Planting for the Birds

Create a diverse landscape to provide a sanctuary for your feathered friends.

Photography by Brian Francis

A titmouse feeds on mixed seed at a squirrel-resistant feeder (#193409), adorned with decorative leaf accents.

Just like you, birds need the basics—food, water, and shelter. Give them these staples, and they’ll be more than happy to visit your yard and perhaps stay awhile. But to provide birds with a true haven, remember that diversity is the key. Grow a variety of plants, such as those suggested here, to serve birds with a healthy menu of their favorite dishes.

Evergreens

Offering excellent shelter for resting, roosting, or nesting, these trees also provide food with their fruits and seeds.

Fruit-bearing trees and shrubs

Choose a blend of these trees and bushes to ensure year-round fruit:

Summer—cherry, elderberry, and serviceberry; also consider planting ‘King Edward VII’ red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum ‘King Edward VII’), and ‘Autumn Jazz’ arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum ‘Autumn Jazz’)
Fall—cotoneaster, dogwood, and mountain ash
Winter—crabapple, holly, and viburnum

Grasses

For ground-nesting birds, unmowed grasses present prime nesting sites. Ornamental selections also feed hungry birds by attracting insects and producing seeds.

Nectar-filled flowers

Keep hummingbirds happy with plantings rich in nectar, such as trumpet vine, cardinal flower, and butterfly bush.

Nut-bearing trees and shrubs

These deciduous plantings bear acorns and kernels and provide nesting sites. They also fill your landscape with color in the fall.

Pick Your Seed

Fill feeders with a variety of food to attract many different birds. This guide will let you know which food is favored by certain species, and when in doubt, read the seed packaging to learn what birds it will attract.

Oil sunflower seed (#70876) Cardinals, Carolina wrens, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, sparrows, titmice, woodpeckers, and more. This seed is popular with many birds.
Corn Doves, jays, pheasants, pigeons, quail, and turkeys. Use cracked corn for blackbirds, finches, and sparrows.
Fruit Grosbeaks, northern mockingbirds, orioles, and tanagers. Orioles also eat grape jelly offered in orange halves or a specialized feeder.
Insects (mealworms) Bluebirds, catbirds, robins, tanagers, thrushes, warblers, and woodpeckers. Serve these treats in a heavy dish or a shallow tray.
Millet Ground-feeding birds such as doves, indigo buntings, juncos, and sparrows. Birds prefer white millet to red. Unfortunately, this grain attracts nuisance birds such as European starlings and house sparrows.
Milo Cardinals, jays, and juncos. Also called sorghum, milo attracts aggressive birds (cowbirds, grackles, and starlings), so avoid offering it during nesting season.
All-purpose blend (#192462) A wide variety of songbirds as well as ground-feeding birds. Serve it in platform feeders or sprinkled directly on the ground.
Nectar (#98859) Hummingbirds and orioles. Change nectar frequently.
Nyjer (#209382) Finches (including goldfinches), redpolls, and siskins. Offer this seed in a thistle feeder with small ports.
Peanuts Carolina wrens, chickadees, jays, nuthatches, sparrows, and woodpeckers. Display the nutmeats, or serve in the shells.
Safflower seed (#131421) Cardinals, doves, grosbeaks, and sparrows. These seeds are less appealing for squirrels, house sparrows, and starlings.
Suet Cardinals, chickadees, creepers, kinglets, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and wrens. Suet attracts starlings, but you can keep them at bay by hanging it in a feeder that requires birds to cling upside down.

To learn more about providing birds with food, water, and shelter, click here.

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