Okay, but what makes a yard a bird paradise?

E15. Most people picture a bird-friendly yard and imagine feeder, birdbath, maybe a decorative birdhouse with mortgage vibes. And feeders are great. But a feeder can give you the illusion of helping birds without creating the thing birds need most: habitat.In this episode, Dr. Doug Tallamy, Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, joins Scott to explain why your yard is conservation infrastructure in disguise, and what it actually takes to turn it into a place birds can live, breed, and thrive.In this episode you'll hear about:Why "plant natives" is just the beginning, and which keystone plants actually move the needle for birdsThe surprising reason a beautiful all-native garden can still function like a food desertWhat Homegrown National Park is, and how your yard fits into a continent-wide conservation strategyReady to do more than feed birds? Join the Homegrown National Park pledge at homegrownnationalpark.org and start shifting your patch of earth.All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:Chestnut-sided warbler audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML191085Northern parula audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML79471Carolina chickadee audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML100756Oriental pied-hornbill audio contributed by Warren Y. Brockelman, ML170843Northern cardinal audio contributed by Wil Hershberger, ML249823Black-capped chickadee audio contributed by Jay McGowan, ML202239