Less Yard Work For You Means More Caterpillars for Baby Chickadees

Delay Spring yard work for now (or forever) to make a difference for a generation of your backyard birds.

If you delay Spring yard work and leave leaf litter undisturbed for now, you’ll be giving your native insect populations their best chance to survive. Temperatures aren’t consistent enough just yet for them to emerge from beneath the layers of leaves that protected them all winter.

Why protect the native insects in your yard? Because 96% of all wild bird parents will soon be looking for these insects to feed their babies. Not seeds, not fruit—just insects.

And nesting parents will need to find a mind-boggling quantity of insects to raise their families. Here’s just one example:

Carolina Chickadee parents need 5,000-9,000 caterpillars to nourish just ONE BROOD.

Why make that job even harder for them?

We can help, right now, by protecting and supporting the native insect population in our backyards.

Chickadees give us 5,000 good reasons to:

• Immediately stop doing so much yard work.
• NEVER use pesticides again.
• Plant native trees and shrubs to support our native insects.
• Share this info with everyone you know.

How long should we delay our Spring yard work?

There isn’t an exact date, but there are some practical rules of thumb to guide us. In general, wait until soil temperatures and evening temperatures are reliably in the 50’s.

The following are some questions to ask yourself before beginning yard work.

From The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.(The full article is here ‘For Pollinators’ Sakes, Don’t Spring Into Garden Cleanup Too Soon!’ )  

• Would I plant tomatoes now?
  It’s not a good idea to plant your tomatoes outdoors until EVENING temperatures are reliably in the 50s. If it’s time to plant tomatoes in your area, chances are conditions are [not] too cold for pollinators to be out and about.
• Is the lawn growing tall?
  Cool-season lawns begin growing when SOIL temperatures reach 50 degrees. In all but the warmest climates, if grass is growing enough to justify regular mowing, it’s probably a safe bet that most pollinators have emerged.
• Have I paid my taxes?
  In northern states, mid-late April should be the earliest you consider cutting back perennials and clearing garden debris. Keep in mind that some bees don’t emerge until late May, so the longer you can tolerate your “messy” garden the better.
• Are apples and pears finished blooming?
  Apricot, peach, plum, and cherry trees are the earliest to bloom, coinciding with the emergence of many ground-nesting bees. Apple and pear trees bloom between mid-April and mid-May. If you can manage to wait until apple trees are no longer in bloom, then you should be safely in the clear from disturbing those pollinators that emerge a little later than the rest.

Fun Things to Do Now
Instead of Yard Work

While you delay Spring yard work, get ready for Spring Migration! Nesting season is so very, very close, too. Unless of course, you are seeing Bluebirds! They are choosing nest sites already. Do you have your Bluebird box up? Is it too early to start obsessing about Hummingbird Migration yet?!  (Never!)

More Info About Native Insects

Butterfly caterpillars are just one example of gazillions of beneficial native insects that could be sheltering under the leaf litter in your yard. Read this article on JourneyNorth.org.

Who eats what? Which insects do birds prefer? Find out more on who eats what, especially during Spring Migration and nesting season, in this article on JourneyNorth.org.

Here’s a great blogpost about life under the leaves in a Maryland backyard.

Outdoor Insects in the Maryland Home Landscape – Most insects in our backyards are beneficial! Here’s a great aggregated list of resources to help you identify them. – The University of Maryland Extension.

The Maryland Biodiversity Project This is a non-profit group cataloguing the living things of Maryland. They’ve documented almost 22,000 species so far, with over a million photos and records!

More Details About the Carolina Chickadee Study

The statistic above about Carolina Chickadee broods and caterpillar requirements is based on findings from the research mentioned below. If you’re still looking for the best fundamental reason to replace non-native plants in your yard with natives, this study will help convince you.

Are the non-native plants in our yards actually endangering wildlife?

Yes, according to the findings of a study of Carolina Chickadees by University of Delaware researchers Doug Tallamy, Desirée Marango and Peter Marra (director of Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center). It was the first study to investigate the link between non-native plants and birds’ population growth in these landscapes. What they discovered, in a nutshell:

In summary, it’s about food.

Native plants are the base of the food chain: Native plants support native insects -> Native insects support native birds. More insects means more food for baby Chickadees. More insects means less effort by parents expended to source food, giving them more resources for larger broods.

The research determined that a yard needs a minimum of 70% native biomass to give Carolina Chickadees the opportunity to reproduce and sustain their population.

Delay Spring yard work forever! Resources for when you’re ready to ‘go native’

Can you identify the ‘bad’ plants in your yard? Here’s a guide from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Creating a Wild Backyard – Bad Plants Planted by Good People

Landscaping with Native Plants – Download this very helpful PDF by the Maryland Native Plant Society

Native Plant, Seed and Services Directory – The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Plants for Maryland Pollinator Gardens – University of Maryland Extension

What’s the Buzz? All About Pollinators – Maryland Department of Natural Resources