portlandhabitatwatch

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Vine maple is a true maple that grows quite differently from Willamette Valley’s other native Acer, the bigleaf maple. True to its name, vine maple grows in a vine-like pattern, sending stems out horizontally, seeking out breaks in the overstory where the sun comes through. But only when growing in shade. When it grows in the sun, vine maple’s multiple stems grow vertically, forming a V-shaped silhouette. You have likely seen this large shrub in many Portland-Vancouver gardens, planted for its characteristic maple foliage, vibrant fall color, and elegant, silvery bark.

Vine maple offers multiple benefits to the various ecosystems it grows in. It re-establishes quickly after wildfires, creating shade for ground cover plants such as sword ferns. As well as needed cover and food for squirrels, chipmunks, black-tailed deer, elk, and mountain beavers. Numerous bird species rely on vine maples for food and nest-building material, including two species of water birds, nine species of upland birds, and six species of songbirds. Add to that the ten confirmed species (including the banded woolybear) and forty suspected species of butterflies and moths that use vine maples as a host plant. Altogether, you can see that vine maple facilitates essential habitat from the forested mountains down to the wetlands and grasslands of our valley.

You can grow vine maple in full shade to full sun and in moist to seasonally wet soils. Consider planting vine maple as a border to a pollinator meadow, in or around a rain garden, bordering a flood zone, or pretty much anywhere that gets enough moisture. Vine maples grow well with Douglas-firs, western hemlocks, Oregon ash, oceanspray, baldhip rose, and pacific waterleaf. As always, do not spray pesticides on or near your vine maple; doing so may harm or kill the shrub and the insects, birds, and mammals that rely on it.

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#maple #shrubs #trees #nature #environment #garden #gardeningwithnatives #ecosytem

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California scrub jays can be spotted year-round in our area, inhabiting open scrublands, specifically oak and pinon, or woodlands. They are territorial during the breeding season, March through April, and will return to the same nesting site each year. Breeding pairs are monogamous and prepare for, feed, and protect their broods together. Non-bonded males often flock together until they successfully defend a territory, sometimes taking seven years to achieve, and attract a mate.

California scrub jays are omnivores and adapt their diets to the changing seasons. They hunt insects, primarily caterpillars, in the early spring during the breeding season. Then in the summer, they switch to consuming mostly fruits and grains. In the fall, they transition to eating seeds and nuts, specifically acorns, as fruit becomes less available. California scrub jays also hunt amphibians and lizards and have been known to prey on other bird species and their eggs.

California scrub jays are essential seed dispersers for many plants and trees. They will often store caches of seeds and nuts on the ground under rocks or plant debris. If they forget where a cache is or about it entirely, the seeds have the opportunity to germinate. California scrub jays have many mutualistic and parasitic relationships with various other organisms. Take the Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), which benefits from California scrub jays consuming ticks and flies from their skin.

You can encourage California scrub jays by planting Oregon white oaks (Quercus garryana), Portland and Vancouver’s powerhouse native oak species. Oak trees are a preferred host plant for California scrub jays for nesting and easy access to acorns. In addition, you can grow plants that attract caterpillars, a favorite food for nestlings, as well as plants that produce fruit. Provide medium-sized rocks or leave small areas of plant debris for California scrub jays to store seeds and nuts. As always, do not spray pesticides on or near your Oregon white oak or caterpillar host plants. Doing so may harm or kill your plants and the insects and California scrub jays that rely on them for food.

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#birds #nature #jays #environment #gardening #gardeningforwildlife

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A wood owl I saw a couple months ago. I wrote a post about the two complex history and interaction of the two wood owl species in the PNW for Portland Habitat Watch. You can read all about it here: https://portlandhabitatwatch.wordpress.com/2022/06/12/wood-owl/. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChNS7rEpm-p/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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#owls #birds

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Fuzzy-horned bumble bees can be spotted from mid-spring through late summer in the Willamette Valley. Colonies that reside at higher elevations in Oregon and Washington have a shorter season, usually emerging a month or two after those at lower elevations. Fuzzy-horned bumble bee colonies are annual; the workers die off in the fall, and only the queen hibernates after mating. She will emerge the following spring to look for a new nest and build up a new colony. Many bumble bee species prefer nests underground, but fuzzy-horned bumble bee nests can be found underground in empty rodent nests, at ground level in grass or debris piles, or higher up in old bird nests or tree cavities.

#bumble bees #bees #native bees #gardening

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Fringecup is an attractive ground cover herb commonly misidentified as alumroot when not flowering. This misidentification is so common that fringecup obtained the common name false alumroot. Despite the confusion, fringecups are easily discerned from alumroot by their deep, cup-shaped calyx and striking petals. The fragrant flowers grow on tall, slight stalks that emerge between April and June. The petals usually start out green or cream-colored, then darken to pink or red as they age. The flowers attract many pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Fringecups also attract pest-eating insects such as ladybugs and have been known to repel slugs.

#gardening #native garden #fringecup #herb #g

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Woodland and wild strawberries support a plethora of wildlife. They are popular with insect pollinators and attract numerous pest-control insects such as ladybugs. Strawberry species play host to nearly 70 species of caterpillars and butterflies. Many of those species have a specialized relationship with strawberries, meaning they rely solely on strawberries for a part of their life cycle, the same way monarchs have a specialized relationship with milkweed. Native caterpillars and butterflies that depend on strawberries include Protorthodes curtica, Agrotis gravis, the brown arches moth, strawberry crown miner, and Miranda moth. In addition, native strawberry species play host to more generalized caterpillars and moths such as the banded woolybear, bronzed cutworms, and Himmelman’s plume moth. Woodland and wild strawberries attract many species of birds as well, attracted not just by delicious strawberries but by the dozens of species of caterpillars that strawberry plants play host to.

#strawberry #native garden #native plants #gardening

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There is not much to be said about the deer fern; whether there is just not that much to this skinny fern or our lack of knowledge results from a lack of research is unclear. That being said, here is what we do know: Deer ferns are characteristic of moist, often maritime forests and have been known to dominate understories. They have two leaf types, sterile and fertile. Sterile leaves form a circle around the center of the plant and stay low to the ground (see picture above) while fertile leaves grow straight up from the center of the plant during the deer fern’s reproductive season. Deer ferns are an important food source for deer and elk during the winter months and are suspected of providing shelter for small birds.

#fern #native fern #deer fern #plants #oregon native plant

[portlandhabitatwatch]

April is the middle of brown creepers’ pre-breeding season; currently, breeding pairs are working together to find a nest site, usually a cavity under a loose piece of bark of a dead or dying tree. The female then begins building the nest where she will incubate the eggs while the male protects the nest and collects food for the female. Males work very hard to defend their territories during the breeding season. They can be heard having heated singing competitions with other males in the lead up to and during breeding. Come fall and winter, territories usually dissolve and flocks of brown creepers will communally forage for spiders, insects, and insect larvae, making them welcome pest control in neighborhoods. Some of the more pesty insects they prey on include fruit flies, gnats, bark beetle parasitoids, and scale insects.

#brown creeper #native bird #birds #oregon native birds

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April is pre-breeding season for red-winged blackbirds. Currently, males can be spotted defining and defending their territories, on average 2,000 square meters, approximately half an acre, while females finish building their nests, weaved together from long, fibrous plant materials such as cattails, sedges, and various barks, in marshes, wetlands, and fields. Multiple females will crowd together into a single male’s territory, usually an average of five, but up to fifteen females have been recorded nesting in one male’s territory. Females typically mate with the male whose territory they nest in, but some will choose to mate with a neighboring male. As a result of their polygynous relationships, females do all of the nest building and incubating. Males may help feed hatchlings and fledglings but it is mainly the role of the female. Males have been observed taking over the care of a nest if the female is killed.

#red-winged blackbird #blackbird #native birds

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Western trilliums are a type of lily that boast symmetrical, elegant flowers from late February to June in Oregon and Washington. The flowers first bloom white, then deepen to pink or purple by the end of the season. Western trilliums are long-lived perennials that don’t begin producing flowers until they are 5-15 years old, then produce a singular flower each growing season for the next ~70 years. Western trilliums have been granted protections in many counties and states after they experienced significant population declines throughout the last few decades. These declines have been linked to habit destruction and over-harvesting.

#trillium #western trillium #pacific trillium

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With a native range stretching across the northern hemisphere, from Canada to Taiwan, mallards are likely the most recognizable waterfowl in the United States and worldwide. Mallards are dabbling ducks, meaning they feed by tipping upside down in the water to catch their food rather than diving. They are generalist omnivores and will pursue almost anything available to them, including wetland vegetation, snails, insects, seeds, and agricultural plants.

#ducks #mallards #waterfowl #water birds

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Golden-crowned sparrows are social, migratory birds that winter in Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. They breed in the summer in Canada and Alaska. Mating pairs are more solitary during the breeding season and are thought to defend territory from other golden-crowned sparrows and thrashes, who compete for the same nesting sites. Interestingly, winter social groups are generally made up of individuals that are not closely related and don’t breed in the same regions. This suggests that strong social bonds and memories are formed in previous winters and last for multiple years, despite separations in the summer. Even though social bonds are stronger in the winter, golden-crowned sparrows tend to be more aggressive during this time, especially when food is scarce

#golden-crowned sparrow #sparrow #native bird #birds

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Osoberry flowers attract a variety of pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Osoberry blooms earlier than any other native deciduous shrub. This makes it an important food source for pollinators as they emerge from hibernation or return from migration. The fruits are a sought-after food source for birds, small mammals, foxes, coyotes, deer, and bears. The fruit is edible for humans but it can be challenging to find before they are eaten by birds. The fruit ranges from sweet to bitter and it is near impossible to tell what you’ll get until you eat it. The range in sweetness is said to be affected by regionality but this has yet to be confirmed.

#osoberry #indian plum #oregon Plum #native shrub

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Split gills are an abundant fungus and native worldwide, barring Antarctica. They are saprobic, meaning they live on and feed off of dead organic matter. Saprobic organisms play an important ecological role by breaking down organic matter, which can then return to the cycle and be taken up by other organisms. Split gills are generalist saprobes, having been recorded living on 150 genera of woody plants in addition to various grass fodders. The name Schizophyllum comes from the Greek “schiz,” meaning “split piece of wood,” and the Greek “phyllon,” meaning “leaf.” Hence, Schizophyllum refers to a split in the gills exhibited in this fungus.

#split gill #mushrooms #fungus

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Sanddune wallflower, also known as western wallflower, exhibits highly variable appearances and growth forms. The flower color is usually yellow or orange but can range from blue to red. Classified as a perennial, this plant is often considered a biennial, as individuals do not often live longer than two years. Sanddune wallflowers are host plants for several caterpillar species as well as nectar sources for butterflies and moths. In addition, these flowers serve as a food source for a variety of native pollinators, including many native bee species. The seeds of sanddune wallflowers are consumed by numerous native insects and birds.

#wallflower #Sanddune wallflower #western wallflower #native flower #wildflower

[portlandhabitatwatch]

Snowberries are important to many species. The small, pink flowers attract numerous insect pollinators in the late spring and throughout the summer. The fruit serve as a valuable food source in the winter. They are not a preferred food source by most birds and small mammals but become a staple when other food sources have been depleted. In addition, snowberries provide ground cover for birds and small mammals in the summer and fall before their leaves drop.

#snowberry #common snowberry #native shrub #winter berry #winter fruit