By: Rylan Suehisa - Public Affairs Officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based in Portland, Oregon

In the morning when you wake up during this time of Quarantine, what’s the first thing you hear? If it’s not a family member or roommate bugging you to “Get out of bed already!” - (I’ll raise my hand to that), chances are you’re greeted by a chorus of bird song.

As the current pandemic has many of us sheltering in place, we are experiencing nature more acutely. Instead of turning on the TV for morning commute traffic updates, we can take an extra minute or two to focus in on the birdsong coming in through the window, or note a flurry of actively-foraging birds in a nearby Douglas Fir tree. With current circumstances the way they are, we have more time to appreciate the little things.

Yet behind these much-needed moments of zen lies an incredible phenomenon - spring migration. With more than three billion birds heading north throughout North America creating a beautiful seasonal spectacle, migration is something to get pumped about.

Western tanager, credit: Peter Pearsall/USFWS

We’ve just celebrated World Migratory Bird day (WMBD), where a whole flock of bird lovers from around the globe gathered together in collective awe and appreciation of birds’ incredible springtime journeys. Showcasing the inter-connectivity of bird conservation through many virtual events around the world, WMBD participants stirred up a gust of momentum that has us thinking about the remaining duration of spring migration. How can we do our part throughout May into early June?

With much of the world under lockdown, these action items should follow guidelines set forth by your local and national leaders. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that means sticking close to home for now. So from your garden, to your porch, to the grocery store, join us in the coming weeks as we explore some of the ways we can help birds along their journeys.

Let’s get started! First up…

Make informed choices about the plants in your garden.

Black-capped chickadee with insect at William L. Finley NWR. Credit: George Gentry/USFWS

It’s hard to imagine that a tiny nickel-sized bird such as a Wilson’s Warbler travels 2,000 miles or more on its way from wintering in Mexico to northern nesting grounds each year, or that migrating songbirds such as western tanagers, vireos and flycatchers expend up to half their body weight to make their own journeys north. Given these circumstances, it’s not so difficult to grasp a songbird’s need for breaks along the way. Once they’ve landed they need to refuel their tiny bodies to recover and complete the rest of their journey.

These waves of small yet determined travelers often fan out across wild spaces, but also urban areas, voraciously eating any small insect they can find. Yet depending on what’s growing in your garden, a songbird might land to discover a bountiful buffet waiting, or nothing more than a colorful but empty picnic table. A couple keys to meeting the stopover needs of a bird on migration are planting native vegetation and eliminating all use of pesticides, especially those known as neonicotinoids, from your yard.

Native plants provide critical supplies of pollen and nectar for a host of pollinating species including caterpillars - delicacies that many spring migrants love!  Non-native plants may have the vivid colors and more showy flowers, but some do not provide nectar nor pollen and research shows that native pollinators generally visit more native flowering plants. Birds in turn visit these same plants in search of the abundant insects found among their leaves. Native plants also have many advantages since they are accustomed to the local climate and native soils, and once established they need minimal care.

As you head over to your local nursery in search of native plants, inquire about that establishment’s use of neonicotinoids, one of the most prevalent pesticides around the world today. “Neonics,” as they are called, are highly toxic to pollinators such as butterflies and bees, but also toxic to birds that eat the dosed insects.  A growing number of nurseries are specifying where these pesticides are in use among their offerings so you can be sure that the native plants you purchase will actually bring the insects and birds you’re hoping for.

For more information on neonicotinoids, hear from Regional Refuge Biologist Joe Engler.

For strategies to incorporate native plants into your garden, check out this piece from Regional Bird Biologist David Leal.  

Next week, we’ll look into building birdhouses for resident songbirds that will be singing and raising young throughout the summer. Stay tuned!