A wildlife paradise on NE 33rd

Birds love Tim Miller's backyard. Two Anna's hummingbirds he and his wife named Penny and Flash live there year-round. So do the crows, Jet and Onyx. Other birds regularly visit: yellow warblers, song sparrows, chickadees, robins, scrub jays, great blue herons, red-shafted flickers and others for a total of 46 different species.

"There's Penny," Miller, 52, said the other day, spotting the tiny bird in a mass of willow tree leaves 20 feet up.

And then Onyx lighted on a tall, narrow sculpture made by Miller, an artist. This must be a heavily wooded rural lot, right?

Not at all.

The Millers couldn't get more urban, living on arterial 33rd Avenue in Northeast Portland with its steady stream of cars.

Even so, they've earned the distinction of having a Certified Backyard Habitat.

It's a program run by the Columbia Land Trust and the Audubon Society of Portland. The idea is to get rid of invasive non-native plants such as ivy and blackberry, and replace them with native plants such as red-flowering currant and evergreen huckleberry. The native plants attract native insects, and that creates the right environment for the wildlife the Millers enjoy. Which makes a big difference in our quality of life. Even in a city with expansive paving and buildings, this focus on native plants strengthens the ecosystem. And that helps us city dwellers better connect to the natural world in our day-to-day lives.