Hello Wild Side Readers!
Summer is here and if you are anything like me, you are enjoying the birds and butterflies visiting your backyards and landscape. If backyard landscaping for hummingbirds and butterflies is on your to-do list this year, the below resources are for you! I’ve posted several plant lists for hummingbirds and butterflies, as well as additional fact sheets and online resources.
What to Plant for Hummingbirds:
Many of the above plants will also be visited by butterflies. Remember to aim for continuous blooms throughout the growing season. Here is a suggested (but by no mean all inclusive) list of plants by their bloom times.
And finally, here is a double-duty list of trees and shrubs for both birds and butterflies:
Additional Resources:
- Audubon Native Plants Database
- Ohio Trees for Bees
- Attracting Pollinators to the Garden
- OSU Bee Lab
- Butterflies and Moths of North America
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birds
- Backyards For Butterflies – ODNR, Division of Wildlife
- Milkweeds and Monarchs – ODNR, Division of Wildlife
- Video of a Butterfly’s Proboscis
Ways to get involved:
- eBird – citizen science reporting site, download abundance and distribution maps
- Hummingbirds at Home – report hummingbird sightings
- Journey North – report sightings of migratory animals
- Project Monarch Health – help track disease in monarchs
- Monarch Watch – report monarch sightings, great info on monarchs
If you want more information on landscaping with native plants for birds other than hummingbirds, check out this article.
Enjoy those flutters and fliers!
Marne Titchenell
Wildlife Program Specialist
