Mariette Nowak is helping bird lovers step up their games with Birdscaping in the Midwest: A Guide to Gardening With Native Plants to Attract Birds.
Despite the regional references, the ideas can be easily transplanted to Vancouver Island.
Nowak, a retired nature centre director, encourages her readers to create yards filled with plants that provide not just food for birds, but also cover, nesting and water.
The book includes photos and descriptions of nine wildlife gardens in urban, suburban and rural settings to give readers ideas about what they can accomplish in their own yards. Nowak also teaches readers the basics of creating a bird habitat, helps them choose plants and other features that appeal to specific birds and includes information on maintaining a habitat and dealing with problems that commonly arise.
Birdscaping in the Midwest is to be released next week from the University of Wisconsin Press. It's priced at $34.95 US in softcover.
