Here at Flathead Audubon, we’re passionate about birds, which of course means we have to include a passion about their life support system, namely their habitats and food. We’ve been telling this story for over 20 years, and recently produced a 23-minute video on the relationships between native birds, which eat native insects, which eat native plants.
The video is called “NATIVES RULE!” – because they do “rule” when it comes to a balanced ecological system! Most casual observers don’t realize that the number of insects needed to raise a brood of checks may quintuple beyond the normal needs of adults. Even seed-eaters feed their chicks insects while they are growing quickly in the nest. (Black-capped Chickadees need an extra 3000-plus caterpillars per brood!)
Most non-native plants feed close to zero of these critical chick morsels. They take up space that could support bird reproduction. And, all native plants are not created equal when it comes to supporting native insects and native bird populations. Our new video explains the eons needed for a plant or an insect, or a bird, to become “native” to an area of the world. And it is a strong encouragement to convert at least some of our yards and gardens to native plants, to support these critical relationships. It is a blueprint for starting small, one plant at a time, to help our dwindling bird populations.
Check out the video below and go native!
(Click here for all of our educational videos!)