Habitat overview

Wildlife needs the same things people need: food, water, cover, and a place to raise young.

Habitat matters! One year in late October I spotted a winter wren in my yard — an unusual sighting for us here in suburban CNY. I did some research and found that the Stokes Bird ID book says it’s often found where there are rotting logs and shrubs: a perfect description of where I saw it — in the shrubby area near our screen porch alongside the logs lining our paths.

It also said it was a secretive bird, which is why I never managed to get a photo despite spending a few hours hanging out our second floor window, crouching in the path, and peering around the porch.

But the important takeaway for me was that it vividly illustrated that habitat matters, and that I need a variety of habitats even in my small yard to provide for the greatest variety of creatures.

In this Habitat section, we show what we’ve done to provide these habitat basics and discuss some other habitat issues.

How and why

The first question anyone might have is “Why is it important to have a habitat garden?” And I’ve learned that the biodiversity habitat provides in our yards and on the planet is essential for people, too.

The second, of course, is how we created our habitat garden.

The habitat basics

This section provides general information on the habitat basics that all creatures need: food, water, cover, and places to raise young. (Creature-specific information is in the Creatures section).

• Food
  • Seeds
  • Fruit
  • Nectar
  • Nuts
  • Insects

• Water
  • Wildlife
  • Birdbaths
  • Our pond and stream including
    • how we created it,
    • how we maintain it, and
    • how it’s evolving
  • Our wildlife pond and
    • how we created it
  • Water in winter
• Cover
• A place to raise young

People in the habitat

A habitat garden is important not just for wildlife, but also for people. It’s especially important for children to connect with the natural world, and so we include some resources for schools.

But is nature too dangerous for people?

Designing our yard

Here’s how we designed our habitat garden for these areas of our yard:

• Front yard
• Side yard
• Meadow
• Woodlands
• Hedgerow
• Hellstrip (between sidewalk and road)

Our yard through the seasons

Here in Central NY we have four seasons:

• spring
• summer
• fall
• winter here in cold, snowy CNY

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Resources

• Homegrown National Park:
  • Share the facts – facts and definitions
• NRCS:
  • Backyard Conservation – downloadable book and tip sheets
• SUGi:
  • What is an ecosystem?
• Valley Forge Audubon Society:
  • Backyards for Nature
• E. O. Wilson:
  • Nature needs half – E. O. Wilson’s vision for people and the planet
• Yale Environment 360:
  • If ‘nature needs half,’ what do people need?
• Native Landscaping for Communities:
  • VIDEOS: Pride, Science, Law  – Produced for citizens and officials creating or updating lawn and weed ordinances for public health and safety and environmental protection.

Reflections

No permission, legislation, or experience needed to solve the biodiversity crisis.
All that’s needed is YOU!
And everyone you know!
~ Homegrown National Park

There is something fundamentally wrong with treating the Earth as if it were a business in liquidation. … The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.
~ Herman Daly, World Bank economist