Backyard birds and their habitat
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE MARCH 24, 2026, ISSUE OF THE HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE VOICE. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.
By MARY ELIADES
Voice correspondent
Lynn Foster, president of Arkansas Audubon Society, was the guest speaker at HSV Audubon’s March 12 program to discuss “Backyard Birds and Their Habitat.”
Foster is a former law professor at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and is an Arkansas Master Naturalist.
Arkansas Audubon Society maintains the official checklist of Arkansas birds, hosts two statewide conventions annually in conjunction with spring and fall bird migrations, and sponsors the annual Halberg Ecology Camp for elementary through high school students. Foster thanked HSV Audubon for sponsoring several students every summer from Jessieville, Fountain Lake, and Mountain Pine schools.
Foster opened her talk with a depressing statistic: The American bird population is down by 2.9 billion breeding adults since 1970, and “the extinction rate is rising,” she said. “We are losing habitat across the United States” and this affects not only birds, but also bees, insects, Monarch butterflies – the list goes on.
Foster said most land in the United States is privately owned, with around 50 million acres of lawn, and individual efforts can make a big difference in providing habitat for birds and other wildlife.
With high demand for housing and land devoted to agriculture, non-native plants and chemicals are destroying habitats. Residential and other building landscapes, as well as farmland, “are designed for people – not designed to share with other living creatures,” Foster said.
What makes a yard bird-friendly? Foster said providing native plants, food, water and cover are positive ways to establish a bird-friendly yard, but avoiding the use of pesticides, getting rid of invasive plants, preventing window collisions, and keeping cats indoors are also necessary for success.
Foster defined native plants as plants that “coevolved with other life in an ecosystem.” She listed several plants commonly seen in Arkansas landscapes – butterfly bushes, crape myrtles, Bradford pears, nandina, lantana, daffodils – and said none are native to this region. While some non-native plants can be used without harming the overall habitat, Foster stressed that host plants – specific plants that insects, notably moth and butterfly caterpillars, must have to feed and develop – must always be native. For example, Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed.
The transition from a manicured lawn to a bird-friendly environment takes time, and Foster offered suggestions on “how to repurpose”: begin the transition from exotic ornamentals to native ornamentals, reduce the area now in lawn, and create corridors connecting natural areas with neighbors. “Rethink pretty,” she added. “Is this a host plant? Will it attract insects or birds?”
Foster said yards that have been repurposed restore and maintain the ecosystem because they provide native plants to support pollinators and host native insects, provide habitat for native bees, birds, and other wildlife, use fewer nonrenewable resources, and reduce pollution.
Native plants also provide food for birds – fruits, seeds, and nectar, and attract the insects that birds eat. Foster explained that while some birds (finches, sparrows, cardinals) eat seeds, most birds must eat caterpillars to feed their young. As an example, Foster said chickadees require 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to raise one brood, and caterpillars only live on native plants.
Foster discussed keystone plants, or native plant species that are essential to ecosystems. These plants host many beneficial insects and support local food systems. Foster offered one example: In the Hot Springs Village area, oak trees support more than 400 species of caterpillars, while the lovely ginkgo tree only hosts four species. Cherry, birch, hickory, and willow trees each support more than 200 species.
Foster said goldenrod is a keystone plant that supports many species of caterpillars and bees, and serves as an important protein source for many birds.
Water is also a necessary component to attract and sustain birds, and cover is important, especially for birds that winter in the area. The ideal mix of vegetation includes vertical layers (ground or leaf cover, shrubs, and trees) to support varied species.
Foster recommended books to help with the transition to a bird-friendly yard, including Douglas Tallamy’s “Nature’s Best Hope” (which also comes in a children’s version) and two books by Benjamin Vogt – “A New Garden Ethic” and “Prairie Up.” Foster shared Vogt’s philosophy about gardens: “A garden is not just an extension of us.”
She also recommended websites for research on plants, including illinoiswildflowers.info (“my favorite, because it discusses faunal relationships in great detail – and not just bees and butterflies,” said Foster), wildflower.org from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, plants.ces.ncsu.edu (NC Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), and missouribotanicalgarden.org.