Habitat hab·i·tat (n): from Latin habitāre, to dwell.
1. The ecological location where an organism resides
2. Where one lives and raises their young.
Essential Elements of a Backyard Habitat
Food: native plants, seeds, pollen, nectar, berries, nuts, bird feeders, insects and worms
Water: bird baths, ponds, streams, water garden, occasional puddles
Cover: dense thicket or bramble, brush piles, meadows, birdhouse, rock and leaf piles
Places to raise young: nesting box, hollow trees, rock piles, fallen logs or branches, dense vegetation, deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, a pond
Sustainable gardening: native plantings, rain garden, compost, and chemical-free fertilizer, evidence of beneficial insects and worms
2. Where one lives and raises their young.
Essential Elements of a Backyard Habitat
Food: native plants, seeds, pollen, nectar, berries, nuts, bird feeders, insects and worms
Water: bird baths, ponds, streams, water garden, occasional puddles
Cover: dense thicket or bramble, brush piles, meadows, birdhouse, rock and leaf piles
Places to raise young: nesting box, hollow trees, rock piles, fallen logs or branches, dense vegetation, deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, a pond
Sustainable gardening: native plantings, rain garden, compost, and chemical-free fertilizer, evidence of beneficial insects and worms
Local Communities:
Learn about our
North Carolina Piedmont Habitat
(click map to left)
North Carolina Piedmont Habitat
(click map to left)
Encounters with Flora & Fauna:
Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)
on Milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca)
Montgomery, Illinois
Photo: KCMartin 2013
on Milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca)
Montgomery, Illinois
Photo: KCMartin 2013
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
(Pterourus glaucus)
UNC Asheville Botanical Garden
Photo: KCMartin 2012
(Pterourus glaucus)
UNC Asheville Botanical Garden
Photo: KCMartin 2012