Indian Nations Audubon Society
Eastern Oklahoma
Muskogee, Tahlequah, Wagoner
Fort Gibson & Tenkiller Lakes
Bird & Wildlife Habitat
It's all about Habitat - without Habitat there are no birds and wildlife!

Viable, sustainable ecosystems are essential for birds, wildlife, and humans.  The National Audubon Society and our chapter,
Indian Nations Audubon Society, are involved in preserving and protecting wildlife habitat.  Bird populations are an excellent
indicator of the health of a specific ecosystem.

The residing species and the habitat, i.e. ecosystems, are interconnected and interdependent.  The birds, plants, trees, and other
wildlife must all be viable and sustainable.  When one species experiences population decimation, the other species are affected.
 In the long-term or extreme the result is catastrophic.

The "Loss of Wolves Changes Canadian Ecosystem" article (below on this page) is an example of the interrelatedness and
interdependence of ecosystems and the species that live within.  The study showed that the wolf population affects the warbler
population.  A canine population has an impact on an avian/bird population!

See the Conservation web page for our current, local habitat campaigns.

See the National Audubon Society's Population & Habitat Campaign web page for global information.

The National Audubon Society also has a web page, Birds of the Boreal Forest, describing the interdependence of neotropical
migratory birds to ecosystems from Alaska & Canada all the way down to South America.

Our Christmas Bird Counts, annual bird counts in a specific area, are another way of monitoring ecosystems.
Preserve & protect Habitat in your own yard!

Below is a list of trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers you can plant on your property to provide habitat for birds and wildlife:

Trees for birds:
American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
American holly (Ilex opaca)
Balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
Black cherry (Prunus serotina)
Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Crabapple (Malus spp.)
Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
Hawthorns (Crataegus spp.)
Hickories (Carya spp.)
Live oak (Quercus virginiana)
Oaks (Quercus spp.)
Red mulberry (Morus rubra)

Shrubs for birds:
Common juniper (Juniperus communis)
Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)
Hollies--both evergreen and deciduous species (Ilex spp.)
Pyracantha (Pyracantha spp.)
Red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Sumacs (Rhus spp.)
Viburnums (Viburnum spp.)
Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera)

Vines for birds:
American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)
Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens and related spp.)
Strawberry (Fragaria spp.)
Trumpet creeper or vine (Campis radicans)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Wild grape (Vitis spp.)

Nectar plants for hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees:
Aster (Aster spp.)
Azalea (Rhododendron spp.)
Bee balm (Monarda spp.)
Butterfly bush (Buddleia alternifolia)
Butterfly weed and other milkweeds (Asclepias spp.)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Clover and other legumes
Columbine (Aquilegia spp.)
Coneflower (Echinacea spp.)
Delphinium (Delphinium spp.)
Fuchsia (Fuchsia spp.)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)
Jewel weed (Impatiens capensis or I. pallida)
Lobelia (Lobelia spp.)
Lupine (Lupinus spp.)
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Phlox (Phlox spp.)
Salvia (Salvia spp.)
Trumpet creeper or vine (Campis radicans)
Weigela (Weigela spp.)
Zinnia (Zinnia spp.)

John Kennington of Tulsa Audubon Society has posted an excellent list of trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plants utilized by
birds and wildlife.  Click here to download the page in Adobe .pdf format (1 page).  This list was provided by Jerry Davis (USFS),
Forest Wildlife Program Manager, of the Ouachita National Forest.
Click on map or here to go to USFS website with original map and detailed information on each ecosystem.
Click on map or here to go to website with original map and more detailed information.
Click here to go to the Ancient Cross Timbers Consortium home page.
"Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better
understands her own affairs than we."
Michel de Montaigne
Loss of wolves changes Canadian ecosystem

Staff and agencies
01 August, 2005

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent Mon Aug 1, 3:08 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The loss of once-plentiful wolves in a part of Canada‘s west allowed the elk population to mushroom, pushing
out beavers and songbirds and showing the importance of top predators, Canadian researchers said on Monday.

Although scientists have long noted that the loss of even one species can have profound effects, the report is one of the first large-
scale studies to show clearly the widespread consequences of losing a predator at the top of the food chain.

Mark Hebblewhite of the University of Alberta, and colleagues studied what happened in "a serendipitous natural experiment"
when wolves returned to part of the Bow Valley of Banff National Park in Alberta.  Wolves were driven out in the 1960s "because
that‘s what we did then," Hebblewhite said.

"The first wolf pack recolonized the Bow Valley of Banff National Park in 1986. High human activity partially excluded wolves from
one area of the Bow Valley, whereas wolves made full use of an adjacent area," the researchers wrote in their report, published in
the journal Ecology.  Willow trees, river-loving birds called willow warblers and American redstarts, and beaver dams once were
common in Bow Valley and surrounding areas.  But in the areas where wolves remained scarce and elk populations
mushroomed, these plants and animals were less common.

The wolves clearly had a major effect on elk.  Elk populations were 10 times as high in areas where there were no wolves,
Hebblewhite‘s team found.  This meant that elk could be found in suburban backyards, and sometimes on hiking trails.

"Seven people are sent to hospitals every year on average by getting into a fight with an elk," he said. "They are 250 kg (550
pounds) on average so you don‘t want to get into a fight with one.  But being a park they couldn‘t just go willy-nilly shooting elk and
as a society we have advanced beyond wildlife management by just shooting things."

The elk browsed on tender young willows, leaving little for beavers and willow-dwelling birds.  Aspen trees seemed less affected.
"We also found that as elk populations climbed, active beaver lodges declined, probably because beavers could no longer find
sufficient trees with which to build their dams,"Hebblewhite said in a statement.

But in the parts of the park where wolves returned, the elk populations in affected areas fell and willows were coming back.  While
other predators such as grizzlies might have played a role, Hebblewhite‘s team noted, bears were never completely driven from
the park while wolves were.

"Yes, wolves are ecologically important. It (the study) bolsters the importance of conserving species like wolves and other top
carnivores," Hebblewhite said.
Gray Wolf
Canis lupus
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla