[obol] Re: Question about usefulness of coyote brush for birds
- From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
- To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 05:54:53 -0800
Hi Jeff & all,
According to the Oregon Flora atlas:
http://www.oregonflora.org/atlas.php
Baccharis pilularis has been found along the Oregon Coast as far north
as Gearhart in Clatsop County.
In the Willamette Valley I've found a few bushes growing on Coffin
Butte, and a couple of other spots around E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area in
northern Benton County. The Oregon Flora Atlas also shows records for
McDonald Forest and the west end of Elkins Road (Polk County).
There has been a bit of speculation as to whether the inland records are
natural occurrences, or human-assisted. One of the more fun hypotheses
was that seeds from coastal chaparral were blown inland by the Columbus
Day Storm; however Bruce Newhouse looked into this and figured out that
the timeline doesn't work out.
I have not noticed huge numbers of rare birds hanging around the plants
on Coffin Butte and E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area. However, the bushes
certainly do attract insects in late summer, and draw attention from
Bushtits.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -- a species that tends to spend time around this
plant farther south in the California -- has shown up once on Coffin
Butte in recent years. However, that bird was found in poison-oak
understory farther up the hill, and none of the observations were within
150 yards of any Baccharis bushes that I know of.
Bill & Lena Proebsting have been propagating this plant in their yard
near Corvallis, and they certainly have one of the best yards in the
county, for attracting a diversity of birds. However there are a lot of
confounding factors, as they've done plenty of other things to make
their yard interesting for birds. Bill may be able to comment further on
birds that he's seen using Baccharis.
Good birding,
Joel
On Sat, 2013-11-16 at 01:08 -0500, obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> From: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 21:19:08 -0800
> Subject: [obol] Question about usefulness of coyote brush for birds.
>
> Baccharis pilularis DC. coyote brush
> I am planning to plant coyote brush in a disturbed area in Depoe Bay.
> The site is raised, rocky fill next to a public sidewalk. I was a
> bit surprised to find it growing along the side of a raised dirt road
> not far from the ocean there. I typically associate the bush with the
> southern Oregon coast and further south in California. The site where
> I plan to plant it has a few volunteers of the species already. The
> site has previously been weed-whacked every year, but the volunteers
> have grown about two feet in the first year.
>
> Questions:
>
> Do any Oregon birders find it to be good habitat? Written sources
> say it blooms late in summer, attracting insects and birds.
>
> How far north has anyone found it? I don't think I have seen it in
> Tillamook County.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Jeff Gilligan
>
>
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