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Backyard Basic Requirements Cover

Important Cover Types for Wildlife

• Cavities
• Burrows
• Nest Cover
• Escape Cover

Cavities - Many yard species including wrens, bluebirds, swallows, purple martins, woodpeckers, tree squirrels, and raccoons use or require some sort of tree cavity. If you want cavity nesting species to call your yard home during the summer, suitable cavities must be on the property. Nest boxes and houses can supplement natural cavities if your yard lacks an abundance of large trees. They need to be weatherproof and designed for the species you wish to attract. Points to consider when building or selecting nest structures are the building materials, size of the box, size the opening, height of placement, orientation, and method of hanging. See Nest Boxes for Wildlife for more details.

Burrows - Rabbits, raccoons and foxes use or require burrows for nesting. Woodchucks are the only native species that can create burrows used by these species. Abandoned woodchuck burrows are used by several wildlife species as summer dens or winter hibernation sites. However, woodchucks can cause substantial damage by feeding on vegetation and burrowing under structures or in lawns. If you are unwilling or unable to allow woodchucks to frequent your property, artificial burrow structures can be constructed.

Nest Cover - Many of the bird species wishing to call your yard their summer home need suitable places to build their nests. Robins, doves, cardinals, blue jays, cedar waxwings, and goldfinches will build open cup nests in tall shrubs and conifer trees located around your home. Most of the tall shrub species recommended as a source of fruit above are excellent places for these species to nest. The density and shape of their branches provide the needed structure and cover sought by these birds as they search for the site to build their summer home. Adding some conifers such as northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), white pine (Pinus strobus), or Norway spruce (Picea abies), will provide valuable nest sites and winter roosting cover for most of these species and will increases the attractiveness of your yard as a summer nest location.

Indigo buntings, cardinals, catbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and others nest closer to the ground and will seek out short shrub species like those mentioned in the fruit section above. Locate these shrubs in clusters or near other elements of cover to increase their attractiveness as nest sites.

Some species such as cottontail rabbits, vesper sparrows, and meadowlarks all require patches of dense ground cover for nesting. This is a situation where larger is better making them less vulnerable to predators including foxes, raccoons, dogs and house cats in the neighborhood. Flower beds with a grass component, native wildflower/forb patches, and areas of grass that are allowed to grow to maturity (mentioned above under insects) will all provide this ground nesting component. Locate the ground cover adjacent to shrubs and other types of escape cover to increase its attractiveness and use to wildlife.

Escape Cover -Most wildlife species living in your yard are potential prey to predators that also visit your property. They will feel the most at home if they have the proper protection they need from predators. Plants with thorns make excellent escape cover for most species. The shrubs, conifers, weedy patches, cavities, nest boxes, and burrows mentioned throughout this article will also provide cover that will make your coveted backyard visitors feel at home.

When planning the placement and arrangement of all the habitat components around your yard, visualize yourself in the place of the wildlife you want to attract. Answering these questions as you plan your landscape projects this spring and summer, will make your yard much more inviting to wildlife visitors.

• When feeding in your yard, is it possible to get to escape cover if you are attacked by a predator?
• Can you travel among sources of food, water, and cover without feeling overly exposed to danger?
• Do nest sites provide enough safety and seclusion, or are they left exposed and vulnerable?

If the answers to these questions are less than desirable, slight adjustments in planting arrangement can fix the problem. Adding additional structures such as brush piles and patches of dense natural vegetation can also greatly improve escape cover by connecting the habitat components in your yard.