Mariette Nowak

Want to turn your yard into a bird paradise? Mariette Nowak, gardener, educator, and ecologist, has a simple suggestion: think beyond bird feeders. Her indispensable guide for gardeners throughout the Upper Midwest and parts of the Northeast highlights the fifty best native plants for attracting such beloved bird species as ruby-throated hummingbirds, American goldfinches, eastern bluebirds, indigo buntings, cedar waxwings, and wood warblers. The book explains the value of particular plants for birds and other wildlife, not only as food sources but as nesting sites and cover. Each plant is described in depth, with details on color, height, blooming time, light requirements, and soil preferences, along with planting tips and suggested companion plants. Nowak offers closer looks at the intriguing features of these diverse plant species and their intertwined relationships with birds, complemented by 150 color photos that showcase the beauty of the plants and birds together. Novice gardeners will also find essential information on birdscaping basics, site preparation, management guidelines, and safeguarding songbirds.

Go beyond bird feeders! Learn how to create outstanding bird habitats in your own yard with native plants that offer food, cover, and nesting sites for birds. This guide is packed with color photographs, sage advice, detailed instructions, and garden plans. It features nine different habitat gardens for hummingbirds, bluebirds, wintering birds, migrant birds, and birds that frequent prairies, wetlands, lakes, shrublands, and woodlands, along with advice about maintaining your plantings and augmenting them with nest boxes, birdbaths, misters, and perches. The information on recommended plant species includes their native ranges in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin; the birds they attract; their visual characteristics; and their cultivation. Mariette Nowak also describes how gardeners featured in this book have gone beyond their own garden gates to work for the protection and restoration of bird habitat in their neighborhoods and communities. Birdscaping in the Midwest provides many sources of further information, including publications, web sites, organizations, and native plant nurseries.