Birds in the Garden
By Elizabeth Patterson
February 26, 2003
It all began when the quail moved into the neighborhood. We would often see them warily walking along the road - father in front with his dark topknot bobbing, followed by mother and scurrying chicks. These were California Quail, our state bird, and they were such a pleasurable addition to our neighborhood that I began to wonder how I might attract a family to our yard.
My curiosity about attracting California Quail led me to PRBO Conservation Science (Point Reyes Bird Observatory), a conservation organization dedicated to supporting bird life through research and education. Their web site (www.prbo.org) is full of valuable information on creating healthy bird habitat at home. To make our yard attractive to quail, it would need to provide a variety of food, a year-round supply of water and enough heavy growth to provide shelter for nesting and feeding.
To provide food and cover for birds, native plants are always the best choice. In addition to thriving in our local environment, native plants provide food that birds in this area are used to eating and will seek out when foraging. Quail feed principally on seeds of native annuals such as clover, lupine, lotus, filaree, and fiddleneck. But they are not fussy - they also eat fruits, berries, acorns, insects and green foliage.
What is important to quail, and other birds for that matter, are nesting areas that are well concealed. Watering and foraging areas should also be surrounded by dense shrubs and trees for shelter. Native species of trees and shrubs such as red and yellow willows (next to a water source), hazelnut, live oak, snowberry and california wild rose can be planted in clumps to provide shelter. In addition to vegetation, piles of brush left on the ground can be utilized by
quail as safe havens.
Quail nest in hollows on the ground, so it is critical that they are protected from predators, especially during their nesting season - mid March through late July. We do not have a cat, but if we did it would need to live inside. Cats are wonderful pets, but also capable hunters. Scientists estimated that 4 million birds are killed each day in the United States by cats. This unnatural predator places enormous strain on bird populations. For more information on the importance of keeping cats indoors see the American Bird Conservancy web site (www.abcbirds.org). Gardeners should also leave nesting areas undisturbed in the spring, so healthy bird habitat is best placed in a quiet corner of the garden that can be left “wild”.
So where should this wild, quail-friendly corner of the garden be? The answer came to me while looking out onto a vast patch of Periwinkle (Vinca major), planted long ago as a low-maintenance ground cover. Vinca major, while low-maintenance, is also an invasive species, and in our garden it has crowded out the native plants along a stream-bank that would have been more attractive to the quail.
It will take a great deal of effort to get the vinca up and to replant with native species, and even so, the quail may never find their way to our garden. We will, however, have had the satisfaction of restoring habitat. Loss of habitat, according to PRBO, is one of the main reasons for declining bird populations in the state. In addition, the birds that are attracted to this wild spot will add movement, color and song to what would otherwise be a sea of unchanging green and purple.
Elsewhere in our garden, acorn woodpeckers have made their home in the dead limb of and old oak tree. Their bright red heads attract my attention as they busily collect and store acorns. One day I heard a loud rat-a-tat-tat coming from the metal chimney cap on our roof. A male acorn woodpecker was creating a cacophony, which I found out was his way of attracting a mate. The acorn woodpecker had made himself at home
in our garden, and someday, hopefully, so will a covey
of quail.
Resources
Organizations
PRBO Conservation Science - www.prbo.org Backyard Conservation, Natural Resources Conservation Services - www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/backyard/ Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, National Wildlife Federation - www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/ Cats Indoors! The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats, American Bird Conservancy - www.abcbirds.org/cats/catsindoors.htm Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society - www.marin.cc.ca.us/cnps/ WildCare: Terwilliger Nature Education and Wildlife Rehabilitation - www.wildcaremarin.org
Books
The Habitat Garden Book: Wildlife Landscaping for the
San Francisco Bay Region, by Nancy Bauer, Coyote Ridge
Press, 2001.
Marin Flora: Manual of the Flowering Plants and Ferns
of Marin County, California, John Thomas Howell,
University of California Press, 1970.
Gardening with a Wild Heart, Judith Larner Lowry,
University of California Press, 1999.
Growing California Native Plants, Marjorie G. Schmidt,
University of California Press, 1980.