Book reviewer April Campbell, writing in April's gardening issue of Birding, describes how Mariette Nowak's new book "Birdscaping for Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region" will help you transform your...

Book reviewer April Campbell, writing in April's gardening issue of Birding, describes how Mariette Nowak's new book "Birdscaping for Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region" will help you transform your lawn into a bird nirvana by providing a wealth of information about native plant gardening.

Make wildlife a priority in 2026

The American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is a migratory songbird native to the Great Lakes region. Credit: Veronika Andrews/Pixabay

We all know what landscaping is, but have you heard of ‘birdscaping’? The practice of designing your garden in a way that supports the birds that visit. This

Are you searching for help transforming your wasteland of a lawn into a bird nirvana, and do you live in the upper Midwest? Then, look no further. Mariette Nowak’s delightful Birdscaping for Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region: The 50 Best Native Plants to Attract Birds to Your Midwestern Garden is the resource you need! Since the 2009 publication of Doug Tallamy’s popular Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, interest in landscaping with native plants has burgeoned, along with a profusion of “how to” titles, often dry and unduly technical. But Nowak’s book tacks away from this approach. As a follow up to Nowak’s Birdscaping in the Midwest: A Guide to Gardening with Native Plants to Attract Birds, this new and more focused title is generously illustrated and infused with Nowak’s sparkling prose. Nowak, a longtime volunteer with Wild Ones, a non-profit connecting people with native plants, and a former director of Wehr Nature Center in Franklin, WI, creates rich tableaus of interconnectedness between plants and the creatures they sustain, especially our birds. Three introductory chapters give a brief overview of “birdscaping,” site preparation, planting, and how to protect the birds you are attracting to...

Make wildlife a priority in 2026

By Ada Tussing If you’ve noticed fewer birds in the sky recently, they haven’t all flown south for the winter. The North American bird population has dropped nearly 30% in the last 50 years. Mariette ...

If you want to welcome more birds to your yard this spring, it’s important to think beyond bird feeders. Growing native plants can create a year-round bird sanctuary.

If you want the birds to flock to your garden, consider “birdscaping,” advises former director of Milwaukee’s Wehr Nature Center.