From Bird Feeders to Beetles: How a Backyard Became a Bird-and-Insect Sanctuary

Using native plants, citizen science, and long-term observation to grow birds, bees, and biodiversity on 1.3 acres in Vermont

I started with a simple goal: to make our yard a bird sanctuary. In winter, we record birds visiting our feeders and report them to Project FeederWatch. During the rest of the year, we log backyard observations on eBird, both citizen science projects managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As our lists grew, my partner and I began asking a deeper question—not just how many birds we were seeing, but why certain species appeared, and others did not.

Research by entomologist Doug Tallamy helped sharpen the answer. A single pair of breeding chickadees requires between 6,000 and 9,000 caterpillars to raise one clutch of young. Birds, it turns out, follow insects. And insects, in turn, follow native plants. If we wanted more birds, we needed to improve the menu.

I wondered, were we creating the best restaurant for birds? What did we have on the menu, and was the menu improving over time?

With a baseline count and the calculated ratios between (native and non-native) flowering plants, we might eventually be able to assess how adding more native plant species might affect the volume and the diversity of insect and bird life we observe in our yard.

I started a dedicated approach to observing and recording insects ( I call it ‘inverting') in our yard beginning in the year 2020 on iNaturalist. iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you while generating data for science and conservation. A few insects I discovered and posted were the first reported as observed in Vermont.

My partner and I have never been bird counters, only bird observers. However, I admit my recessive competitive gene was jarred into action after observing and recording the first Mock-orange Scissor Bee (Chelostoma philadelphi) in Vermont to be posted on iNaturalist.

What is the high bar? There are just over 350 bee species and approximately 21,400 species of invertebrates in VT.  

The race was on to see how many bee species and how many insect species I might observe. Not being up to traveling the entire state of Vermont, my Olympics were contained to our 1.3-acre yard. 

By the fall of 2024, I reached the one-hundred mark on bee species and about 1,000 insect species. I expect to continue to push past our backyard numbers next year - for birds, bees, and other insects.

Our yard bird species count high was in 2020 at 83. Total lifetime yard bird species:126.

My dominant interest remains the discovery of life in our yard, including the behaviors of each form of life. We believe that the overall number of native plants closely reflects the species richness of invertebrate species. We are entertained and enriched as the diversity of life in our yard grows. The insects and birds benefit from a food and shelter sanctuary. We gain from increased pollination and a more balanced insect diversity, contributing to the health of our vegetable gardens. We enjoy viewing a greater diversity of birds in our yard. And if we break our own records - both my genes are happy. 

Bernie Paquette  (bugeyedbernie on iNaturalist)

Jericho, Vermont