Every fall, Southwest Florida becomes part of one of the largest movements of wildlife on the continent.
While we may not experience the dramatic change of seasons found farther north, birds and butterflies certainly know autumn has arrived. As temperatures cool and daylight hours shorten across North America, millions of migratory animals begin moving south toward their wintering grounds.
For many species, Florida is directly along the route.
Some birds that spent the summer breeding throughout the United States and Canada travel through Florida before continuing to Mexico, Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. Migratory butterflies also move south in search of warmer conditions and the food they need to survive their journeys.
That means your backyard in Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, or elsewhere in Southwest Florida can become more than just a landscape. With the right plants, flowers, water sources, and feeders, it can become a small but valuable rest stop for wildlife traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles.
TL;DR: Your Yard Can Help Migrating Wildlife This Fall
Fall migration brings birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife through Florida on their way south. Migrating animals need places where they can rest, find shelter, and replenish the energy required to continue their journeys.
Southwest Florida homeowners can help by planting nectar-rich flowering plants and native wildflowers, preserving areas of natural cover, providing clean water, and using appropriate bird and hummingbird feeders.
Even a relatively small garden can contribute food and habitat along a much larger migration corridor.
Florida Is Part of a Massive Migration Route
Migration is one of the most impressive survival strategies in nature.
Many birds that spend spring and summer in North America are known as neotropical migrants. As fall approaches, they leave their breeding grounds and travel south toward winter habitat in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
Butterflies migrate too.
Monarch butterflies are the most famous example, but they are not the only insects moving with the seasons. What these travelers have in common is the need for habitat along the way.
Imagine driving thousands of miles without knowing where the next gas station will be. For migrating wildlife, flowering gardens, native vegetation, wooded areas, wetlands, and other healthy habitats serve a similar purpose.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that both migratory birds and monarch butterflies depend on habitats containing water and native plants during their journeys. Native plants can provide nectar, seeds, berries, shelter, and the insects many birds depend upon for food.
That makes Southwest Florida yards part of a much bigger picture.
The Monarch Butterfly’s Incredible 3,000-Mile Journey
Few migrations are as recognizable as that of the monarch butterfly.
Eastern monarchs can begin their fall journey as far north as southern Canada before traveling through the United States toward overwintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico. Some travel up to approximately 3,000 miles during the migration.
Even more impressive is that these butterflies have never made the journey before.
Several generations of monarchs move northward during spring and summer. Then a special late-summer generation, sometimes called the “super generation,” makes the enormous southbound journey to Mexico. Instead of living only a few weeks like many previous generations, these monarchs can survive for months while undertaking their migration.
Along the way, they need fuel.
Adult monarchs feed on nectar from flowering plants, making access to flowers along migration routes extremely important. Milkweed is also essential to the monarch life cycle because it is the host plant monarch caterpillars require. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specifically recommends native milkweed and native nectar plants to support monarch populations.
One flowering yard may seem insignificant compared with a 3,000-mile migration.
To a butterfly looking for its next meal, it isn’t.
A Tiny Hummingbird Takes on the Gulf of Mexico
The ruby-throated hummingbird makes another journey that almost seems impossible.
These tiny birds breed throughout much of the eastern United States and into Canada. As fall arrives, they begin traveling south toward wintering areas in Mexico and Central America.
Many take a route directly across the Gulf of Mexico.
That means a bird weighing only a few grams can undertake a nonstop flight of approximately 500 miles across open water. The journey can take around 18 to 20 hours without a place to land.
Before migration, hummingbirds feed heavily to build the energy reserves necessary for the journey. Nectar-producing flowers are therefore more than something attractive for a hummingbird to visit. They are fuel.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are also pollinators themselves. As they move between flowers looking for nectar, pollen can be transferred from one flower to another.
If you see hummingbirds feeding aggressively around your Southwest Florida property during migration season, consider just how far those little birds may still have to travel.
Turn Your Southwest Florida Yard Into a Rest Stop
You do not need acres of property to make your landscape useful to migrating wildlife.
Start with flowers.
A landscape containing multiple flowering species gives butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other nectar-feeding animals more opportunities to find food. Even better, select plants with overlapping bloom periods so something is producing flowers throughout the migration season.
Native wildflowers are particularly useful because they provide food and habitat that Florida wildlife has evolved alongside.
Some great options for a Southwest Florida pollinator-friendly landscape can include firebush, pentas, blanket flower, tropical sage, native milkweed, coreopsis, beautyberry, salvia, porterweed, and other nectar-producing flowering plants suited to your property’s conditions.
The goal is diversity.
Different flower shapes, heights, colors, and blooming periods attract different visitors. A hummingbird may favor a tubular flower that a butterfly cannot easily use, while another flower may be covered with bees and butterflies throughout the day.
You are essentially creating a buffet instead of offering one item.
Don’t Forget About Birds
Not every migrating bird is looking for flower nectar.
Different bird species eat different foods, including insects, berries, fruits, seeds, and nectar. Native plants can help provide several of these resources naturally while also creating places for birds to rest and shelter.
Bird feeders can supplement those natural food sources.
Seed feeders can attract seed-eating birds, while suet feeders can provide an energy-rich food source for certain species. Hummingbird feeders can supplement naturally available nectar.
A birdbath or other clean, shallow source of fresh water can make the property even more useful.
The best wildlife-friendly landscape is therefore not simply a collection of feeders. It combines plants, flowers, water, shelter, and supplemental feeding into one environment.
Keep Your Hummingbird Feeders Clean
If you use hummingbird feeders, cleanliness matters.
Sugar water sitting outside in Southwest Florida’s heat can spoil quickly. Feeders should be cleaned regularly, and nectar should be replaced before it becomes cloudy or contaminated.
There is also no need to purchase red-colored hummingbird nectar.
A simple sugar-water solution is sufficient. The feeder itself can provide the red color that attracts hummingbirds.
Think of the feeder as supplemental food rather than a replacement for flowering plants. A yard filled with appropriate flowers gives hummingbirds natural feeding opportunities while simultaneously providing resources for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
Why Pollinators Matter to Southwest Florida
Supporting pollinators is not only about getting more butterflies into your backyard.
Pollination is a fundamental ecological process.
As pollinators move between flowers, they help plants reproduce. Those plants can then produce fruits and seeds that feed other animals and contribute to the next generation of vegetation.
The relationships continue throughout the food web.
Native plants support insects. Insects feed birds and other wildlife. Flowering and fruiting plants provide additional food. Dense vegetation provides shelter and habitat.
Remove enough pieces and the entire system becomes weaker.
This is why creating pollinator habitat at home matters. One backyard will not replace thousands of acres of lost habitat, but thousands of backyards planted with useful species can collectively provide meaningful pockets of food and shelter across developed areas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service describes habitat loss as one of the major challenges facing migratory monarchs and birds, particularly when development and other land-use changes reduce the places wildlife can feed, shelter, and rest.
Plant for the Journey, Not Just the Appearance
When choosing plants for your Southwest Florida landscape, appearance does not have to be the only consideration.
Ask what the plant does.
Does it produce nectar?
Does it produce berries or seeds?
Is it a host plant for butterflies?
Does it provide cover?
Does it flower during fall migration?
Can it support native insects?
A beautiful plant that also provides food or habitat is doing double duty in your landscape.
You can also layer plants of different heights rather than creating landscapes consisting entirely of turfgrass and isolated shrubs. Groundcovers, flowering perennials, shrubs, and small trees create a more varied environment and provide more opportunities for wildlife to use your property.
Pick Up Free Wildflower Seeds at Sanjuan’s Pollination Station
Want an easy way to get started?
Stop by the Pollination Station at Sanjuan Family Nursery and pick up a free pack of wildflower seeds.
Planting a small patch of wildflowers is one of the simplest ways to add additional flowering resources to your yard. You do not need to redesign your entire landscape. A garden bed, sunny corner, or dedicated pollinator area can become another source of food for butterflies, bees, and other visitors.
Combine your wildflowers with established flowering shrubs and perennials and you can create a landscape that offers blooms across multiple seasons.
Give Migrating Wildlife a Place to Refuel This Fall
When you see a monarch resting on a flower or a hummingbird hovering outside your window this fall, remember that you may be seeing an animal in the middle of an extraordinary journey.
That monarch could be traveling thousands of miles toward Mexico.
That tiny hummingbird may eventually launch itself across hundreds of miles of open Gulf water.
And your backyard may be one of the places where it stops to eat before continuing south.
By planting flowering plants and native wildflowers, adding appropriate feeders, providing clean water, and choosing plants that support pollinators, Southwest Florida homeowners can turn ordinary landscapes into small wildlife rest stops.
Visit Sanjuan Family Nursery in Bonita Springs to find flowering plants, native plants, pollinator-friendly options, and advice on choosing the right plants for your property. And while you’re here, don’t forget to stop by the Pollination Station for your free pack of wildflower seeds.
A few flowers in your yard might be one small part of your landscape.
For something traveling 3,000 miles, they could be the next stop on the journey.
