Who Are Our Pollinators?

All of these pollinators depend on native plants for food, and create food by pollinating. This cycle is a wonderful example of the beautiful interconnection we all share. Do you want to help? Start by growing a native plant garden.

Bees

➡There are over 20,000 species of bees, with about 3,500 native to the North American continent.

➡ On a single foraging trip, a female bee can visit (and pollinate!) hundreds of flowers.

➡ Although we often think of them as social insects in hives, many species are solitary, living in ground nests or inside hollow stems.

➡About 1/3 of our crops are pollinated by bees--including apples, cranberries, pumpkins, and MANY more.

➡Bee populations are declining at a rapid rate. This is due to habitat loss, lack of food (aka native plants), pesticides, and intensive and monoculture farming.

➡A decline in the number of bees will result in smaller crops. Without intervention, it could result in a global food scarcity.

Birds

➡There are about 2,000 species of birds that pollinate, mostly wildflowers, but also some food crops such as bananas, papayas and more.

➡In North America, hummingbirds are the most well-known and most effective bird pollinators. Their speed means they can visit (and pollinate!) large numbers of plants quickly. There are several other species of pollinators, like orioles and honeyeaters.

➡Habitat loss is one cause of decline in global bird populations. However, they also suffer from pesticides and monoculture farming resulting in a lack of available food sources.

➡Declining bird populations lead to the loss of plants that provide food for other life in an ecosystem.

Butterflies & Moths

➡Butterflies are daytime pollinators. Moths are usually more active at night, so don’t get the credit they deserve. A recent study found that moths pollinated more plant species that bees or birds due to their fuzzy bellies.

➡As with bees, both are in decline, and must be protected. Studies about the effects of moth activity on food crops have only just started.

➡Butterflies are the proverbial “canaries in a coal mine” when it comes to environmental health. Because they are so delicate, a decline in their populations often acts as a warning that something is off-balance.

➡Both act as a much-needed food source for others in their ecosystem.

Bats

➡Over 500 food plants rely exclusively on bats for pollination, including some species of guava, mango, banana, and agave (tequila, anyone?).

➡Bats also pollinate many plants we use daily for fibers and medicines.

➡Timber and oil from Australian Eucalyptus forest are used all over the world. Without bats, these forests would not exist.

➡Bats are nocturnal, and use their keen sense of smell and echolocation to find the most fragrant flowers.

➡Like other pollinators, loss of breeding and feeding habitat, as well as disease, is to blame for their population decline.

Insects

➡There are over 200,000 species of animal pollinators. The vast majority of these are insects.

➡It’s not just bees! Beetles, flies, ants, wasps, and more are also important pollinators.

➡Insect pollinators are also in decline, and we desperately need them. Pesticides, aggressive, invasive species and habitat loss are just some of the reasons their populations aren’t growing.

➡If you like spices…thank an insect pollinator. Most spices depend on insects for pollination.

Mammals

➡We don’t always think of mammals as pollinators, because their pollination is the result of their foraging activities. As many species eat, the spread seeds and pollen.

➡Small mammals like chipmunks and squirrels disperse seeds and nuts, resulting in the creation of entire forests and plant systems.

➡Even large mammals can be pollinators. Bears spread the seeds of fruit they’ve eaten through “plop pollination.”