Are Dandelions Beneficial For Butterflies?

If I had any questions before about dandelions being beneficial for butterflies, a natural phenomenon that occurred this past spring certainly removed all doubt. During this enlightening moment, I literally saw first hand in my own yard just how important these early emerging plants are for pollinators.

Butterflies do indeed nectar on dandelions and quite often they are the only food source available for a number of early-season pollinators.

Many of us here in the United States experienced a huge painted lady butterfly migration this past spring. It could have almost been classified as an infestation, of sorts, from the massive amounts of butterflies that passed through in such a short time. It was nothing short of spectacular.

As a seemingly endless stream of painted lady butterflies migrated through my neighborhood, I started to notice it was still too early for many of the plants which provide nectar for bees and butterflies to be out in bloom. I wondered what are they going to feed on since it was so very early in the year.

The only plant blooming at the time in my neck of the woods was the dandelion, and I quickly realized the painted lady butterflies were all over these small, brightly colored plants. My question was thusly answered right in front of me.

I have a modest place, only 1.3 acres, but much of it is pasture, of sorts. The pasture grows wild, and dandelions are one of the first plants that rise from the warming soil and begin to fill this grassy landscape in the spring.

I, like most people, would respond to this springtime menace by continually mowing the pasture in hopes of keeping this misunderstood plant in check. I never spray herbicides as I have a large population of wild birds in my yard, but I would mow regularly to try and keep the dandelions at bay before they went to seed and completely took over my yard.

I had always heard dandelions were beneficial to butterflies, but I had never actually seen it. I never actually witnessed a butterfly on a dandelion or even paid much attention to a dandelion before, so I always dismissed it as fiction or something that doesn’t happen in my neck of the woods. As a result, I would keep up this weekly battle with the dandelions by way of a regular mowing routine.

I didn’t think of dandelions as a true “weed”, per se, because I knew they had some kind of benefits, but I never really gave them much of a chance to actually show me how and why they are important to nature. I admittedly just never paid much attention to them before, plain and simple.

As a kid participating in the scouts decades ago, I remember our leaders would have us eat a dandelion sandwich on one of our camping trips, teaching us the plant is, in fact, edible. I have to say, however, I don’t remember it being very tasty as I grudgingly forced it down, but it is well documented the dandelion plant is indeed quite edible for us humans.

But that alone wasn’t enough to keep me from mowing my pasture each week. I had no interest in another dandelion sandwich, so I wanted to see more proof. I wanted to see nature directly benefit from this maligned and misunderstood plant before I would decide to give a place for this slightly invasive yellow-flowered plant on my property.

This past spring I got my wish, and it was shown to me first hand, in fact, that butterflies do indeed nectar on dandelions. It also showed me dandelions are often the only nectar source for early emerging or migrating butterflies.

From a very wet spring this year, my pasture bloomed, and it bloomed like it had never done before. It was an endless sea of yellow and green islands of vegetation as dandelions started to emerge from their winter slumber in great numbers.

Luckily, the painted lady migration started before I got enough ambition to begin mowing. I am glad it did because if I had started mowing sooner, I would have quite possibly missed out on seeing first hand just how beneficial dandelions are to one of my most favorite players in nature, the butterfly.

These beautiful migrating painted lady butterflies were everywhere. Hundreds of them, it seemed, were all over my property, and all of them were gravitating to the large patches of dandelions that filled my pasture and a large portion of my backyard lawn.

Being a photographer, I naturally grabbed my camera so I could photograph the butterfly spectacle as well as document it so others could see dandelions do help nature, and if we want nature around, it would be well to leave some dandelions for the bees, birds, and butterflies each spring.

I will never look at the dandelion in the same way again. I am a nature-oriented person and what little I can do to help nature in my yard I am all for. Because this mass painted lady migration showed me just how beneficial dandelions are to butterflies, I now leave my dandelions patches alone until after they go to seed.

As an added bonus, now that I am paying more attention to dandelions, I have even seen small birds partake of the seeds after the bright yellow bloom gives way to the regeneration process of going to seed.

Birds, bees, and butterflies do indeed utilize the dandelion, and it not only offers an early season food source but a great opportunity to photograph nature in action in my own yard. That is what I call a win/win situation.

Dandelions are now one of the most prized plants on my small homestead because of how important they are to early season pollinators. It might sound weird for you to hear that, but I saw firsthand just how important dandelions are to these early pollinators because quite often there is no other nectar source available at the time, as was the case here this past spring.

I now leave dandelions for the bees, butterflies, and birds and encourage them to spread in my pasture at will before the summer heat dries out the dense vegetation.

As a side note, since this website is primarily focused on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I will add mention the refuge vegetation does offer its hospitality to numerous butterflies, including the painted lady butterfly.

I often go out on the refuge auto tour route in late summer to photograph monarch butterflies on blooming sunflowers and rabbitbrush, and quite frequently I find painted ladies feeding on the very same vegetation as the monarch.

Painted lady butterflies are a fairly common sight on the refuge in august and September and one of the reasons I visit the refuge and drive slowly around the auto tour route.

This year, however, won’t be as spectacular for monarchs and painted ladies I’m afraid, due to some pretty intense habitat restoration work that is currently underway. The auto tour route is dry right now, and much of the normal summer vegetation is not present as it usually is while the refuge staff continues the fight against the invasive and non-native phragmites plant.

Hopefully, their efforts can begin to pay off soon, and a normal wetland vegetation balance can be restored, but this year has been pretty slow for birds and butterflies on the refuge due to the dry conditions as a result of the habitat restoration work being done.

If you have any questions about the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge or the current condition of the refuge auto tour route, I suggest visiting their website for their contact information. Getting in touch with the refuge staff and getting your questions answered about the refuge and the habitat restoration work would be my suggestion to you if you have any questions or concerns.

There is a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of emotions are running high about the current condition of the refuge. As such, I would suggest getting the information first hand from the refuge staff, instead of from the endless social media rants which commonly fill the internet with partial facts and strong emotions, and make your own conclusions about the situation on the refuge.

I am just as frustrated as all the other photographers, birders, and nature lovers are who come to the refuge to see its’ usual natural wonders. I usually visit the refuge five to six days a week in normal years, but this year I barely get out once a week due to the lack of wildlife.

I am going to hold out hope a bit longer, however, before I change my tune as I know it takes time to reverse this unwanted and very invasive vegetation shift.

The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is an incredible place for birds, butterflies, insects, and nature as a whole, but it is going through some changes right now.

I remember the days shortly after the refuge was rebuilt following the devastating floods from the brutal 1983/84 winter. I can remember vast expanses of open water and mudflats with literally no vegetation at all.

Nothing was growing for a while, due to the lingering effects of being flooded by saltwater for several years, but eventually, reeds, cattails, and bullrush started to grow, and the refuge began to come alive again.

Unfortunately, not soon thereafter, the phragmites also showed up and quickly found their place among the race for growth of all these newly emerging vegetation. It was a plant nobody really knew much about back then so not much was done about it at the time.

Nobody really expected it to outgrow and outcompete native vegetation as much as it did, but we all learned a lesson the hard way by not going after it in the early days of its’ existence.

Both state, federal, and even private lands suffered and are currently suffering from the spread of phragmites, so it’s not an exclusive refuge problem. It is a widespread problem in marshes all over northern Utah.

This situation didn’t happen overnight, so it won’t be fixed overnight. It took years for it to grow and spread, so I think in all fairness, a little time is reasonable to see if refuge management can find a way to reverse this trend.

I have seen the refuge at its’ best, and I want to see it that way again. So before I give up all hope, I am going to try and remain positive a bit longer, despite how discouraging things are on the refuge right now.

I have also seen the Bear River Refuge at its’ worst when it was literally destroyed from being covered for several years by saltwater and ice flows. It did recover back then, so I believe it can regain its’ natural glory once more.

It won’t be quick or easy, but it would be worth it if the bear river delta can once again be flooded with native vegetation and birds which used to thrive on the refuge before the phragmites started to take over.

There is no other place I would rather be to watch and photograph birds and butterflies, oftentimes together due to the great variety of life on the refuge.

So here is hope I will be able to see the refuge thrive again one day if the refuge staff can get the upper hand on the phragmites and restore the bear river wetlands to their natural setting once again.

Subscribe to our blog

We appreciate your readership and suggest if you like this blog to head over to our subscription page and sign up for email notifications for future blog posts.

Birding Apparel

If you’re looking for birding related gifts and apparel for someone, take a look at our online store featuring some of our own photographs turned into unique gifts.

As a reader of our blog, we offer you 20% off all products on our store by using the coupon code save20 during checkout.

Visit our Bird Shirts and More online store to check out our products. New products are constantly being added, so check back often.