Hello Wild Side Readers,

I am anticipating the spring season! My snowdrops bloomed last week, which has me excited for warmer weather! One rather large item on my to-do list this year, is to create a new landscape bed and I can’t wait to start picking and choosing wildlife-friendly plants to incorporate. If you find yourself in a similar situation, check out the below resources, including two new(ish) fact sheets on native trees and shrubs for wildlife AND a hot-off-the-press quick guide. These as well as other great resources are listed below! Enjoy and happy plantings!

*** If you are here because you recently heard me speak at the 2025 Ohio Bluebird Society annual meeting, you are in the right place. 😉 Click HERE to access my presentation slides.

Creating Living Landscapes Quick Guide

OSU Extension Fact Sheet: Native Trees: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

OSU Extension Fact Sheet: Native Shrubs: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

OSU Extension Creating Living Landscape Quick Guide 

If you have yet to discover the Plant-by-Numbers Guides, you are in for a real treat! These are great if you need help deciding not only what to plant, but how to arrange them in your landscape bed. Note there have been two NEW guides added recently! One is for hummingbirds and songbirds, called Hummers & Singers, and another for Good Garden Bugs. These guides were created and designed by Denise Ellsworth and Debra Knapke (and yours truly had the wonderful opportunity to help with the Hummers & Singers guide).

OSU Plant-by-Numbers Garden Plans for Butterflies & Moths, Specialist Bees, Bumble Bees, Hummers & Singers, and Good Garden Bugs

Native Bee Resources:

• OSU Bee Lab – ‘Native Bee’ tab
• Books by Heather Holm
• Bumble Bees of NA – Paul Williams et al. 2014
• Bees in Your Backyard – Joseph Williams and Olivia Messinger Carril
• Nesting & Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators & Other Beneficial Insects – Xerces publication
• Bumble Bee ID

As some of you know, one of my favorite topics to speak about is bats. I’ve been getting more requests recently to speak on bat gardening. What is bat gardening, you ask? It’s the idea of planting insect-friendly plants to provide food resources to bats. While research on the impacts of such plantings is lacking, it can confidently be stated that providing diverse plant communities can support diverse insect communities. This, in turn, has the potential to benefit bats. In the below resource, The Ohio Bat Working Group’s website, there is a video on bat gardening. I also recommend the below book on moths, to learn more about these fascinating creatures and moth-friendly plants.

Ohio Bat Working Group: information on Ohio bats, coexisting with bats, and habitat management included providing habitat for bats in forests and backyards.

Gardening for Moths by Jim McCormac and Chelsea Gottfried

Last but certainly not least, if we work hard to incorporate bird-friendly plants into our home landscapes, we should also work to ensure the birds remain safe. Every year, roughly 1 billion birds die after hitting windows in the United States, and nearly half of those are collisions with home windows. Homeowners are rarely aware of these collisions as injured birds may fly away to die elsewhere or be eaten by a predator (cat, raccoon, fox, or dog) before being found. Please consider making your windows bird-safe. The link below has some great suggestions.

Tufted titmouse and red berries, Kentucky

American Bird Conservancy – Preventing Bird Window Strikes information

Thank you for your time and Happy Spring!!

Marne Titchenell
Wildlife Program Director, OSU Extension
School of Environment and Natural Resources
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Hello Wild Side Readers!

Tomorrow I have the pleasure of helping with the Environmental Professionals Network Breakfast program called Breakfast with the Birds: Advocacy and Conservation in Urban Green Spaces. I will be leading a tour around the beautiful Scioto Audubon Metro Park after the inside presentations conclude at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. I plan to have short discussions on the importance of green spaces, especially urban forests within our urban ecosystems. If this subject interests you, I encourage you to check out my last article for more resources on managing public trees and spaces for wildlife. Below, you find some additional resources on providing native plants for wildlife, including birds, pollinators, and bats. Enjoy!

OSU Extension Fact Sheet: Native Trees: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

OSU Extension Fact Sheet: Native Shrubs: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

OSU Plant-by-Numbers Garden Plans for Butterflies & Moths, Specialist Bees, and Bumble Bees

Native Bee Resources:

• OSU Bee Lab – ‘Native Bee’ tab
• Books by Heather Holm
• Bumble Bees of NA – Paul Williams et al. 2014
• Bees in Your Backyard – Joseph Williams and Olivia Messinger Carril
• Nesting & Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators & Other Beneficial Insects – Xerces publication
• Bumble Bee ID

Ohio Bat Working Group: information on Ohio bats, coexisting with bats, and habitat management included providing habitat for bats in forests and backyards. Bat house plans and guidance.

American Bird Conservancy – Preventing Bird Window Strikes information

Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative Resources:

• Ohio Lights Out
• Managing Forest Birds in SE Ohio – A Guide for Land Managers
• Managing Small Forest Patches for Birds – A Guide for Landowners

Great apps for more learning:

• iNaturalist
• Picture This or Google Lens
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology – Merlin

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy your community’s green spaces soon!

Marne Titchenell

Wildlife Program Specialist

Hello Wild Side Readers,

If you are new to this blog, I share information on Ohio’s wildlife, but as an educator, I also create posts related to presentations at educational events. Recently, I had the honor of presenting a webinar for the Smithsonian Gardens ‘Let’s Talk Gardens’ webinar series. I spoke about managing trees and small forest patches in urban and suburban areas for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. The below links are resources I shared during that presentation, as well as the slide set.

One item I didn’t get to in my presentation, was several new fact sheets for those interested in wildlife-friendly landscaping. The two fact sheets below share information on several native trees and shrubs that provide benefits to multiple species. Enjoy!

Native Trees: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

Native Shrubs: Creating Living Landscapes for Birds, Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficials

Also be sure to check out the NEW Plant by Numbers Guides for Specialist Bees, Bumble Bees, and Butterflies & Moths.

Managing Public Trees and Spaces for Wildlife – slide set

Managing Public Trees and Spaces for Wildlife – webinar

Links/Resources:

Doug Tallamy webinar – Restoring Nature’s Relationships at Home (the connection between trees and caterpillars)

3 Billion Birds Lost Research and Website

Alternatives to Non-native, Invasive Plants Brochure and Website– Ohio Invasive Plant Council

• Woody Invasives of the Great Lakes Collaborative (WIGL)
• Midwest Invasive Plant Network
• Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health

Butterflies & Moths of North America

American Trails Info on Greenway Planning

Bringing the Snag into the Urban Forest (Arborists and Wildlife: Retaining Trees for Wildlife Habitat) – Brian French

Dead Wood for Wildlife webinar

Nest Box & Bat House Resources

Ohio Lights Out Program

American Bird Conservation Info on Preventing Bird Collisions

Wildlife Conflict Resources

Buckeye Yard and Garden Online  – provides timely information about Ohio growing conditions, pest, disease, and cultural problems.

Urban Wildlife Information Network

USDA Forest Service Urban Forest Info:

Urban & Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants

Urban Forest Research

Urban Field Stations

The Cross Pollinator Newsletter – great article on urban forest patches and their importance!

Fact Sheets/Bulletins:

Ohio Woodland Stewards Invasive Species Fact Sheets

Managing Small Forest Patches for Birds – Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative

Creating Snags (Controlling Undesirable Trees, Shrubs, and Vines) – OSU Extension fact sheet

Crop Tree Management – OSU Extension fact sheet

Enhancing Food (Mast) Production for Woodland Wildlife – OSU Extension fact sheet

Ohio Trees for Bees – OSU Extension fact sheet

Nesting and Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects

Research papers:

Wang et al. 2021 – Tree species richness and diversity predicts the magnitude of urban heat island mitigation effects of greenspaces

Baker et al. 2020 – Suitability of native milkweed (Asclepias) species versus cultivars for supporting monarch butterflies and bees in urban gardens

Ricker et al. 2019 – Comparing Insect Pollination Visitation for Six Native Shrub Species and their Cultivars

Narango et al. 2018 – Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird

Mason et al. 2006 – Designing suburban greenways to provide habitat for forest-breeding birds

Recommended Books:

Good Garden Bugs by Mary M. Gardiner

Shrubs and Woody Vines of Indiana and the Midwest by Sally and Harmon Weeks

Native Trees of the Midwest by Weeks, Weeks, and Parker

If you would like more information on forest management, please visit the Ohio Woodland Stewards website. We also have a list of webinars on a variety of forestry and wildlife topics. Enjoy!

Marne Titchenell

Wildlife Program Specialist

Hello Wild Side Readers,

Have you seen headlines in the news lately about deer with COVID-19? Some of these headlines are a bit misleading. Check out the below information on what is really going on.

SARS-CoV-2 and Deer

In a late August press release, the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory announced confirmation of the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in wild wild-tailed deer in Ohio. Earlier studies have shown that deer can be experimentally infected with the virus, and that wild deer (from samples in IL, MI, NY, and PA) had antibodies to the virus.

• The deer tested were positive for the virus (SARS-CoV-2) but were not diagnosed with the illness (COVID-19). Some headlines you may see (including the above press release) are misleading! Currently, it appears that deer are asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
• According to the Ohio Department of Health, there is no evidence that animals, including deer, play a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.
  • Based on the available information, the risk of animals spreading SARS-CoV-2 to people is low.
• Currently, it is unknown how the deer contracted the virus, though typically the route of infection is from human to animals.
  • Infections have been reported in a small number of other wildlife species, mostly in animals that had close contact with a person with COVID-19. More info here.

Is hunter-harvested game meat safe to eat?

• According to the Ohio Department of Health, there is no evidence that people can get SARS-CoV-2 by preparing or eating meat from an animal infected with SARS-CoV-2, including wild game meat hunted in the United States.
• Hunters should always practice good hygiene when processing animals.

Additional actions to stop virus transmission:

• To limit deer-to-deer transmission, the Ohio Division of Wildlife continues to urge homeowners and hunters to avoid concentrating deer at backyard feeders or in hunting situations. In addition to SARS-CoV-2, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remain on the list of diseases that could be easily transmitted from deer to deer under these situations. CWD was confirmed in two wild deer in Wyandot County during the 2020-21 deer hunting season (see here for more information on CWD in Ohio’s deer herd). Ohio’s herd remains bTB-free.

More information:

• Contact the Ohio Department of Health for questions about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from white-tailed deer to humans; 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634) or odh.ohio.gov.
• Contact the Ohio Department of Agriculture for questions about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to pets or livestock; 614-728-6201 or agri.ohio.gov.
• Press release on Deer with Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2
• FAQ on Deer with Antibodies Study – also has food safety recs for hunters processing animals

Thanks for reading!

Marne Titchenell

Wildlife Program Specialist