21/05/2026
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A neighborhood full of trees and no songbirds often has the wrong trees.
Native oaks, cherries, willows, and birches host caterpillars in numbers that ornamental trees can't match. Nearly all backyard songbirds feed their chicks on caterpillars during nesting season — regardless of what the adults eat the rest of the year.
A single mature native oak in a yard can host more caterpillar species than every ornamental on the block combined. The caterpillars don't harm healthy trees — the herbivory is part of the system.
🌿 What the food chain needs:
- At least one native canopy tree — oak, cherry, willow, birch, or maple
- Understory native shrubs that host additional species
- No broad-spectrum pesticide on the canopy during nesting season
- Patience — a newly planted native tree takes a few years to build its caterpillar community
The trees look the same from the street. The food web underneath them is completely different 🌿
