(Description: Man standing in backyard and National Wildlife logo appears in lower right corner, reading, “David Mizejewski Naturalist, NWF”)
[David:] Naturalist, David Mizejewski with the National Wildlife Federation, here. There’s four components of habitat that all wildlife need to survive that you can provide right in your own yard or garden: they’re food, water, cover, and places to raise young. Today, we’re going to talk about cover.
(“Save the Song Birds – Certify Your Yard” appears top center of screen with NWF logo and Wild Birds Unlimited logo in lower left and right center of screen. Then the components icons required to certify your yard: food, water, cover, places to raise young and sustainable practices. Cover appears in center then fades. David appears back on screen.)
[David:] What is cover? Well, cover
(Description: various wildlife are shown in their environment, then David appears on screen again)
[David:] are the resources in the environment that wildlife use to hide from predators. Or if they’re predators, to hide from their prey so they can get a meal. It also refers to places where animals go to get out of the bad weather; so, whether that’s really hot temperatures, or cold, or wind, or heavy rains, wildlife need places to hide. How do you provide that in your yard? Well, it all starts with your plants. If you plant lots of native plants, which are the best for wildlife, plant them densely. So, in other words, don’t just plant a shrub.
(Description: Plants, shrubs, flowers are shown, then David reappears.)
[David:] Plant a shrub row. Don’t just plant one big tree, under-plant it with under-story trees. You’ll provide lots and lots of cover or hiding places for birds and all sorts of wildlife. Now, beyond your plants, you could also buy or build some cool stuff: things like a roosting box. It’s a kind of bird house,
(Description: Roosting box is shown then David reappears.)
[David:] that birds don’t use to raise their babies in, but they use it to get out of the bad weather. You could also do things like build a big brush pile.
(Description: Logs are shown in a pile, then twigs in a pile near a fence are shown, then David reappears.)
[David:] If you have old logs or branches and you’re not in an area where fire is a problem, you can stack them up and layer them and that will provide all sorts of little nooks and crannies and hiding places for birds and other wildlife. So, when you provide cover, {
(Description: Five component icons required and “Certify Your Yard” appear on screen, then David reappears.)
[David:] along with food, water, places to raise young, and you maintain your yard or garden naturally – we call that sustainable gardening – those are the five things you need in order to have your yard or garden certified by the National Wildlife Federation.
(Description: Flower garden is shown with NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat sign.)
[David:] And so, if you want to find out how you can get involved, just check out the links below and you’ll learn everything you need to know.
(Description: Web address appears “www.wbu.com/certify-your-yard” at bottom of screen then fades and the Wild Birds Unlimited logo appears.)
