Are you making your yard or neighborhood into a home for birds and other wildlife?
Tucson Audubon will recognize your efforts! Contact us for more information about how to get your property officially recognized by Tucson Audubon as bird and wildlife habitat( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 520-971-2385). You can erect a handsome sign at your property announcing that the land is recognized by Tucson Audubon. There’s no charge for recognition, but there is a charge for the sign.
Our new model for landscaping is much more than just getting rid of lawns. In the new model, basins and swales, alone or in combination with cisterns, hold and infiltrate water into the ground. We plant landscapes densely and with a wide variety of native plant species, creating a complex vegetative structure. Plants survive mostly or completely on rainwater.
In the new model many trees are thorny, providing cover from predators and protected places to nest (see "Thorny Issues for Birds" one page 16-17 of the Nov-Dec 2009 Vermilion Flycatcher). Plants host insects, and produce fruits and seeds that are eaten by birds and reptiles. Trees and shrubs are rarely trimmed, allowing low branches to cover the ground, increasing the total biomass on which birds and other animals forage.
Landscapes can grow food for people too! Eat some of the same plants that provide food for birds (mesquite meal, native fruits, native salad greens). Grow heritage fruit trees and share their produce with migrating tanagers and grosbeaks. Plant a vegetable garden and water it from the cistern.
Contact Kendall Kroesen to find out more about the habitat recognition program-- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 520-971-2385.
