VALLEY INTEL
Feed the Birds What’s Best for Them Native plants optimal for pollinators By Shayaan Khan Special to Today Magazine
An 11-year-old who recently completed 6th grade, Shayaan Khan lives in Simsbury with his parents —————————————————————————————————— CHI-CHI! The cardinal sang its song as I watched the little red bird chirp away. I decided to feed the cardinal. I was not going to buy a bird feeder or bird feed but instead wanted to arrange it on my own. Making DIY stuff is my favorite pastime. So I GRANBY grabbed an old TODAY plastic tray, two sticks and a bag of peanuts. I knew that cardinals liked to eat peanuts. I propped up the tray with the sticks supporting it and scattered some peanuts underneath on the ground. The very next day the cardinal investigated the peanuts and decided to pick them one by one. It kept flying and coming back many times. That was all a lot of fun! I did not realize then that I was harming the cardinal in some way. I was ruining the cardinals’ habit to forage for food like most birds have to do. I now know through books like “National Wildlife Federation’s World of Birds” and online resources like Audubon.org that if I had planted something that gave the cardinals food but did not ruin their habit to forage, it would have been better. So this year I have grown plants that attract birds and other wildlife like squirrels and rabbits. While it may be convenient to walk into a superstore and get yourself a bird feeder, it is definitely much better for birds to grow native plants. And that is how my journey of love for native plants began! You might be wondering, “What is the problem with nonnative plants?” To answer that question, we need to understand the way the fragile ecosystem works. Native plants provide food for birds, animals and insects inhabiting the region. Small birds and insects get nectar from flowers of native plants and help them reproduce by pollination.
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Female Cardinal
ECOSYSTEM EDUCATION
Photos by Wendy Rosenberg
Animals like squirrels get food from plants, and bears also get food from native plants that produce berries. The same thing happens with birds. Animals like wolves and foxes eat squirrels, rabbits, mice, etc. If we replace native plants with non-native plants that animals and insects of the region do not eat, the whole ecosystem could fall apart. Non-native species crowd out native plants in areas where people do not manage the plants that grow. In the United States, we classify native plants as plants that were in the U.S. before European colonists came to America. I want to attract birds to my backyard but do not want to harm their habit to forage. Luckily, last school year my math teacher happened to be Mrs. Rebecca Rosenthal, who is an active member of the Simsbury Pollinators Club. The club aims to raise awareness about the relationship among pollinators — bees, birds, butterflies, moths, etc. — and native plant species. I learned about many native plants through a book titled “Bringing Nature Home” by Douglas Tallamy, lent
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JULY 2022 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE
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