Attract bats, dragonflies, and insect-eating birds to your yard

Encourage natural mosquito predators to take up residence by providing habitat and food sources. A single little brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes per hour, and purple martins, swallows, and dragonflies are equally aggressive hunters.

Steps

1. Install bat houses: Mount a bat house 12-20 feet high on a south-facing wall or pole that gets 6-8 hours of sun. Bats need warmth for roosting and will begin occupying houses within 1-2 seasons.
2. Create dragonfly habitat: Add a small pond or water feature with shallow edges and emergent plants like cattails. Dragonfly nymphs live in water for 1-3 years eating mosquito larvae, then adults patrol the yard consuming adult mosquitoes.
3. Attract insect-eating birds: Hang nest boxes sized for purple martins or tree swallows. Keep birdbaths clean and add native berry-producing shrubs to draw birds year-round.

Tips

• Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides, which kill predators along with mosquitoes and undermine long-term control
• Bat houses work best in colonies; install at least two side by side
• Dragonflies are territorial and will patrol a defined area, making a backyard pond an effective anchor point