Dominion Grants to Beautify Neighborhood Entrances with Native Plants

Photo: Margaret Fisher

Audubon at Home partnered with Plant NOVA Natives to invite homeowners’ and civic associations to apply for funds to beautify their neighborhood entrances using low maintenance native plants. The mini-grant program was funded by Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation’s Environmental Education and Stewardship Grants Program.  

AAH and Plant NOVA Natives received applications from 35 community associations and made their decisions based on the number of residents, ability to communicate with those residents, and the visibility of their new plantings. Six matching grants of $2,350 apiece were awarded to Auburn Village Condo in Arlington, Park Glen Heights HOA in Annandale, Civic Association of Hollin Hills in Alexandria, Water’s Edge at Fair Lakes HOA in Fairfax, Cascades Community Association in Loudoun, and Dominion Valley Owner’s Association in Prince William.

Congratulations to the winners!  We look forward to working with you to design a low-maintenance, wildlife-friendly, and beautifully landscaped entrance planting. Completed installations will receive a high-quality sign that says, “Native plants support birds and other wildlife.”  

The funds will go toward costs of a landscape designer to create a design and recommend native plants; purchasing and installing the plants; and removal of any invasive plants such as English ivy, Japanese Barberry, Periwinkle, etc. Each community is responsible for matching funds and/or sweat equity to cover the remaining costs. Additionally, the communities are expected to conduct educational outreach with their residents on the habitat value of native plants, and commit to maintaining the plantings for five years.  

We were heartened by the number of neighborhood associations responding to our invitation to apply for funds to support their entrance beautification projects. And, we hope those who did not win a mini-grant will continue their efforts by inviting an Audubon at Home Ambassador to visit the site and provide advice on suitable, low maintenance native plantings. Residents of Arlington/Alexandria, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, and Rappahannock counties may submit a consultation request here.

Sanctuary Species

Photo: Carolina Chickadee, Douglas Tallamy

The Audubon at Home program helps homeowners create wildlife habitat in their own yards, with the aim of attracting and supporting beneficial species who breed and live in our area. We call these species Sanctuary Species. If a yard attracts 10 Sanctuary Species who nest, breed, forage, shelter, or use the yard in any way, then it’s a Wildlife Sanctuary—our motto is, “Let the animals decide.”

One such Sanctuary Species is the Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) that common, cheery visitor to backyard bird feeders. Chickadees are year-round residents and this small bird must contend with cold and potential heat loss. About half survive the winter. Homeowners can do plenty to bring chickadees to their yards and help them survive by providing a bird feeder.  Hang feeders a short distance (maybe 6 to 10 feet) from trees and shrubs so birds can quickly seek cover when predators like hawks appear. Birds also need to be able to spot predators approaching on the ground, such as outdoor cats. Chickadees are cavity-nester; they can excavate nests with their little bill, although they’re not as good at it as woodpeckers. So, preserve trees (dead or alive) with cavities to provide roosting and nesting sites. Chickadees will use nest boxes, too.

Carolina Chickadee, Douglas Tallamy

More than anything, though, chickadees need a yard full of native plants. How can that be?  What do chickadees have to do with native plants?

Well, native plants are required to support native insects such as caterpillars, which chickadees depend on for over half their diet. Caterpillars and other insects are especially critical when chickadees are raising young. Because the nestlings need protein to grow, they eat a diet almost exclusively of insects. Most native insects, such as caterpillars, are specialists: they eat only the host plants with which they co-evolved. Without native plants, there are fewer native insects, and without insects, birds cannot thrive, no matter how many bird feeders are available to them.

An ingenious study conducted by Douglas Tallamy and his colleagues in yards right here in the DC area confirms the effect. Scientists measured the amount of native plant material in each yard, then they observed whether chickadees nested in it and how successful their nesting efforts were.  They found that yards in which less than 70% of the plant material (trees, shrubs) was native could not support insects and did not sustain chickadee families. Chickadees were less likely to nest in such yards and those that did had less reproductive success. Yards with less than 70% native plants were “food deserts” lacking sufficient caterpillars to feed nestlings, leading to declines in chickadee populations. You can read the study here.

Fill your yard with native trees and shrubs and you will attract more chickadees (as well as other wildlife) and the birds will fledge more young.

There are 42 Audubon at Home Sanctuary Species including birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and mammals, listed here. Click on the thumbnail picture to learn more about them and their habitat needs.

And, if you’re a photographer who enjoys photographing wildlife, please consider submitting your photos of any of the Sanctuary Species. We are updating our website, and need more and better photos of them in their natural habitats. Send your photos to aah@audubonva.org with Sanctuary Species Photographs in the subject line. We credit all photos that we use.

Birdathon Winners Visit Oak Spring

Photo: Oak Spring Wall, Robin Duska

Winning Birdathon teams traveled out to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, Virginia on September 17 to view some rare books, including a John James Audubon folio, and the grounds of the estate of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, who designed the White House Rose Garden.  The 700 acres of Foundation grounds were certified as an Audubon at Home Wildlife Sanctuary on  July 25 by AAH County Coordinator Leslie Paulson.  OSGF Project Development Coordinator T.J. Sherman, who led the BIrdathon teams around the grounds, indicated that nearly all AAH Sanctuary Species have been seen on the property.  

Species are selected as AAH Sanctuary Species because they breed in Northern Virginia, have a reasonable chance of being found on and/or attracted to a suburban property, are considered a beneficial and/or desirable species, and are a population in decline OR at risk of being in decline (in the Northern Virginia area) due to typical suburban land use issues (pesticides, habitat destruction, etc.).