Mike
I purchased a home on a few acres in a Midwestern Oak forest this summer. At our old home, we had managed to attract a wide variety of songbird and insect eating birds by placing houses and feeders.
We've noticed this fall that our new property is almost devoid of songbirds and we see few insect eaters. Crows are quite common, there's a large alfalfa field and two rivers less than half a mile away. We've seen other large birds, owls, dozens of turkey and can hear the occasional woodpecker although haven't spotted one yet.
What are some birds that I can try to attract to a dense upland oak forest? I'll seeding in some service berry, elderberry and beach plum this fall - but it's going to take a few years before these are producing. So I'd like to setup some nesting box and feeders, but I'm not sure what kind of birds I need to setup for. I'm looking for songbirds and birds that would control flying insects.
Answer
Those understory options are a great addition to any acidic upland forest canopy. Remember to put the elderberry in a partially wet area since they appreciate damp environments (rain gutter runoff, etc). The american plum and serviceberry can take dryer areas, I'm not sure about the beach plum unless there's a lake nearby with lots of water and sand. I would say a better bet would be ninebark, and several dogwood species including redosier, gray, and flowering. Sassafras, persimmon and pawpaw are perfect for edge areas.
Your best bet for flying insect control would be eastern phoebe's, great crested flycatchers, catbirds, chickadees and tufted titmice, all of which have no problem nesting near houses. The woodpecker and turkeys are a good sign that birds are attempting to setup shop in the area. These birds need a heavy undergrowth and shelter (nestboxes for woodpeckers, chickadees and titmice) in order to rear their young and protect themselves from the predators (the owls that you have heard probably realize these areas are easy pickings because of the lack of vegetation). The birds also utilize nestboxes in winter in order to hide from the cold and winds.
From my own experience, the biggest hindrance to additional bird populations is the severe over-populations of white-tailed deer. They basically wipe out every piece of vegetation from the ground up to four feet (aptly known as the "browse line"). I have heavily invested in wire circles around my native dogwoods, and the local deer have very aggressively attempted to wipe out the plants, going so far as to bend the fences inward by standing on them.
However, after three years of growth (and deer prevention), I had several dozen bird species in my yard, including several very aggressive bug (and berry) eaters like catbirds, great-crested flycatchers, gray gnatcatchers, and the ever-hungry eastern phoebes.
Those understory options are a great addition to any acidic upland forest canopy. Remember to put the elderberry in a partially wet area since they appreciate damp environments (rain gutter runoff, etc). The american plum and serviceberry can take dryer areas, I'm not sure about the beach plum unless there's a lake nearby with lots of water and sand. I would say a better bet would be ninebark, and several dogwood species including redosier, gray, and flowering. Sassafras, persimmon and pawpaw are perfect for edge areas.
Your best bet for flying insect control would be eastern phoebe's, great crested flycatchers, catbirds, chickadees and tufted titmice, all of which have no problem nesting near houses. The woodpecker and turkeys are a good sign that birds are attempting to setup shop in the area. These birds need a heavy undergrowth and shelter (nestboxes for woodpeckers, chickadees and titmice) in order to rear their young and protect themselves from the predators (the owls that you have heard probably realize these areas are easy pickings because of the lack of vegetation). The birds also utilize nestboxes in winter in order to hide from the cold and winds.
From my own experience, the biggest hindrance to additional bird populations is the severe over-populations of white-tailed deer. They basically wipe out every piece of vegetation from the ground up to four feet (aptly known as the "browse line"). I have heavily invested in wire circles around my native dogwoods, and the local deer have very aggressively attempted to wipe out the plants, going so far as to bend the fences inward by standing on them.
However, after three years of growth (and deer prevention), I had several dozen bird species in my yard, including several very aggressive bug (and berry) eaters like catbirds, great-crested flycatchers, gray gnatcatchers, and the ever-hungry eastern phoebes.
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Title Post: Attracting birds to upland oak forest?
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