The swallowtail butterflies have been showing up in our yard over the last week. These pollinators are always a welcome sight around the homestead, and their courtship dance is quite beautiful to see when I’m out working in the garden. Apparently I’m not the only one who appreciates having them around. Oregon decided to make the Oregon Swallowtail (Papilio oregonius) our state insect in 1979. I’m not sure that our visitors are this particular swallowtail butterfly since we live on the west side of the Cascades, and the Oregon Swallowtail lives on the east side below 4000 feet elevation in sagebrush habitat. These look like they might be Tiger Swallowtails, but I still have a lot to learn about butterfly ID.
My background is in plant sciences, and the bird and butterfly kingdoms are still unexplored territory for me, but I’m getting my feet wet as I becoming further acquainted with my local McKenzie River inhabitants. OPB’s Oregon Field Guide did a feature on butterfly photography that offered some good ideas on where to begin observing and getting acquainted:
Seeing all the different types of pollinators around
our land, I am encouraged to do my part in creating and maintaining beneficial habitat for them.
Since I’m gardening anyway, it’s no extra work to keep them in mind when deciding what to plant. I feel I should add a note that I know this is Butterfly Bush in the picture and it is not encouraged to plant for butterfly habitat. This is an old established one that was here in my yard, and as I add other flowering plants I can look at phasing it out.
our land, I am encouraged to do my part in creating and maintaining beneficial habitat for them.
Since I’m gardening anyway, it’s no extra work to keep them in mind when deciding what to plant. I feel I should add a note that I know this is Butterfly Bush in the picture and it is not encouraged to plant for butterfly habitat. This is an old established one that was here in my yard, and as I add other flowering plants I can look at phasing it out.
The Xerces Society is a non profit dedicated to invertebrate conservation, and their website is a wealth of knowledge. I found their page on Pollinator Conservation particularly informative, and they have many opportunities for taking action and getting involved in their work.
The North American Butterfly Association, NABA, also has a great website with information on butterflies and what we can do to help them. They have links to information on butterfly monitoring, butterfly gardening, and how you can get involved with your local chapter.
It’s good to develop reciprocal relationships with the world around us. Not only are butterflies good for us in an aesthetic sense, they are efficient pollinators. Since pollinators are responsible for most plant reproduction and much of our global food source, they help us immensely, and in turn need all the help they can get. Being a good neighbor is about more than having dinner with the Jones’s next door.
Here are a few useful links for info on creating butterfly friendly habitat:
Native Plants for Butterfly Gardening in the Southern Willamette Valley
I believe that is a butterfly bush though, FYI. Google it. It is banned in Oregon anymore, and is a big bully!
BTW, LOVE YOUR BLOG and wish you were not so busy and could post more.
Apologies if it a diff species and I am wrong, but wanted to let you know, just in case, cuz you care!
Thanks about my blog and I wish I had more time to write too! Yes, I know it's butterfly bush and that it should not be planted. I have a riparian plant science background. It was here and well established when we bought the place and I haven't taken it out yet.