PHOTO PROVIDED Shown is a chokeberry plant’s leaves with fruit in this photo by Jim Green.

This year’s state of the birds report reveals that the major declines in bird populations reported by Science Journal in 2019 are unfortunately continuing. The 2019 article stated the staggering population loss of 2.9 billion birds in the U.S. and Canada since 1970.

Most, though not all, species have continued to decline in the years since. 

Separate long-term studies show that many insect species are also in decline. For example, a study published in March 2025 in Science Journal revealed that the population of butterflies in the Lower 48 declined by 22% between 2000 and 2020, and 13 times as many butterfly species declined over that two-decade period than increased.

There are multiple reasons for these declines, including but not limited to mortality from housecats and feral cats (for birds), pesticides, window and vehicle collisions and habitat loss.

The good news is that there are actions that homeowners and landowners can take to counter these declines.

Feeding birds alone is not the answer, since the declines are happening as the number of Americans feeding birds has increased. The decline in many insect species likely contributes to the bird declines since the vast majority of our songbirds feed their babies insects, including seed-eating species such as cardinals, juncos, and nuthatches.

Research by entomologist and ecologist Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” focuses heavily on caterpillars, which are simply the larval stage of butterflies, moths and skippers — all members of the order of insects we call Lepidoptera.

The research shows that Lepidoptera larvae are the most important insect food for young birds because they are large and packed with calories, protein and fats. Most are also soft and easily swallowed.

Bird parents that struggle to find enough Lepidoptera larvae need to travel farther from nests to search for enough food for their family or else feed them less nutritious food, lowering the odds of fledglings surviving to become breeding adults able to keep populations stable.

Most caterpillar larvae are able to digest only one or a very small number of plant species’ leaves. The best known example of a Lepidoptera ‘specialist’ is the Monarch Butterfly larvae, which only eat Milkweed plants. Research by Tallamy and others demonstrates that plants native to a region serve as caterpillar food far better than do exotic plants, and also that certain native plant species far outperform other natives as larval plant hosts.

The top outperformers or keystone species include oaks, cherries, birches, cottonwoods, willows and maples.

Planting multiple species of keystone plants in our yards and reducing the amount of both mowed lawn and invasive exotic plants are important actions that can help our avian friends.

Oaks are the top keystone plant, serving as larval host for hundreds of Lepidoptera species. Any of our native oaks are good trees to consider if you have the room: white, pine, red, chestnut, scarlet, black. Red oak, quercus rubra, is known as a fast grower though any oak is of course an investment in the future.

If you don’t have space for black cherry trees in your yard, why not consider chokecherry, prunus virginiana?

This small, fast-growing tree that can easily sucker into thickets not only supports hundreds of lepidoptera species but also yields red cherries in July that serve as a bird magnet. Chokecherry needs at least partial sunlight and can thrive on various soil types.

River birch, betula nigra, is another fast-growing keystone tree that’s gained interest among landscapers in recent decades, due partly to its multi-colored exfoliating bark.

Though it prefers damp soil it will prosper on average soil as long as you water it during dry periods. It usually tops out around 50′ in height and produces seeds in the late spring that chickadees and other seed-eating birds eat.

Serviceberries are small trees that are one of the first natives in our region to produce a bounty of fruit in the growing season. After a beautiful albeit brief display of white flowers in April or early May, the fruit ripens in June when catbirds, robins, cedar waxwings and many other species dine on the tasty berries, which many humans also savor.

Both Allegheny serviceberry, Amelanchier laevis, and downy serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea, are native to our region and easily grown in full or partial sunlight.

These are only a sample of bird-friendly trees and shrubs.

To learn more, visit homegrownnationalpark.org. Questions? Email lycomingaudubon@gmail.com, attention Jim.

A high school field biology course initiated Jim Green’s lifelong interest in the natural world. Since 2003, Jim has significantly shrunk his lawn by adding a variety of native plants to his modest-sized yard in Williamsport with the goal of attracting birds and other wildlife. He has authored a ‘Gardening for Birds’ article for the Lycoming Audubon Society newsletter since 2008.