In the early months of the year the days are short and cold. As time carries on the days lengthen and the impenetrable cold begins to recede. The increasing sunlightallows temperatures to warm up and the first signs of spring begin to arise. The songbirds, the hardy winter warriors who have been out and about all season, like the Northern Cardinal and the Blue Jay, are the first animals to welcome the spring. They have been foraging all winter and are ready to begin mating season. Between March and September Northern Cardinals will attempt to have two broods. Finding a mate and beginning the process of creating a suitable nest must begin as soon as possible. Location is key for these tiny brightly colored birds. The Cardinals prefer to nest in shrubbery and lower trees, between 1-15 feet from the ground. They must find a spot that is close enough to an abundance of food for both birds, and safe from predators.
Image 1: Male Northern Cardinal
Image 2: Amur Honeysuckle bush in a yard
In recent decades this task has become increasingly difficult for Cardinals and other birds with similar nesting rituals. The undergrow in the Ohio woods in the past +100 years has been fighting a slow losing battle with an invader. The Amur Honeysuckle was brought to decorate yards in the Midwest in the late 1800s as an exotic species from Asia, but soon escaped into the wild. In the years since, the Amur Honeysuckle has spread across the Midwest and parts of the South, devastating the natural ecosystems of these areas. In Ohio, Amur Honeysuckle has slowly been dominating the understory of the woods and beating out nearly all native species. The Honeysuckle is a large shrub that can grow 15-20 feet in height, seeming to make it the perfect habitat for the Northern Cardinals to nest. This is, however, quite wrong. The Cardinals naturally look for shrubbery of this size because for thousands of years this was the perfect place for them to nest. The native shrubs offer protection for their nests with large thorns and poisonous leaves and flowers. The Amur Honeysuckle has smooth brown stems, fragrant flowers, and bright red berries. It lacks all the protective barriers these birds rely on to nest safely. Because the Honeysuckle bush leaves the Cardinals open and vulnerable to predators, there is an identifiable trend happening in the rural Northern Cardinal community that could be devastating to the species. The male Northern Cardinals are bright red to attract mates. The brighter the red feathers, the heathier the male and the more likely he will be chosen as a mate. However, this red coloring makes the males easier to spot. This was not a significant issue before the Honeysuckle invasion because the native shrubs offered their own barriers of protection, but when the Cardinals nest in the Honeysuckle, their nests are left defenseless and are often the babies/eggs are victims of easy predation. Left unchecked, with time this problem will lead to duller and duller colored Northern Cardinals as all the bright red males will have little to no surviving offspring. Female Cardinals will begin choosing males with duller coats as well, which also usually means less healthy males, leaving the entire species susceptible to weakened health.
Image 3: Amur Honeysuckle Flowers
Image 4: Amur Honeysuckle berries
The Amur Honeysuckle is a problem for more birds than just the nesting Northern Cardinals. The Honeysuckle produces a bright red berry for the second half of the year, which remains on the plant well into the winter. These berries are very pretty and easily attract passing birds. A whole flock of Starlings can clear many Honeysuckle bushes in minutes. However, Honeysuckle berriesare most problematic for migrating birds like the grassland Bobolink. These birds can migrate upto 6,000 mi and need the proper fuel in their diet to keep them going. The abundance of Amur Honeysuckle with its bright red berries makes a tempting snack for migrating birds, however the nutritional content of these berries and very low. They lack the fats and proteins the birds need to fuel their long flights and can cause exhaustion and malnutrition if regularly consumed. This non-nutritious diet can kill migrating birds if they are unable to find nutritious food in the native species. Which is becoming increasingly difficult because the Honeysuckle is out competing most native species.
Image 5: Bobolink
Image 6: Yellow Jewelweed
The birds are not the only woodland life being affected by this Honeysuckle invader. The native plants are suffering as well. The Yellow Jewelweed is a native undergrowth species in Ohio that is struggling to compete with the invasive Honeysuckle. The Honeysuckle begins its springtime growth early and continues growing well into the cold weather of the fall, creating an impossibly long growing season that no Ohio native plant species can keep up with. In that additional growth period, the Honeysuckle creates a dense canopy, blocking valuable sunlight from the still winter dormant native plants. It stunts their growth, and in most cases, will eventually eradicate native plants from that area leaving huge mono-species undergrowth at the edges of the Ohio woodlands. The Yellow Jewelweed offers valuable biodiversity, large flowers with plenty of food for pollinators and hummingbirds, but they are becoming increasingly rare in Ohio because of the Amur Honeysuckle.
The Ohio woodlands ecosystem is delicate and crucial to a healthy environment, but human interference has caused lasting devastating effects. The Amur Honeysuckle is growing and spreading out of control in the Ohio woods. In the Wright State University Woods, the Amur Honeysuckle can still be seen well into November at the edges of the forest. The Amur Honeysuckle was brought to the United State as adecorative delight and to help with erosion. It was never intended to take over the undergrowth of millions of acres of US woodlands. The carelessness of humans has brought this species to the woodlands and for over a century now the Amur Honeysuckle bush has been negatively impacting the ecosystem and changing the course of life and evolution for all the Ohio woodlands species.