once they start eating that feed, they probably deplete really quickly, and you might need to keep an eye on them to keep them full.
Rachel
So we also have hopper feeders, and they are the ones that look like a barn, but they have the plexiglas on both sides, and they can be used by small or larger songbirds. And then we have platform feeders. Everyone likes those.
Mikaela
And it's a buffet. It's like a free-for-all.
Rachel
It is a buffet. So not only do birds like it, but other animals can utilize it as well.
Mikaela
And before anybody asks, we do not have any good advice about how to keep squirrels out of a bird breeder. I feel like that could be its own episode. You know what I mean? It It could be. I just do not feel like we are equipped to tackle that topic today, so I just want to be clear.
Rachel
They do have some bird seed mixes that have capsaicin in them to prevent squirrels, but they are at a higher price level.
Emily
I wonder if you could just mix chili pepper flakes in with your bird seed. That seems like a lot of time and energy just to not feed some squirrels.
Rachel
It does, because even squirrels need food in the winter, too. And I know that might be stepping on a lot because birders are very specific about their feeding and not letting squirrels have bird feed. But, squirrels need love, too.
Mikaela
I've seen those spinning ear of corn feeders. Maybe you could put one of those up for the squirrels and then entertain everybody.
Rachel
And there are bird feeders that have a squirrel deterrent aspect of them. So either they twist or turn. They are going to be at a larger price range than tube feeders or hopper feeders or platform feeders.
Emily
Yeah. I honestly think the one thing about watching everyone try to make the squirrel-proof feeders is figuring out how smart squirrels really are. Right. Like that one person made that giant mechanism to try to keep squirrels on his feeter. And within two days, they figured out how to do all of the jumps and leaps and the bounds just to get to the bird food. So we used to hang them really high and the squirrels wouldn't be on the bird feater, but they'd be on the ground eating all the stuff underneath.
Mikaela
Right.
Emily
So it's worth noting that if you're going to feed songbirds in an open area, you may end up having predatory birds come to prey on them because you are putting them in an area where you're gathering songbirds in a repeated place. And they're a bird that also is looking for food. So if you are feeding songbirds, note that depending on where the location of your feeder is, it may make them more at risk for being picked up by predatory birds. Particularly things like the platform feeder, where they are sitting out in the open. So one of the more specialized seed feeders that you possibly can also find is what we're going to call a niger feater. And these are feeders that are going to be filled with those smaller seeds. So think of thistle seeds. So very, very tiny seeds. And this is going to be very popular with things like goldfinches, house in purple finches and siskins. They can be very similar looking to the tube feeders, but they're going to have smaller perches and holes because of the smaller seed. The other thing you can also find is what they call a thistle sock.
Emily
This is a fine mesh bag that the birds just hang off of and peck through the fine mesh to get the seeds. So when it comes to picking seeds for your feeders, it's important to note that different birds, like us, prefer different snack foods. Some birds are going to like the sweets, some birds are going to want the savories. So there are certain seeds and seed mixes that are going to bring in different types of birds, depending on what they prefer to eat and for, what their peak size is and what they can and cannot eat. We're going to cover a few of the more common types of bird seed and bird seed mixes that you may come across. So one of the most common ingredients that you're going to find is going to be black oil sunflowers. And this is the preferred seed for most of our general birds. So this is the all-around best seed that you can put out if you just want those basic common like backyard song birds. Its kernels are really high in energy. You can get the shelled or shell-less kind. If you get the ones with the shells, note that you are going to need to do some cleanup underneath or around your bird's feet.
Mikaela
Saffflower is a tiny white seed that is the favorite of cardinals and grossbeeks and nut hatches, finches, and titmice. It's very high in fat and high energy for birds then. You'll notice that's a theme for a lot of these seed types, is that they're going to be high in fats because that's the energy that birds need in order to keep moving, especially throughout the winter. Millet looks very similar. It's also a small, round seed, and it's enjoyed by many of the small-beaked ground-feeding birds, such as quail, doves, juncoes, which I love. They're one of my favorites. Toeie and sparrows.
Rachel
So peanuts are popular with woodpeckers, chiquities, titnice, nut hatches, wrens, kinglets, northern rocking birds, brown thrashers, starlings, jays, and even certain warblers.
Emily
So we used to put out the shell peanuts out on our patio and we'd line them up and watch the Blue Jays fight over them.
Rachel
You had a fun household, Em.
Emily
Yeah, well, my mom was into birders, and she always called the Blue Jays the bad boys of the bird world.
Rachel
They are.
Emily
They're bullies.
Rachel
They are very big bullies, but to each their own, every hierarchy has a bully, right? Yeah. So we also have cracked corn. It's very popular with ground nesting birds such as our quails, doves, jays, juncoes, towees, and native spairs. It is also enjoyed by larger birds, including our crows, turkeys, ducks, and cranes. However, it should be stored in a dry place and out of the rain, because when it rains and it hits the crack colonels, they can soak up water rapidly, and this can cause them to rot and become contaminated with toxins that are extremely toxic to birds, even at low levels.
Mikaela
Good point.
Rachel
Yeah. We don't want toxic things out there for our birds. They You have to worry about enough things.
Mikaela
I think that's probably a good reminder about any of these bird seeds. A lot of feeders will have a covering or something over the top of them. But let's say you have a platform feeder that doesn't have a top on it. If it gets wet, that bird seed should be tossed out, should be cleaned off. You want dry bird seed.
Emily
I think it's also good to remember that corn is a much safer food to feed to things like ducks and geese rather than bread. Please do not go and take old bread to a pond and throw it in for ducks and geese. It is not healthy for them. If you really want to feed them, corn is a much better option.
Mikaela
Thank you, Emily.
Rachel
And they love it.
Mikaela
They do like it. You may get some deer, though, because deer also like corn.
Rachel
They do.
Mikaela
We also recommend avoiding milo, wheat, and oats, since most birds prefer to eat other foods and discard these on the ground, where they accumulate and attract rodents, which I don't know if anybody wants.
Emily
I mean, the The black rat snake wants the rodents.
Rachel
That's true. They sure do.
Mikaela
The only birds that like these seed types are quail and doves. And there's lots of other things you can provide for them anyways. So I feel like you don't have to go to that.
Rachel
Yeah. We also have suet feeders, and these are simple rier cages that hold a suet cake. They attract woodpeckers, bluebirds, cardinals, chiquities, jays, nut thatches, titmice, and renns.
Mikaela
And suet feeders are a conglomerate of some fatty material, a vegetable fat, and then a mix of bird seed inside of it. And sometimes people can make this at home and make fun shapes and stuff, but oftentimes they're in this like a square or a rectangular shape. Now, nectar feeders are designed to mimic the flowers from which birds get their nectar and are usually filled with sugar water. They're primarily used by hummingbirds in our area, but sometimes you will see oriels, cardinals, and woodpeckers using nectar feeders with the larger feeding ports. We do recommend cleaning them daily in the heat of the summer for obvious reasons because sugar water and heat, and moisture just is not a good recipe. Maybe you want to even clean it every other day in the spring and fall because, again, that sugar water can rapidly ferment and then pose a health risk to birds and actually make mold. So according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they strongly recommend against using red dye in feeders because there's no research that proves that the red dye is safe for hummingbirds. And there's actually information that proves it might have a detrimental effect for their health.
Mikaela
So plain sugar water is the way to go.
Emily
So one type of feeder that I think is a little less common, but is actually neat, would be a fruit feeder. So this is a feeder that's designed to hold large pieces of fruit. And fruit is a favorite treat for birds such as bluebirds, Oreo, housefinches, woodpeckers, and various other species. We do recommend that if you do put fruit out, that you change it daily or even maybe put it out and pull it out after a few hours in the heat of summer. But I know there's a big campaign about putting out orange slices for Oreos, which I think is fun. So it's not one I'd ever thought of doing, but I may start doing it.
Rachel
I usually do cranberries in the winter and oranges when I make up my... I do bird seed reeds and put some fruit in there for them.
Emily
It just makes me think of the fermenting fruit from the Butterfly Show.
Rachel
That's true, too.
Mikaela
Drunken birds.
Emily
No, we don't want the fruit to ferment for the birds. No, we do not. Just for the butterflies. No, we do not. The butterflies can be drunk, but not the birds.
Mikaela
Right. I went down a rabbit hole, which you guys can totally understand about native plants and how they compare nutritionally to invasive plants, because that's an argument we come up against a lot is, Oh, I'm okay with leaving this invasive plant because it does produce berries that feed the birds. Well, they might eat those fruits, but there's a lot of evidence that shows they are definitely not as nutritious. It ends up detracting those animals and birds away from more nutritious food sources. Just to give you an example, one of our native plants is the northern bayberry, and it produces these small waxy sea blue berries that are extremely high in fat. That high in fat, as we mentioned before, is critical because they don't have time to spend all of that energy searching for food, only for the food to not benefit them. Northern bayberry has 50% fat in its berry. While that might not be good for us, it's definitely very good for the birds. Comparatively, the multiflora rose, which is a very common invasive plant, is less than 1% fat. You can see that it wouldn't be worth their energy or it shouldn't be worth their time foraging for those kinds of berries that they're just not as nutritious as some of our native plants.
Mikaela
There's a lot of research out there, and I'm happy to include the articles in the show notes because I found it really fascinating.
Rachel
I think it's also important to note that we should be looking for plants that support a high number of moth and butterfly species, specifically caterpillars, because these plants are keystone species for better ecology and support bird life in particular. And one of our favorite researchers, Dr. Doug Tallamy, has the top five plants for caterpillars, and those being oak, cherries, willow, birches, and poplars. So we care about these species of trees and that they support a wide variety of caterpillars because mama bird is taking back those caterpillars to her baby birds. And when you have baby birds, they're going to grow up to be big birds at some point in their lifespan. So if we are not having these Keystone tree species, we are also seeing a decline in our bird species.
Mikaela
Yeah. It's not enough to have plants that have nuts and berries, which are great for the adult birds, but it's those soft-bodied caterpillars and insects that they need to feed their young that cannot process those other items. So yes. So So with help from the Audubon Society, which is my other favorite source of information, all things bird, are some top plants for birds and bird active.
Rachel
Native plants.
Mikaela
Well, I specifically didn't say native because I don't believe Purple cone flower is on there. And there's another one. Look at you. There's another one on here that's not...
Emily
Mikaela made a list with that.
Rachel
It's okay.
Emily
It's like 80% native.
Mikaela
Don't judge me.
Emily
It's okay.
Rachel
Not everything is native.
Emily
We can't necessarily only have 100 % native plants. That's right.
Mikaela
So technically, purple cone flower is non-native to Maryland, although we see it advertised as such, advertised as a native plant, and it's planted everywhere. And this is one of those plants that produce seed heads that are very attractive to birds, particularly late into the season. The other nice thing is that these plants don't really flop over or don't break very easily, so they add some structural interest in the winter if you leave them up, and birds will find them and pick them clean. Swam sunflower is another favorite of mine. It's also very similar to cone flowers in that they produce a seed head that is round and it has these seeds that birds can pick apart in the winter. They are much taller, and they also are a plant that blooms really, really late in the season. So not only is it good for pollinators to harvest the nectar from, but then you leave the seed heads for the birds later.
Rachel
So we also We also have Coral Honeystuckle, and this is really popular with our hummingbird enthusiast because it has a tubular red flower, and they're a favorite of our migrating hummingbirds. And then we have cardinal flower, which is similar to honecycle because our hummingbirds are attracted to its crimson color and shape of that tubular flower.
Mikaela
Virginia creeper is actually a woody vine, and it might be a little controversial because some people do not like vines because they do end up climbing up and over things. But it's a very weak-rooted vine, and it's on this list for a reason. It produces these dark red berries that rate really high on nutrition for birds, so it's very high in fats, and it makes it a very popular option with birds. It also has really pretty fall color, but that's a different discussion.
Emily
Button Bush is a personal favorite of, I think, all of us on the show because of how cute the flowers are for it, and it is super attractive to pollinators, so it's an extra bonus to find out that the seeds from it are a favorite treat for several of our duck and songbird species. Another shrubbery that you might consider for your yard when it comes to increasing bird food would be the elderberry. It's a large, suckering shrub that supports over 48 species of birds through its berries.
Mikaela
And they're edible for us as well, but you have to fight the birds for them.
Rachel
You I do have to fight the birds for them. I usually make elderberry jam. It's so yummy.
Emily
You know what the solution is here? It's to plant two of them, one for you and one for the birds.
Rachel
You need like three.
Emily
Maybe two for you and two for the birds. And then a fifth one as a backup as well. That's true. Yeah. So you got to have five.
Rachel
So while many birds may directly eat acorns from our oak trees, these birds would be our turkeys. Oak trees also support a high number of caterpillar species, and these caterpillars are essential food for baby birds because they cannot forage for berries or seeds.
Emily
Didn't Doug Talamey say something like, Oak trees support 50 species of caterpillars or something like that?
Mikaela
534.
Emily
Okay, I was off by a little bit.
Mikaela
Hundreds of species, which is really incredible, especially... I always make this comparison because I pick on non-native species. When you compare it to crepe myrtles, which I believe only support three. And I believe several of them or all of them might be a pest species, so they're not super beneficial. And they also are now getting the crepe myrtle bark scale. So why not plant something that you get more bang for your buck?
Rachel
So another great tree is red cedar. This tree has both berries and a thick evergreen canopy, which provides birds with cover from predators and nesting habitat, and it provides support for over 48 species of birds. It's one of my favorite evergreen.
Mikaela
And it's fragrant. Yes. Who doesn't love a juniper bear? The young trees look pretty scraggly, but nothing is more dignified than a large cedar tree that has seen a lot of stuff.
Rachel
Yeah, that's true. We had a cedar tree right next to our lane when I was a kid. And for every major life event, you got a picture next to that damn tree.
Mikaela
That's awesome. I love that. Yeah.
Rachel
That's sweet.
Mikaela
And then the last thing on the list I would like to mention is shrub dogwoods. There are several species of shrubby dogwoods that are really beneficial. Again, they produce berries that are super high in fats for birds, around 35% fat in those berries, which is super critical for their survival and migration. We pulled a lot of this fabulous information. Of course, these are really great resources from Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society. And those are really great places to get more resources, not only about the information that we've talked about today, but to further investigate how you can support birds.
Rachel
I am so excited. This is one of my favorite native plants.
Mikaela
It's going to be a polarizing plant.
Emily
Maybe we talked about this in one of our Halloween episodes because I know we've talked about it before, but I think it's right there.
Rachel
I don't think we have.
Mikaela
No, as I was writing it, I think we have mentioned it in one of our October episodes because it is like a spooky plant, but I don't think it was my pick of the month before. So it should get a secondary response because it's just an awesome plant. It's so cool.
Rachel
It is amazing.
Mikaela
All right. My pick of the month is called Devil's Walking Stick or Aurelia spinoza. So did you ever wonder what your hike in the woods was missing? Is it a walking stick that is full of sharp thorns? Yes, I think that's definitely it. So like the name implies, Aurelia spinoza is a unique native plant that is anything but boring. It's a small tree or shrub, depending on the source and who you're talking to. But it is deciduous, and it grows about 15 to 20 feet tall Some people report up to like 30, 35 feet tall. I've not seen them that tall around here. It usually grows on a singular thick stem that is covered in sharp thorns. So unlike other woody plants, devil's walking stick produces few if any, branches, and instead relies upon these giant bi-panately compound leaves, and a single leaf that can reach 4 to 5 feet long and wide, which is huge. So about this time of year, you're going to see giant clusters of white flowers at the top of the plant that look like giant plumes or clouds of white. Pollinators love it, but even more popular are the dark purple berries that develop afterwards.
Mikaela
They look very similar to elderberry, but this is a favorite fruit of songbirds as well as small mammals, foxes, raccoons, possums. It's a very popular plant. So arelia is common along woodland edges and in disturbed areas. It will grow well in average to moderate moisture soils in full sun to part shade. So they are definitely an understory tree that grows along forested edges, and it's tolerant of drought, pests, diseases, and deer feeding. And no wonder. I would not want to walk up to... This does not look flavorful to me. Now, I don't know if they eat the berries or not. That's an interesting thought. So while these singular stems do not branch very much, they will form colonies of other devil's walking sticks that sucker and create thickets. So where you see one, you usually see several. They don't really grow singularly. While I doubt homeowners are going to rush out to buy this plant for the landscape, you should. The multiple benefits are undeniable. Ball color is also really spectacular, and it might make an excellent hedge for a neighbor you don't like.
Emily
I was just thinking, when I enter my swamp, which age, and I want the poison garden, this would make a really cool hedgerow. There's a place for this plant, and I can see it.
Mikaela
It's right next to your carnivalence plant, you know? Just like...
Rachel
Yeah, exactly. They all intermixed together. This is a great plant. Good job, Mikaela.
Mikaela
I know. I do love it. And now I know a lot of people don't like it, but it does show up in areas of disturbance. So especially if you're cutting back some woods or a along farmland edges and things like that where there's constant cultivation, this is where you probably will see it show up.
Rachel
I think that this plant has one of the most beautiful fall colors. Yeah, I agree. It's right up there with Virginia Sweet Spire and Oakleaf hydrangea. This is up there with that because their leaves get that dark red purple. They're so beautiful.
Mikaela
When we did our episode about fall color, I don't think that made the list, but it probably should have because it is very attractive.
Rachel
It's a beautiful fall color. And it's not like one single leaf. It's a leaflet. So it's like a string of pearls of red. It's just beautiful. Or It could be like the dripping blood of your hand when you touch it.
Emily
Again, perfect for a spooky garden.
Mikaela
The good news is that people probably won't dig it up themselves, but it does produce It's very easily by seed, in case anybody's curious. Emily, I'm super psyched about your bug of the month.
Rachel
Me too. I'm getting ready to insert a picture in here. Awesome.
Emily
This is a favorite predatory bug of most gardeners, and it's one that I think a lot of us, once you know to look for it and know the characteristics of it, it's easy to identify. So this month's Bug of the Month is the North American Wheel wheel bug, or simply known as the wheel bug here, Areus chrysalis. It's a species of assassin bugs. This is from the family Rivadea day, and this is actually the only species of wheel bug that is found in the United States. There are five to six other types of wheel bugs, but they're typically found in Mexico and then Central and South America, so they're more tropical. This is one of the more larger terrestrial true bugs, and it can reach up to about an inch and a half in length in its adult stage. It gets its name wheel bug from a semicircular crest that's got little teeth knocks. So think of a saw that's on its side along its pronateum, which is the plate that's right on its back, right behind its head. So it's got this circular saw right behind its head. So it looks like a wheel.
Emily
However, they don't get this wheel structure until adulthood. If you do see the nymphs, they are oftentimes orange when they're younger, so orange and black when they are younger, and then they turn to a blacky-gray. Then when they finally mount to adulthood, they get this massive, epic wheel on their backs. Most of the adults are going to fall in that gray to grey-brown color scheme. They're not necessarily the prettiest-looking bugs, but I think they're cool-looking because, again, they've got that epic cool wheel on their back. You typically will start seeing the adults around mid-summer through fall, and you can oftentimes find them until the first hard frost. We do get one generation of them here, and they hatch out in the spring. It'll take somewhere between 90 to 100 days for those nymphs to go through all their nymphal inster stages and then to molt into adulthood. They'll mate, and then the females will lay their eggs sometime in the fall, and the eggs will overwinter. They are in the order hannipter, which means that they have a sucking per mouth part. They are predatory, which is why we like them in our gardens, and they typically feed on those soft-bodied insects.
Emily
So think like caterpillars and beetle larvae, although sometimes you will see them feeding on adult beetles as well. But They are a generalist, meaning that if they can catch it, they will eat it. There are some examples of them feeding on things like honeybees or spiders or ladybird beetles as well that they were able to capture. They will cannibalize each other as well. They are a common beneficial insect that we love to have in our garden. Mike Raupe is quoted as saying that they are the lion or the eagle of your food web. This is an alpha predator in our garden food web, at least with regards to insects. When they go to feed, sometimes they'll use their raptorial legs to grasp and pin their prey up against their body. Other times, they will just stab the soft-bodied insects with that probiscus or that peak that they have. Then once they have pierced the insect, they're then going to inject their saliva fluids, which will contain several enzymes that will basically start to dissolve the soft tissue and the organs of that insect. Then they just drink it all back up. They just make themselves a little milkshake, and they just...
Mikaela
A bug gut milkshake.
Rachel
That sounds delicious.
Emily
The funny thing, though, about them is for as badass and as cool as I think these guys are because of their predatoriness and being cannibals and the cool way they look, they are not great fliers. They're rather clumsy and they make a weird buzzing noise when they fly. So a lot of times people confuse them with grasshoppers is they're just seeing them because they don't do those long distance flights. They're like, jump up and flutter and then fall.
Mikaela
Well, you can't go to everything. You know what I mean? Yeah.
Emily
You can't be. You spend that much time looking cool. You just can't be a good flyer. I mean, That giant wheel on their back has to just not make them aerodynamic at all. So these are fairly docile insects, but they're still not one that I would recommend holding or handling as they can bite. They have a nice thick proboscis that can puncture human skin. Now, typically, they're only going to bite if you are handling them and they feel threatened and we're trapped. But a lot of people had said that it is equivalent to about a bee sting. Ideally, don't touch these guys. They are a cool to watch from a... But don't touch. And that is my Bug of the Month.
Mikaela
It's such a good one. I can't believe that it hasn't been a pick.
Rachel
I know. It's a great bug.
Mikaela
Rachel, what you got for us? What are we doing in August?
Emily
Please remind me all the things that I have forgotten to do this month.
Mikaela
Right. I We get to do every year.
Rachel
I'm over this hot weather, and I'm sure our listeners are over this hot weather. I'm tired of it being a heat index of 106 every day. I'm tired of it being dry, and I've given up on watering because one, we're well water, so I'm afraid that I'm going to run our well dry, and I've given up on weeding. That's fair.
Emily
I feel like the first thing everyone gives up on is weeding.
Rachel
Yeah, you know? It's just been a hot, dry summer with infrequent rainstorms, and everything is giving up. So if you are letting your lawn go dormant and it's not actively growing, you don't need to mow it right now. It's been three weeks since I've mowed my grass because we're not getting consistent rain.
Emily
I had to mow the spots that the soaker hose was on. So I had to soak her hose, mow it, and put it back.
Rachel
So it's really interesting because our lawn is not a typical lawn. It's around a cornfield. So we have a lane and a couple of feet of lawn along the side of And I'm getting some really, really interesting plants come up on the sides that are our fun little things. Like I found St. John's wort earlier this year. So I'm getting some pretty interesting things that hopefully we can just let be and stay there forever. But if you planted any trees, perennial plants, or if you have a vegetable garden, and we're not getting consistent rain, you need to be watering them. And In the ideal situation, you should water to soak and surround the soil and the root ball. When hand-watering, you want to wet the soil around the base of the plant, so you're not doing any overhead watering because this encourages plant diseases, but it can also provide moisture for beneficial insects and spiders during that hot, dry weather. So around the base of the plant, not overhead. Allow the foliage to dry thoroughly, so you want to water in the morning when possible. And disease problems are more likely to get started overnight when water lays on leaf surfaces.
Rachel
So try to water early in the morning. If you haven't set up timers for your soaker hoses, think about investing in it because it's a really great option to make sure that you're watering at a specific time during the week.
Mikaela
And that you don't forget that they're on, like I did the other day.
Emily
Oh, I've done that all the time. To be fair, I didn't go overboard, and they probably needed it anyways.
Mikaela
But yes.
Rachel
August is a great time to remove disease or insect infested plant material. And this disease or insect infested plant material is not going into your compost bin. You're You're putting it in a black trash bag, and you're tying that black trash bag, and you're placing it in the sun to bake. So you're killing that disease, and you're killing that insect. You want to pick your tomatoes when they first change color, and then they can ripen on your kitchen counter. And this prevents cracking at the bottom or splitting at the top. You should be harvesting any of your herbs, and then you can dry those. Our family and consumer sciences page on the University of Maryland extension website has a really great publication on drying your herbs. It's very, very easy to do, and then you have them for the winter. You should also be tidying your garden and disposing of any rotten or dropped fruits or foliage to reduce disease and insects for next season. I also like to get ready for the fall in August by planting spinach or lettuce or carrots and beets or broccoli. There's so many great fall plants that your garden doesn't need to end mid-September.
Rachel
Extend it into November. The only caveat to this is that you're going to make sure that you keep your seedlings moist and mulched because if it's hot for us, it's hot for your plants. If you want to try your hand at growing garlic or onions or shallots, now is the time to order them so you can plant them for the fall. But when you do this, you want to make sure that you have a dedicated space in your garden for those because they're going to sit in there a long time and then you're going to be harvesting them next year. So just remember that you're going to have to dedicate a certain amount of space for them.
Mikaela
Rachael, I have a technical question in regards to that. Can you plant amongst the bulbs of fall things, or will that take too much away away from the garlic plants?
Rachel
I think that it would take too much away from it because they need that space to grow. Okay.
Mikaela
I was just trying to think of how you might make use of the space.
Rachel
That's a really interesting question that would be fun to explore.
Mikaela
Because I know people who do intensive gardening where there are no spaces, basically. I didn't know if they had success with that or if garlic really needed a lot to draw from in that soil.
Rachel
And I feel like garlic is a very nutrient-intensive plant as well.
Mikaela
Okay, that makes sense.
Rachel
And it doesn't really get along with a lot of things, too. When you're companion planting. So you have to think about that as well. What plant is going to get along with that other plant?
Mikaela
Interesting.
Rachel
You know, like basil and tomatoes and oregano.
Mikaela
Right.
Rachel
So they love each other.
Mikaela
They love each other.
Rachel
So you guys know that I love fall bulbs. So if you're thinking about buying 300 daffodil bulbs to plant in October, you might want to go ahead and research which ones you're going to plant and order them. But you can also plant crocus or hyacinth or tulips. Those are really great fall bulbs that you can do. It's also a perfect time to research your local native plant nurseries and see when they're having their fall sales. Because fall is the perfect time to add in a new tree, a new native tree or shrub or even some native perennials, and grow your garden with native plants.
Mikaela
August is a good time to make your list so that you aren't coming away with any impulse buys.
Rachel
Although- What are you talking about?
Mikaela
I'm guilty of that.
Rachel
I don't know what you're talking about. And I think it's also a perfect time to... You've surveyed your yard for an entire season at this point. So you know what area is going to be full sun. You know what area is going to get a corner of shade. So if you've planted the wrong plant in a space, fall is a great time to move that plant, if applicable. Because you certainly shouldn't be moving a 10-year-old tree. But a small perennial plant that you might have planted in the wrong place would be a great option.
Mikaela
Very good reminder. Thank you.
Rachel
And that's all I have for this episode, listeners.
Emily
Awesome. It's lots of good reminders there.
Rachel
Yeah.
Emily
Well, that's all we have for this episode, listener. We hope you enjoyed it, and we'll tune in next month for more gardening tips. If you have any garden-related questions, please email us at umegardenpodcast@gmail. Com, or you can look us up on Facebook at Garden Time podcast. That's Garden, T-H-Y-M-E. For more information about the University of Maryland extension and these topics, please check out the University of Maryland extension's Home and Garden Information Center website at go. Umd. Edu/hgic. Thanks for listening and have fun getting down and dirty in your garden.. Goodbye.
The Garden Time podcast is a monthly podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland extension, Mikaela Boyle, Senior Agent Associate for Talbot County, Rachel Rhoads, Senior Agent Associate for Queens County, and Emily Zobel, Senior Agent Associate for Dorchester County
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