As the first blush of fall sets in and leaves start littering the sidewalks, it’s time to think about fall maintenance for your yard and home. For many people, that means digging out the rake or firing up the leaf blower.
But what if there was a better way? If you love wildlife, there is. It’s not only less work, but it’s also better for the environment—and it will attract more birds to your yard year after year. The secret: Leave your leaves alone this fall.
The layer of leaves that falls every autumn is essential to your local ecology. It provides hiding places for bugs and critters, shelters food sources like nuts and seeds, and releases nutrients back into the soil as leaves decompose.
The bugs and worms that shelter in and below the leaf layer are a primary food source for local foraging birds. They use their feet to sift through the undisturbed leaves to find their food.
The mottled brown coloring of birds like sparrows and thrushes also helps them blend into the leaves, providing some camouflage from predators while they forage. Birds will find small twigs and branches on the ground to build their nests, and some species even nest directly into the leaf layer for the warmth and protection it offers.
According to The National Wildlife Federation, about 95% of North American terrestrial birds rely on insects to feed and raise their chicks. Over the last 50 years, insect-dependent terrestrial birds have declined by 2.9 billion individuals—a 111-fold difference from species that do not depend on insects. When you rake up your yard, you unintentionally disrupt the natural ecosystem that flourishes in the leaves and the animals that depend on it. The best thing you can do is leave it alone!
If you feel you need to rake your leaves, pile them at the edge of your garden instead of bagging or binning them. It gives you some of the benefits of leaving your leaves untouched, without the visual of them spread all around the yard.
By being lazy about your leaves and leaving them where they fall, you’re actually helping the birds—and it’s a stellar excuse to put the rake away. From sparrows to cardinals and every bird in between, your local feathered friends will appreciate it.
Sarah Vincent (she/her) covers the latest and greatest in books and all things pets for Good Housekeeping. She double majored in Creative Writing and Criminal Justice at Loyola University Chicago, where she sat in the front row for every basketball game. In her spare time, she loves cooking, crafting, studying Japanese, and, of course, reading.
