In school we all learn about the circle of life in one way or another. We learn about the relationship of predators and prey and how they need each other to survive. The same principles apply with the relationship of birds and the insect world. Specifically, caterpillars and other larvae are critical components of the diets of many species of birds. Common Ohio bird species, such as American robins, Red-eyed vireos, Carolina chickadees and Carolina wrens are very fond of caterpillars. Caterpillars also make up about 60-percent of the Yellow warbler’s diet. Caterpillars are the nutritious larvae of butterflies and moths and are a high-quality food source for birds. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, dried caterpillar is about 50-percent protein by weight, and contains 430 calories per 100 grams. In addition to their nutritional value, many caterpillars are easy for birds to find, capture and digest. Birds primarily hunt caterpillars visually, so many species of caterpillar utilize crypsis as a main defense. Crypsis is the ability for an organism to blend in with its environment. There are two types of crypsis: visual and olfactory. Visual crypsis includes venomous spines, urticating hairs or bold colors and patterns to stand out, rather than hide. Olfactory crypsis is the caterpillar’s attempt to hide itself by masking its scent or creating a strong and unpleasant odor to repel potential predators. Birds have adapted to hunt caterpillars successfully despite these defenses. However, the practice of planting nonnative trees, bushes and other plants is a major contributing factor to recent population declines of once plentiful species such as chickadees, warblers, wrens and more. Because native insects did not evolve with nonnative plants, most of them lack the ability to overcome chemical defenses so cannot eat them. Caterpillars are especially selective about what types of host plants they feed on. Over 90-percent of moth and butterfly caterpillars eat only particular native plants or groups of plants. Birds are just as selective. Chickadees prefer to forage on native trees such as young oak, birches, dogwoods, American elms, beeches, red maples, chestnuts, viburnums, eastern red cedars, winterberries and other natives. Nonnative trees are treated as if there are no trees at all. These alien species we have been importing into cities and suburbs for years affect the availability of food for birds during the breeding season. Equally problematic is that alien plants species host very few species of butterflies and moths. Scientific studies have shown that alien shrubs or tree might support one or two species of caterpillars, while native species might support as many as 40. A pair of chickadees for instance, can feed more than 9,000 caterpillars to their clutch of four to six young over a period of 16 days. Homeowners need to think of their suburban or urban backyards as a food web and not as pure decoration, in order to save many species of birds. Thoughtful planting will create a viable food web for the suburban or urban backyard. So what can be done? Take an inventory of what species of plants you have in your yard and remove the nonnative species. Ornamentals such as the butterfly bush, multiflora rose, privet, bush honeysuckle, barberry, Russian olive, European buckthorn, garlic mustard, purple loosestrife, common reed grass, reed canary grass, autumn-olive, Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed, smooth brome, Canada thistle, cutleaf teasel, white sweet-clover and Tree-of-Heaven. Instead, plant a patch of violets to feed fritillary caterpillars. Phlox supports eight species of butterflies. The buttonbush shrub, which has little white flowers, feeds 18 species of butterflies and moths; and blueberry bushes, which also support many species of moths and butterflies. Below is a partial list of recommended native Ohio trees and shrubs you can plant to help the birds by helping butterflies and moths. Trees: Black cherry, hybernaculum, boxelder, Ohio buckeye, paw paw, hackberry, redbud, flowering dogwood, tuliptree, eastern cottonwood, black cherry, common chokecherry, scarlet oak, red oak, black oak, Washington hawthorn, silky dogwood, pagoda dogwood, gray dogwood, smooth sumac and elderberry. Bushes: Wafer ash, pussy willow, and spice bush. Other host plants: Common milkweed, swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, butterfly milkweed, purple milkweed, Sullivant’s milkweed, ashy sunflower, black-eyed susan, dense blazing star, New England aster, tall nettle, Ohio goldenrod, ox eye sunflower, butterfly-weed, clasping-leaved milkweed, green milkweed, green-flowered milkweed, honey-vine, poke milkweed, spider milkweed, white milkweed, whorled milkweed, tall ironweed, purple coneflower, rattlesnake master, smooth aster, spotted joe pye, prairie dock, barren aster, alfalfa and sweet fennel. Stefanie Hauck