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Embrace natural landscapes to support wildlife
Creating natural spaces and embracing our native ecosystem is the best and surest way to provide excellent habitat for Illinois wildlife. From a diverse native garden to carefully curated ecological resources, find great strategies for creating habitat below.
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Leave Dead Trees
It might surprise you to learn that a dead tree has immense value as wildlife habitat. While standing, a dead and decaying tree’s soft wood offers woodpeckers and other birds the opportunity to excavate nesting holes into the trunk or branches. Wood-boring insects speed the process of decay and serve as food for woodpeckers. As the bark sloughs away from the trunk, the space underneath provides prime habitat for female bats and their pups. When a dead tree falls to the ground, or even before, small mammals and snakes will occupy the spaces within and under the bark. Squirrels and other animals use downed trees as runways to move about the forest, and snakes will rest their head on a log for easy access to prey. Fungi colonize dead wood, as do lichen and other decomposers.
If falling wood poses no danger to you or your home, leaving dead trees and old stumps to degrade in the environment naturally is a simple way to provide habitat for many forms of wildlife.
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Support Healthy Waterways
Between the long and low tapering edge of Lake Michigan, the wet prairies and marsh kettles of Central Illinois, and the expansive Cypress-tupelo swamps of southern Illinois, about 8.5 million acres of Illinois used to be some type of wetland. Today, most of that habitat has been drained, paved over, or plowed under.
Help Illinois wildlife recover by maintaining healthy ponds with native shoreline vegetation. Don’t have a pond? No problem! Visit Lawn To Lakes to find out how you can maintain your lawn in a way that doesn’t damage aquatic ecosystems, or Extension’s Red Oak Rain Garden to learn how to create native habitat that prevents stormwater damage. Local governments and businesses may be interested IIllinoisGroundwork, a definitive resource on green stormwater infrastructure.
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Grow Native Plants
Native wildlife use native plants for nesting sites, as cover from predators, and as food. Native herbivorous insects convert enormous quantities of native vegetation into food suitable for migratory birds, small mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Native plants also provide food to wildlife directly, whether as vegetation for large herbivores or as berries and seeds for our many frugivorous and omnivorous birds and mammals. Because native plants are so vital to revitalizing native ecosystems, they’ve become popular additions to the home garden. Check out the Red Oak Rain Garden native plant guides and Illinois pollinators habitat page for garden layouts using backyard-friendly native plants. Having trouble finding native plants to put in your garden? Look here for a list of native plant resources. Want to include native grasses in your home landscape? Grasses at a Glance has you covered.
Creating Habitat for Birds
The garden doesn’t stop being a haven in the winter months. Lots of wildlife can use your yard for over-wintering and provide a delightful spectacle on cold days as we look out dreaming of warmer weather. Attracting birds to the winter landscape can be incredibly rewarding for people of all ages...
University of Illinois ornithologist Michael Ward discusses the plight of birds. Are the declining populations dire? Why are Midwestern migrating birds being found in shark stomachs in the Gulf of Mexico? Ward tells what is being done across the borders, in Illinois agricultural lands, and how...
Thinking about building a pond on your property for wildlife, fishing, livestock, storm water containment, fire protection, or other reasons? Not sure where to start on site selection, sizing, estimating drainage area, overflow needs, embankment requirements, etc.? Explore important...