Nature’s bird feeders
In the introduction to his new book, Nature’s Best Hope, Douglas W. Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology, says that curing what ails our environment “will require small efforts by many people but that will deliver enormous physical, psychological, and environmental benefits to us all.” The book, as its subtitle says, offers “a new approach to conservation that starts in your yard.” Essentially, Tallamy lays out a vision for a grassroots method for conservation — one that is practical, easy, and effective. The text on the following pages — an excerpt from chapter 8, “Restoring Insects, the Little Things that Run the World” — dives into the details of producing caterpillars, critical food for nesting birds, and why oak trees are important to North American landscapes. — the editor
IT is clear that if we want to landscape a yard to accommodate as many caterpillars as possible, we need to use plants that serve as hosts for the most caterpillar species. But which plants are those? Assembling this information is not a trivial task. There are some 2,137 native plant genera in the lower 48 states, and most of
