Events

Rosann Kovalcik has been watching birds since she was a teenager, when she was introduced to the hobby by Lake Shore High School biology teachers.  Kovalcik lives in Grosse Pointe Woods and has owned a Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop there for thirty-three years.  Rosann has been “Bringing People & Nature Together” in a variety
of ways, leading bird walks at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, and donating feeders and bird food at Lake St. Clair Metro Park in Harrison Township and Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in Paradise, fostering the enjoyment of watching birds in those places.  Rosann also recently donated and installed a Bluebird House trail on Belle Isle.
Rosann’s interest in creating native gardens for birds began in 2000, when she transformed her yard into a certified wildlife habitat, where 139 species of birds have been observed.

“Berries, Bugs & Snags” is a presentation that was created by Kovalcik to educate about the
importance of each of these elements within our environment as they relate to the survival of birds.  Rosann was inspired by watching birds in their natural habitats, and realizing that the depletion of those habitats has been the single largest cause of bird population decline.  In 2019, scientists documented North America’s staggering loss of nearly 3 billion breeding birds since 1970. As gardeners, we can restore bird habitat and have a positive effect on bird survival.

In this presentation, Kovalcik teaches what birds need in the form of food during their migrations and for their young in nesting season, and what a snag is and how this element within your landscape can be ornamental for you and essential for birds.  She has given this presentation to gardening and civic groups around the state on fifty occasions.