Suburban Food Chains

A coopers hawk came over to the neighbor's for lunch the other day, unexpected. My neighbor got to teach his young boys about the different kinds of bird feathers--stiff for wing, soft for body--and their functions, and also about food chains. That way, the sacrificial mockingbird fed some imaginations, as well as the hawk.

Extending down the food chain from the mockingbird would be lots of insects during breeding season, and berries later in the year. The insects in turn tend to be finicky about their preference for native plant species. For info on native plants that are particularly supportive of foodchains involving insects, bringingnaturehome.net is an excellent source.