The Habitat Connection

Bird research has gotten pretty high-tech over the years, but bird banding, one of the oldest methods used for the study and conservation of birds, remains one of the most valuable ways to track their movements, behaviors, longevity, and population changes. It doesn’t physically harm birds, and the information gathered is critical to our understanding of what they need to survive.

🌱Bird banding is conducted at several Davidson and Williamson County parks and nature sanctuaries by trained professionals and volunteers. Below are a few of the stories local banders have captured—and recaptured—at Warner Parks over the years:

🐦An Eastern Bluebird was banded at Warner Parks as a nestling in July 2010 and was then recaptured in 2016 in Wisconsin where she was observed incubating eggs on a nest. She was six-years-old and had migrated 600 miles! Migration is unusual for Eastern Bluebirds who tend to stay in the area where they hatch.

🐦An Indigo Bunting was banded in 1998 at Warner Parks, then recaptured in the same spot again in 1999, and then again in 2000! Just goes to show how important conserving habitat is for birds.

🐦A Tufted Titmouse was first banded at Warner Parks in 2008, its hatch year, and then recaptured in 2019 at the ripe old age of 11! Again, the habitat at Warner Parks provides everything that birds need to live long and prosper.

🌱To learn more about bird banding, visit https://nc.audubon.org/news/how-banding-supports-bird-conservation-science

What can a Certified Bird Sanctuary look like? Here's a glimpse into how the property of one of our partners has come along since our site visit.

Lynne continues to go above and beyond since she signed up for our Bird Sanctuary Certification program in 2021. Reducing her lawn and replacing nonnative invasive plants with native plants are just a couple of the ecological, bird-friendly stewardship practices she's implemented to transform her yard into this beautiful, healthy habitat that supports the biodiversity that birds, pollinators, and other wildlife need to survive and thrive in Middle TN. Once she started making changes, the results were almost immediate, and now her yard is a sustaining haven for her and so much other life.

Spring migration is well underway! Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds have flown thousands of miles from South and Central America to get to Tennessee, where they’ll either stay until fall, or fuel up and continue northward. What do they need while they’re here? Healthy habitat! That is, suitable food, water, shelter, and nest sites and materials, things that are becoming harder to find each year due to ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation.

🐦Here are just a few of the gorgeous visitors that have been spotted in Middle TN over the past few weeks. Who’ve you seen?

🌱1) Rose-breasted grosbeak (male) 2) Magnolia warbler (male) 3) American redstart (male) 4) Indigo bunting (male) 5) Scarlet tanager (male) 6) Prothonotory warbler 7) Chipping sparrow

We love the relationships we build through our Bird Sanctuary Certification program. Getting feedback like this always makes our day!

Our spring schedule is filling up fast. Sign up at the 🔗 in bio and partner with us to support bird populations and overall biodiversity on your property.

It's tough to choose what plants to highlight during National Native Plant Month, but on this rainy day in Middle TN, it feels good to gush about the cheery, prolific bloomer Coreopsis, commonly known as tickseed.

🐤 Why do we love this native plant? First and foremost, it is a wonderful pollinator plant, and a wide variety of birds (that gorgeous male goldfinch, for example) love to gobble up the seeds in late fall --that is, if you follow the important stewardship practice of letting your plants go to seed. Doing so enhances the habitat benefits of your lawn and garden for a number or reasons, but especially because it provides a critical food source for resident and migratory birds during the colder months.

🌼 What else do we love? There are over eighty species of this tough, native perennial prairie plant, many of which are native specifically to the southern US and readily available in seed or plant form. They are easy to grow, love the sun, and are drought tolerant. They tend to bloom in early summer all the way through fall and make great companion plants to pretty much any native grass or perennial.

🐦 So if you're looking for something big, bright, and beneficial, look no further!

🌎 We often utilize this perennial in our larger habitat regeneration projects, too, including on the grounds of the Franklin First United Methodist Church. Read more about the project on our website.

📷1: Male goldfinch munching on Coreopsis seeds in our Programs and Communications Coordinator's backyard
📷2: Mass of Coreopsis in a flower bed. Image courtesy of , Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
📷3: Field of Coreopsis in bloom last summer at FFUMC

What’s the best kind of bird feeder? Native plants!

🐦Birds depend on native plants for their survival, and so a huge part of habitat creation and regeneration is planting native plants and removing introduced invasives that destroy native plant food sources and provide little or no food value themselves.

🌱This coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), for example, is perhaps our favorite TN native vine. You may have heard it referred to as the “good” honeysuckle because it is native and superbly beneficial, whereas the ubiquitous Japanese honeysuckle is highly invasive and ecologically destructive. The nectar in Coral honeysuckle’s red tubular flowers is loved by ruby-throated hummingbirds and butterflies. It also produces red berries in the late fall and winter that are an important food source for songbirds and other wildlife.

1st 📸 by Dick Daniels https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License,_version_1.2
2nd 📸 by Ray Matthews, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
3rd 📸 by Sally & Andy Wasowski, “”

🌎 Happy Earth Day!

🐦 We are over here doing pretty much what we do every day--thinking about birds! We hope you are able to get outside today (and most days) to explore the more-than-human world around you. Get to know your neighbors, like this female Eastern towhee, which is one of TN's year round residents. What does she need to thrive? What, when, and for what reasons does she like to sing? How is her life connected to yours? The answers may surprise and humble you ❤️

📸 by Alan Plummer

🐦Bird populations are in steep decline and The Habitat Connection wants to help change that by promoting ecological lawn and garden practices.

🌱Our 2022 goal is to certify 25 yards as Bird Sanctuaries, and we need your help to get there! At the link in our bio, sign up for our Bird Sanctuary Certification Program to get started on the extraordinary journey of cultivating healthy native habitat on your property that supports the resident and migratory birds we all treasure.

🐦For a one-time donation of $85, we will assess your yard, offer detailed recommendations, and guide you each step of the way as you progress towards certification. And once you get there, you can plant our sign (like the one below) in your yard to show your pride and inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

🌱Whether you're new to ecological landscaping or a practiced adherent, this program will take your love of birds and Middle Tennessee's rich and biologically diverse ecology to the next level.

Link in bio to register and learn more. And please don't hesitate to DM us with questions!

Today is a banner day at The Habitat Connection because we have some exciting announcements!

🐦 We are officially kicking off our Bird Sanctuary Certification Program for 2022! Click the link in our bio to learn more and register to begin the certification process for your own property.

🌱 We are growing! Melinda Baker has joined our team as our Programs and Communications Coordinator. Melinda is a writer, former educator, and certified Tennessee Naturalist. She has a special place in her heart for habitat regeneration and our avian neighbors.

🐦 We are officially launching our social media pages! Follow along to learn more about what we do and how you can support our mission.
DM for inquiries.

The Habitat Connection updated their website address.

The Habitat Connection added a button to help you learn more about them.

Mission Statement: Habitat management initiative focusing on improving ecosystem integrity and habitat connectivity through project activities, education, research and policy.

The Habitat Connection was established in 2020 partially in response to increasing scientific evidence of development related habitat fragmentation as a significant cause of declining avian populations (Rosenberg et al 2019). Our goal is to assist property owners in developing and preserving native habitat that will benefit wildlife in general and avian species in particular. Our primary focus is relatively small property owners such as private home owner associations (HOAs), property management companies, churches, nature sanctuaries, schools, parks, business parks and individual homeowners. One key objective is to move property owners away from traditional turf grass and hybridized nursery landscaping to more indigenous plant communities that support native wildlife. We seek to innovate processes dedicated to establishing and maintaining soil health, native vegetation, and biodiversity which are accessible to all communities, and to make this the new paradigm in landscape management.

The Habitat Connection is a nonprofit corporation operating under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information contact:

[email protected]