Habitat Patch Program

 

Rufous Hummingbird. Photo by Jace Stenersen/Audubon Photography Awards.

Create a native-plant paradise for birds in your yard or patio!

 

The Habitat Patch Program encourages community members to transform their outdoor spaces into natural habitats. Urban habitat “patches” are very valuable for our wild friends. Together, these oases offer refuge and food for a diverse population of birds, the insects they rely upon, and other native wildlife.

Participation is easy and fun! Register by filling out the form and a Golden Eagle Audubon representative will contact you to arrange a visit from a Habitat Patch Advisor. Our trained volunteers will help you develop a plan to make your space more valuable to birds and better for the environment. You can work toward Silver, Gold or Apartment/Patio Certification.

Your yard does not have to be ready for certification for you to join the program. We welcome everyone, from “blank canvases” to “certifiable oases.” Sign up and take advantage of the resources the program provides.

Registration for 2024 is opens!

Bewick's Wren bird

Bewick's Wren. Photo by Dondi Black

Perks to Participating

Participation is easy, fun, and helps support local conservation efforts! Enjoy these great benefits when you sign up for the Habitat Patch Program:

  • One-year membership in Golden Eagle Audubon if you aren’t already a member.

  • Help making a plan to achieve certification. Once you achieve Silver Certification, you can request help making a plan to achieve Gold Certification.

  • Up to six free plants grown in our Native Plant Nursery

  • A copy of the Native Garden Guide for Southwestern Idaho

  • Access to recordings of past online classes.

  • A quarterly e-newsletter with tips, tricks, and recommendations on how to maintain your Habitat Patch.

  • At least three workshops or events per year that are exclusively available to participants.

  • Access to a closed Facebook group where you can share your achievements, get advice, and see what other Habitat Patch Program participants are doing in their yards.

  • A yard sign to display on your property once it’s certified that will recognize your contributions to building key habitat for birds and other wildlife.

  • Best of all, the opportunity to provide local wildlife with a stable and safe space to thrive!

Process and Percs

Steps to Achieve Certification

Registration is $40 for members or $50 for non-members. Currently available for properties of one acre or less within 20 miles of downtown Boise.

  • Complete the Registration Form.

  • A Golden Eagle Audubon volunteer or staff member will set up a visit from a Habitat Patch Adviser.

  • At the visit, the Habitat Patch Adviser will answer questions about the certification criteria, look at the space with you and discuss your goals. The Habitat Patch Adviser will provide a short written summary of the visit including steps to take to achieve certification, within one week.

  • When you think you meet the certification requirements, you will request an evaluation by a Habitat Patch volunteer. There’s no time limit.

  • When your outdoor space is certified you’ll receive an official Habitat Patch Program sign to display and you will be acknowledged by Golden Eagle Audubon Society.

  • You can request help achieving Gold Certification once you’ve achieved Silver Certification.

Eastern Kingbird. Photo by Ken Miracle.

Certification Criteria

Habitat Patch Program Certification Criteria

Three Certification Levels

  • Silver

  • Gold

  • Apartment/Patio

Six Certification Components

  • Invasive Species (not applicable for Apartment)

  • Native Plants

  • Pesticide Reduction

  • Water Management

  • Wildlife Friendly Home

  • Learn, Advocate and Volunteer

Kris Barrash habitat patch

Silver Level

Invasive Species: Actively manage all silver weeds. See list below.

Native Plants: Landscape >15% of the outdoor area with plants native to the Intermountain West. Include at least 2 of the 4 vegetation layers (see below), but not each layer needs to be native, especially trees. Intermountain West Native Plant List

Pesticide Reduction: No use of neonicotinoids (systemic insecticides) and move toward use of low hazard pesticides.

Water Management: Practice at least two items from the list below.

Wildlife Friendly Home:  Practice at least three items from below. In addition, you must create a plan to reduce wildlife impacts from your outdoor cat if you have one.

Learn, Advocate and Volunteer: Practice at least two items from the list below.

Gold Level

Invasive Species: Actively manage all silver and gold weeds. See list below.

Native Plants: Landscape >50% of the outdoor area plants native to the Intermountain West. Include at least 3 of the 4 vegetation layers (see below), but not each layer needs to be native, especially trees. Intermountain West Native Plant List

Pesticide Reduction: No use of neonicotinoids (systemic insecticides). No spraying for spiders. No use of high hazard pesticides.

Water Management: Practice at least four items from the list below.

Wildlife Friendly Home: Practice at least five items from below. In addition, cats must be kept indoors or in outdoor enclosure 100% of the time.

Learn, Advocate and Volunteer: Practice at least four items from the list below.

Apartment Level

Native Plants: Grow at least three plants native to the Intermountain West for at least seven months. Intermountain West Native Plant List

Pesticide Reduction: Don’t use pesticides.

Water Management: Practice at least two items from the list below.

Wildlife Friendly Home: Practice at least two items from the list below.

Learn, Advocate and Volunteer: Practice at least two items from the list below.

Invasive Species List

Silver Weeds

Bur buttercup, knapweeds, Canada and musk thistles, field bindweed, jointed goat grass, poison hemlock, puncturevine, knotweeds, tree of Heaven, creeping Charlie, purple mustard, cheese weed, annual poa, spurges, filaree, Lambs quarters, Nutsedge, Plantains, Kochia, and wood sorrel (Oxalis).

Gold Weeds

Rush skeleton weed, white top, yellow toadflax, cheatgrass, bulbous blue grass. Crab grass, Quack grass, Green Foxtail, ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea), and Horse tail.

Water Management List

· Use a programmable or timed watering system.

· Use a drip system on all or some of your vegetation.

· Turn your irrigation off during and right after significant rain.

· Maintain your irrigation system annually to eliminate leaks and over spraying.

· Irrigate at least 50% of your landscape no more than monthly.

· Direct property storm water to permeable surfaces or a cistern.

· Mulch at least 50% of your plants.

· If you have lawn, use low-water turf grass.

· Collect shower/sink water while you’re waiting for it to warm up and use on your plants.

· Reuse water you use to wash your vegetables.

· Other - discuss with your Habitat Patch Adviser.

Wildlife Friendly Home List

· Treat one or more windows to reduce bird window collisions.

· Turn off outdoor lighting during bird migration (March to May and August to November) – or all year.

· Provide a wildlife water feature (natural source or a maintained bird or insect bath).

· At least one bird nest box, appropriate to native species and appropriately maintained.

· Leave snags or supply nurse logs.

· Provide beneficial insect nesting habitat (rock piles, bundles of stems and branches, areas of bare dirt/sand, maintained bee houses). Provide six or more plants (annuals or perennials) beneficial to pollinators

· Leave your leaves on the ground and plants standing in the fall.

· Wait to clean up in spring until the end of April or when the large bumble bees have emerged.

· Plant a native pollinator meadow that blooms through the growing season.

· Do not spray home for spiders.

· Other - discuss with your Habitat Patch Adviser.

Learn, Advocate and Volunteer List

· Recruit 2 friends or neighbors to join the Habitat Patch Program.

· If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, ask them to support homeowners working to get certified.

· Volunteer twice a year for a community habitat restoration project (Boise River ReWild, Native Plant Network, Idaho Native Plant Society, City of Boise Weed Warrior Workday, etc).

· Take at least 2 classes per year about habitat restoration and planting for birds and pollinators or watch Habitat Patch videos.

· Participate in the Idaho Master Naturalist Program.

· Participate in the ISU Master Gardener Program.

· Participate in Ada Soil and Water Conservation District Pollinator Project.

· Participate in at least one community science project per year such as iNaturalist, eBird, or Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

· Other - discuss with your Habitat Patch Adviser.

Vegetation layers

Ground layer For example: Leaf litter, clover, perennial grass

Small and medium shrub layer (2 – 10 ft. when mature) For example: Golden currant, snowberry

Understory tree canopy (10 - 30 ft. tall when mature) For example: Hawthorne, crabapple, apple, plums, hackberries, mountain ash

Overstory tree canopy (more than 30 ft. tall when mature) For example: Black cottonwood, blue spruce

 

Program Resources

Program Resources