Native landscapes unleash the natural forces of an ecosystem.
Restoring a natural habitat jump-kicks the food chain. Native plants attract insects and birds seeking food, shelter, and reproductive opportunities.
Predictably, this concentration of wildlife attracts the animals at the top of the food chain- predators.
The famous "balance of nature" is the most extraordinary of all cybernetic systems. Left to itself, it is always self-regulating.
Joseph Wood Krutch
Predators provide a vital ecological service in every ecosystem. They maintain a balanced population of prey species within the capacity of their habitat. For example, in 2019, in the northeastern United States, oak trees produced a bumper crop of acorns, leading to a spike in chipmunk and squirrel populations. As a result, hawk, owl, and fox populations have responded accordingly.
All photographs and videos and video and vide and vid and vi and v and and an a eintroduced your and videosnative habitat, I recommend a non-interventionist approach to managing your landscape. Have faith that predators will do their job to control any population spike that occurs on your property. One of the more challenging aspects of this approach is that the songbirds on your feeders may attract hawks, owls, and other predators to your yard.
This Coopers Hawk did a 2-hour stakeout in front of my bird feeder.
You can take measures to even the stakes between predators and your songbirds.
Place your feeders in a sheltered area.
The dense foliage of evergreen trees on the edge of your yard is an ideal hiding place for birds at the feeder.
Provide shelter near the feeder
Woodpiles and brush piles are also safe havens for songbirds at the feeder. I keep last year's Christmas tree in the back of the garden to provide a quick getaway option.
Reduce the concentration of birds by varying the height and distance of multiple feeders
Birds congregated at one feeder location are more vulnerable to attack.
Hawks, owls, foxes, and snakes are part of a self-regulating natural order maintaining viable populations of rodents, birds, and insects.
Over the years, I have seen foxes, bats, and coyotes and heard owls in my yard. When I get pictures, I will share them! Below are some of my favorite shots of an active food chain on my property.
This prehistoric-looking creature is a wheel bug. You will find them hiding behind flowers or leaves, hunting insects. The invasive brown marmorated stink bugs are among their favorite prey.
This Chinese Mantis is invasive, but it may be our best defense at controlling spotted lanternflies.
A garter snake considers his escape route near my compost pile. Garter snakes eat leeches, lizards, insects, rodents, amphibians, and birds.
Wrens are voracious insect predators. Attract them to your property with food (seeds and suet), water, and nest boxes.
Bluebirds feast on insect grubs. The grubs in this photo are Japanese beetle grubs from my lawn. I place the grubs in a shallow dish, and they are gone within seconds!
Top of the food chain
Top: juvenile Coopers Hawk, Berwyn PA. Middle: Coopers Hawk, Everglades in Florida. Bottom Red-Shouldered Hawk, Berwyn PA.
Field observation: Ravens have a zero-tolerance policy for hawks in their territory. When I hear squawking ravens, they are rousting a hawk and escorting it beyond the border of their territory.
Exceptions to a non-interventionist approach
Because invasive species have few predators, they will upset the balance of an ecosystem. As a result, I take an active role in eliminating them from my property. In my yard, Japanese beetles spotted lanternflies, and brown marmorated stink bugs are gently nudged into a bottle of soapy water.
Fortunately, nature hates a vacuum, and some predators have begun feeding on these interlopers. Last year, I observed cardinals eating Japanese beetles, bluebirds, and northern flickers eating Japanese beetle grubs. On several occasions, I found yellow jackets preying on spotted lanternflies. See the video below.
A yellow jacket dismembers a spotted lanternfly.
2021 Invasive pest of the year
My nomination for 2021 is the house sparrow, an invasive songbird from Europe. According to Melissa Mayntz from The Spruce.com :
House sparrows can cause many problems for native birds, including:
Competing for nesting sites, even killing adult birds, hatchlings, and eggs
Taking over food sources and reducing diversity at feeders
Crowding out less aggressive birds from traditional ranges and habitats
While all bird species may suffer somewhat from an invasion of house sparrows, particularly vulnerable species include:
Eastern and western bluebirds
Purple martins
Tree and cliff swallows
Orioles
These House Sparrows are causing trouble near my garden. Left: Female, Right: Male
On my property, house sparrows are a frequent tormentor of bluebirds. This spring, I am monitoring an epic battle between mating pairs of bluebirds and house sparrows competing for a nest box in my yard. I will do my best to help the bluebirds, including driving away house sparrows when they land near the nest box. Fortunately, nature is fighting back. Crows, squirrels, and chipmunks enjoy raiding house sparrow nests, and adult house sparrows are on the menu of small raptors such as kestrels and owls.
Nature is beautiful, often scary, and sometimes revolting. But it is a package deal that comes with the commitment to inviting wildlife to your property. Observing these complex relationships weave through their seasonal twists and turns on your property is the most rewarding return for attracting nature to your yard.
All photographs, unless otherwise noted, were taken on our one-acre property in eastern PA.
Photographs by SuperNaturalist.net
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