National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Backyard Wildlife (Paperback)

~ (Author), Glee Barre (Designer) "The secret to attracting birds, butterflies, and other wonderful wildlife to your backyard lies in restoring their natural habitat..." (more)
Key Phrases: shrub row, invasive exotic species, habitat garden, Backyard Wildlife Habitat, North America, National Wildlife Federation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this handsome book, Mizejewski, manager of the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, offers a short guide to creating gardens and yards that promote ecological balance and provide natural habitats for a wide variety of wildlifeâ€"birds, butterflies, toads, snakes, bats, bees and necessary predators such as spiders, beetles, owls and hawks. In uncomplicated text accompanied by stunning photographs, he suggests native plants that can be used to attract birds and butterflies and gives simple instructions for family projectsâ€"creating attractive bird feeders and stocking them with food; building nesting boxes for birds, butterflies and bats, and houses for frogs, toads and salamanders; making and maintaining birdbaths, drinking areas, ponds and wetland habitats. The most valuable parts of the book are those in which Mizejewski emphasizes the importance of using native plants to maintain the mutual relationships that plants, animals and other living organisms have developed over the millennia and explains how exotic imports can disrupt this balance. His lists of desirable native plants and undesirable exotics are far from comprehensive, but he directs the reader to Web sites where further information is available. The text is brief, but with its 170 color photos, it provides a good starting point for homeowners who want to create attractive natural habitats. The book concludes with instructions for registering wildlife-friendly gardens with the National Wildlife Federation as official Backyard Wildlife Habitat sites.
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Review

"To create your own backyarde habitat, you will need no other guide than this book. It is full of practical ideas, clever projects and delighful photographs."-Valerie Kelsey, President of the National Gardening Association.
-- Review

To create your own backyard habitat, you’ll need no other guide than this book, full of practical ideas, clever projects. -- Valerie Kelsey Ed.D, President, National Gardening Association

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Creative Homeowner; 1st edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580111505
• ISBN-13: 978-1580111508
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #309,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nice overview, but not helpful otherwise, September 21, 2005

By	D Darkman (New York State) - See all my reviews

This book outlines several topics, one or two pages per topic, such as birdbaths, artificial ponds, etc., various topics that are all relevant, interesting, and just what you want... but it doesn't treat any one topic thoroughly or well enough. Well before I bought this book, I already knew a bit about how to provide habitats to encourage bees (for example). This book only gave a very rough overview of how to create one type of bee environment (how to make tubes to attract mason bees) but didn't even indicate that there are other types of bees (such as bumble bees... honey bees... various other bee species, each of which need their own particular type of home built for them), let alone give guidelines how to attract them. The most important thing, choosing plants that are bird-friendly or bee-friendly or animal-friends, it handles in a very superficial manner. True, it may list a few species of plants, but it hardly gives a comprehensive list. It doesn't say anything about the plants, such as zones, light/shade preference, etc. In summary, if there's anything you want to do, such as choose plants carefully, you'll need to buy another book. Beehouses? Buy another book or scour the internet. Yes, this book will motivate you, will make you feel, how nice it will be to build a butterfly-friendly garden. But it doesn't really give you what you need to do it, besides make you feel good about it. Do you want to build a birdhouse? Scoure the internet or buy another book. The only thing this book is good for, is to tell you the few topics you should start to think about. And that, you can get just by reading the Table of Contents. Oddly, it spends many pages describing home recipes for making bird cakes and patties, out of animal fat and seeds, that you can hang up in your garden -- a sort of Martha Stewart section slipped in the middle of the book there, as though this was the only "specific" information the author had at hand. I would suggest that instead of this, you buy a book that is positively overloaded with info like Degraaf's "Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for Attracting Birds" which lists a page per specie various plants -- start there. Then look up bee boxes on the internet. Etc.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Featuring 17 great projects along with a wealth of tips, April 3, 2004

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Illustrated throughout with enticing color photographs, Attracting Birds, Butterflies, And Other Backyard Wildlife by David Mizejewski (Manager, Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program) is an exceptional and highly recommended homeowner's guide featuring 17 great projects along with a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques to create gardens filled with wildlife sights, sounds, and natural wonders. Featuring advice for obtaining certification for a backyard habitat in the NWF's Backard Wildlife Habitat program, as well as more general suggestions from building amphibian and bee nesting houses, to finding native plants, avoiding West Nile Virus in the water provided for wildlife, butterfly feeders, and so much more, Attracting Birds, Butterflies, And Other Backyard Wildlife is a first-rate informational guide and a welcome addition to personal and community library Wildlife and Gardening reference collections.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Backyard Habitat Book!, February 19, 2004

By	Kay Charter (Omena, MI) - See all my reviews

This attractive book, filled with beautiful photographs and easy to follow hints on how to share backyards with wild creatures, is the best yet published. The book begins by explaining the importance of native plants in a given ecosystem, and it includes the enormous problems that can result when exotics (non-natives) are introduced. The information is then whittled down to backyard size. The section "Providing Water for Wildlife" includes instructions and photographs on how to create an elaborate or simple water feature, and it shows how to fashion a wetland from a gutter downspout. For those concerned about West Nile Virus, there is a fact sheet at the end of the section on how to reduce the potential for exposure.
Every aspect of backyard gardening for wildlife is covered. Whether you have a rooftop garden in the city, an urban condo with a small patio or a large rural yard, this book can help you develop a landscape that will attract more birds, butterflies and other wild creatures into that space. Your life will be enriched both by the process, and by the result.