When should you trim your trees?
Does it really matter?
Does it really matter?
Nesting season runs from late February through September. Completing your tree pruning or removals outside of that window can greatly help the bird population by keeping trees intact for nesting birds. Birds will nest inside of tree cavities, in the crooks of tree limbs, and even in Spanish Moss hanging from trees.
The North American bird population has declined around 30% since 1970, that’s nearly three billion birds.1 Those numbers are devastating and do not bode well for the ecosystem that we live in.
It may not be obvious, but without birds, our bug populations would grow immensely and affect crop production globally.
Birds play a vital and beneficial role in our ecosystem. They eat mosquitoes and garden pests, pollinate plants, and distribute the seeds of native plants. Trees play a vital role in birds' lives as well, they use them to teach their young to fly, feed them on the branches, and hunt for bugs or berries in their canopies.
Most bird populations are in decline or have drastically declined due to overdevelopment and deforestation, window strikes, feral cats attacks, and other human actions.
Every step that we can take towards helping to maintain their numbers is a huge benefit for our entire ecosystem.
“A study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions in 2017 found that nearly 20% of all bird species around the world rely on tree cavities for roosting or nesting, and a subsequent analysis found that there are some areas of the world where nearly all cavities occupied by birds are made by woodpeckers.”2
Woodpeckers often make multiple holes in trees but only nest in one. They make the “dummy” nests to confuse predators or other birds and use those holes for resting.
Woodpeckers also don’t often use the same nest hole each year so they create these cavities that can be used by other birds and creatures.
Florida is home to more than 20 cavity nesting birds, North America is home to over 80. Birds aren’t the only creatures that use tree cavities for nesting. Raccoons, squirrels, bats, even some smaller creatures like frogs and moths use them too.
Many people don’t realize how many animals are put at risk by removing trees during nesting season. Animals don’t just nest in trees, they use them to escape the cold and other inclement weather like hurricanes.
Dead trees are also critical to leave standing for birds. Those trees are often hollow and easier to nest in for birds like chickadees who make their own nest cavities.
1 https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/
2 https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/hole-story-how-woodpeckers-make-homes-forest/