Planting Oaks for Birds
4/22/20262 min
Oak trees are an important resource for birds finding insects to feed their young. It takes thousands of caterpillars from an oak tree to raise a single nest of baby birds. By planting an oak species native to your area, you can help ensure that birds are able to raise their young successfully.
Homegrown National Park® is a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate diversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks. Learn how to plant native and get on the HNP map here.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAriana Remmel· Host0:00
This is BirdNote. [birds chirping] This robin is making a delivery of tasty caterpillars to its fledglings. Like many songbirds, they rely on these insects to raise their young, says entomologist Douglas Tallamy.
Douglas Tallamy· Soundbite0:16
It takes thousands and thousands and thousands of caterpillars to make one clutch of baby birds. And that's just to get it to the point where it fledges, where it leaves the nest.
Ariana Remmel· Host0:25
But habitat loss is making caterpillars and other nutritious insects hard to come by. So Tallamy co-founded an organization called Homegrown National Park to help people bring biodiversity to their own gardens, which can be as easy as planting an acorn.
Douglas Tallamy· Soundbite0:41
Oaks support more species of caterpillars than any other tree genus in the country.
Ariana Remmel· Host0:46
Hundreds of butterfly and moth species start their lives as caterpillars foraging in oak branches, making these trees a fully stocked pantry for birds like tanagers, bluebirds- Tip mice, chickadees, cardinals, red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, magnolia warblers, hooded warblers, prairie warblers, yellow warblers, wood thrushes, and hermit thrushes. The list goes on.
Douglas Tallamy· Soundbite1:16
So when you plant an oak, you're actually planting an entire community. You're creating an awful lot of life in your yard that wasn't there before you put that oak in. That life is called biodiversity.
Ariana Remmel· Host1:26
[birds chirping] To learn more about Homegrown