Birds and Butterflies

Pathways that lead to large terrace and Garden House 

Birds and Butterflies

Special effort has been made to attract birds and butterflies to the garden. Many plants are there for them, such as Buddleii, Lantana, Verbena, Salvia Greggii, Verbena Bonariensis, etc. We have seen a number of backyard birds at the water baths: Carolina Wren, House Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Black Capped Chickadee, Striped Warbler, Yellow Finch, Small black Bird with orange Wings (unidentified), Robin, Hummingbird, Mockingbird, Woodpecker, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, White Winged Doves, Blue Jays, and of course, Black Grackles. When the house was first built, we saw a Roadrunner in the garden which is very unusual in this part of town. The Doves come in to eat the decomposed granite to help digest their food. We once counted forty-two doves eating the granite.

Birdbaths: Several birdbaths are kept with fresh water, and of course birdhouses are placed throughout the garden. We have noted the birds are almost always in pairs and both the male and female help feed the babies. They both come to the house with food, and one goes in to feed while the other sits on top of the roof, waiting their turn to feed, and perhaps watching for predators. We once saw a huge black grackle squeeze into the opening of the birdhouse to get to the babies. Blue jays do this as well. When the babies are small and we walk by the birdhouse, they go cheep, cheep, thinking we are bringing them food.

Backyard Butterflies: There are a number of butterflies that come into the garden to feed and lay their eggs on the Fennel, Dill, Asclepia Milkweed, and  Pipe Vine, etc., such as Monarch, Admiral, Sulphur, Zebra, and Swallowtail. We once counted nineteen Monarch larvae on a milkweed. Of course they became quite plump and disappeared to go into the next stage of their growth. Within two weeks after they left the plant, it had completely bushed out again and set blooms. In a short while, there were a lot of Monarchs flying around enjoying the plants.

There are also predators for the butterflies such as lizards. We once saw a lizard sit very still on a tree with his head up, and in a little while a beautiful swallowtail came by and the lizard reached out and grabbed it. Much to our surprise, it took him quite a while to digest it…perhaps his eyes were bigger than his stomach!

Zebra Butterflies: We saw the Zebra Butterfly on the first year after building our house. They seem to be woodland butterflies. Our wooded lot had been left undisturbed for twenty years and was apparently a perfect place for them. Zebra butterflies seem to like people. When we were hand watering, they would come up and hover near us. They move so gracefully and seem to move much slower than other butterflies.