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Native Plant and Wildlife Discoveries

A look at native plants and wildlife found in a suburban Chicago ecosystem

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Wildlife Species Database

Species-specific information and photos

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Plant Species Database

Species-specific information and photos

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Photo Gallery

Photos of Native Plants and Wildlife

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About Native Suburbia

Our Purpose, Why We Do This, How We Got Started

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Species Sightings by Location

Rain Garden

Backyard and Home

Birds: 59 species
Butterflies and Moths: 31 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 10 species
Bees, Wasps, and Flies: 26 species
Other Insects, Spiders, and Bugs: 14 species
Mammals: 6 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 2 species
Forbs: 58 species
Woodland Flowering Plants: 4 species
Grasses and Sedges: 2 species
Shrubs and Trees: 9 species
Other Plants: 1 species

Visits: 360

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New Bench

Ruth Macintyre Conservation Area

Birds: 133 species
Butterflies and Moths: 24 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 28 species
Bees, Wasps, and Flies: 6 species
Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets: 3 species
Other Insects, Spiders, and Bugs: 5 species
Mammals: 9 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 5 species
Forbs: 30 species
Woodland Flowering Plants: 1 species
Grasses and Sedges: 1 species
Shrubs and Trees: 7 species

Visits: 627

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Entrance

Oak Hollow Conservation Area

Birds: 80 species
Butterflies and Moths: 1 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 3 species
Mammals: 5 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 1 species
Forbs: 6 species
Woodland Flowering Plants: 10 species
Grasses and Sedges: 1 species
Shrubs and Trees: 3 species
Vines: 1 species

Visits: 69

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The Arrival of Fall

Crabtree Nature Center

Birds: 104 species
Butterflies and Moths: 16 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 5 species
Bees, Wasps, and Flies: 2 species
Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets: 2 species
Other Insects, Spiders, and Bugs: 4 species
Mammals: 10 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 4 species
Forbs: 14 species
Shrubs and Trees: 2 species

Visits: 43

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Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary

Birds: 4 species
Butterflies and Moths: 1 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 1 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 1 species

Visits: 1

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Campanelli Park at Sunrise

Campanelli Park

Birds: 13 species
Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets: 1 species
Mammals: 1 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 1 species
Forbs: 4 species

Visits: 12

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Busse Woods

Birds: 1 species
Butterflies and Moths: 9 species
Dragonflies and Damselflies: 3 species
Other Insects, Spiders, and Bugs: 2 species
Mammals: 1 species
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish: 1 species

Visits: 8

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Pond

Horizon Farm Forest Preserve

Birds: 3 species

Visits: 1

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Birdhouse

Deer Grove Forest Preserve

Birds: 3 species
Mammals: 1 species

Visits: 1

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Nelson Lake

Dick Young Forest Preserve

Birds: 6 species
Butterflies and Moths: 3 species
Forbs: 2 species

Visits: 1

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Latest Image Series

American Robin

2023 May Bird-A-Day Challenge

It is time for the May Bird-A-Day Challenge, a challenge hosted by the Backyard Bird and Wildlife Lovers Facebook Group. The goal is to spot a different species each day of the month. Once a species has been used, it cannot be used again, and the species for that day cannot be changed once it is finalized.

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Switchgrass

Ice Storm

Images taken in our native gardens during an ice storm (2/22/2023)

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Mallard

October 2022 Wildlife Challenge

This challenge includes all wildlife, but I try to stick to the birds.

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Latest Entries in the Discovery Journal

Backyard Garden

Worth a Read: Beautiful Flowers that Bees Can’t Use.

Posted Vonda on Feb. 23, 2023, 9:24 a.m.

Link: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230222-the-beautiful-flowers-that-bees-cant-use

This piece describes the benefits of using native plants and explains why the big showy flowers developed by the horticultural industry may be useless to bees and the ecosystem.

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Common Redpoll

New Feature: On This Day.

Posted Vonda on Feb. 1, 2023

The On This Day page in the Gallery menu now displays all photos taken on the current day (month and day) in history.

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Plant Milkweed for the Orioles?!?

Posted Vonda on May 17, 2022

Everyone knows that planting milkweed is good for the Monarch butterfly. But did you know that milkweed is beneficial in other ways? In addition to feeding monarch caterpillars and to being a great plant for pollinators, milkweed fibers are particularly suited to being used in the construction of oriole nests.

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New in the Gallery

About Us

Native Suburbia provides a glimpse at the diverse native plants and wildlife that can be found in a Chicago Suburban ecosystem. Our Discovery Journal and Gallery feature photos of native plants and wildlife found in a suburban backyard or suburban conservation area setting. We look at the relationship between wildlife and native plants and the restorative effects that planting native plants can have on the health of the local ecosystem.

Our Mission

To share an appreciation for all life in the local ecosystem and to demonstrate the immense changes and increased diversity that adding native plantings can have on that ecosystem, even in an environment as small as a suburban backyard. We hope that one day a more natural landscaping will be favored over a sterile lawn for the betterment of our planet and all life living on it.

To document our observations and findings regarding native plants and wildlife in the Chicago suburban area.

To maintain a database of observations and photos for plant and animal species observed.