Top 10 plants for local birds

From their enticing seeds, to their dense foliage, plants play an important role for bird populations by providing them with berries and shelter year-round. Plants also contribute by attracting insects and other small creatures that birds like to snack on or take back to their chicks. Today, let's go over 10 plants you can have in your backyard that will not only attract, but provide for your favorite local birds all year long.

1. Inkberry Hollies (Ilex galbra)

As a smaller shrub, Inkberries are sometimes used as a hedge. They produce their flowers from late March to early June and produce fruit from September to October. Their small black fruits provide food for bluebirds, Brown Thrashers, and other songbirds in late winter when food is scarce. Their foliage is also frequented for winter nesting and shelter. 

2. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

There are many varieties of coneflower out there. Purple Coneflower not only makes a great garden perennial, but great cut flowers too. By leaving the spent seed heads up throughout the fall, it provides birds like blue jays, cardinals, and goldfinches with nutrients to survive the fall and winter months. 

3. Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) 

There are many varieties of milkweed native to Virginia. One variety, common milkweed, is not only the Monarch’s host plant, but it also provides goldfinches, chickadees, and sparrows with crucial living necessities. Goldfinches use parts of the fiber from the seed pods to build their nests. Chickadees gather the seed fluff for nest insulation. And sparrows feed on the seeds during the fall and winter months. 

4. Oak Trees (Quercus spp.) 

Oak species are home to plenty of wildlife. Birds are attracted to the cavities in the trunk as a way to build nests or take shelter. They also are drawn to the insects and acorns found on oaks. Blue jays, specifically, eat and store acorns for the winter. Blue jays can carry up to five acorns while traveling a mile. They store the acorns in various places on their body.  One in their mouth, one on the tip of their bill, and two or three in a special pouch in their throat called a Gular pouch. They also typically store one acorn at a time in the ground which helps oak trees reproduce. The Blue Jay/Oak tree relationship is a great example of a symbiotic relationship that occurs right here in Virginia. 

5. Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) 

Tulip Poplars are fast growing, tall trees with a wide canopy providing birds with a dense, safe nesting spot. Songbirds and squirrels both go after the berries and seeds that these trees produce in late fall. 

6. Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) 

 Another Virginia native, the Flowering Dogwood is a smaller tree that flowers from April to May and fruits in October. They provide robins, mockingbirds, and sparrows with berries to eat in the fall. They also use the branches for nesting and leaves to take shelter under.  

7. American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) 

The Beautyberry’s small flowers bloom in late spring and early summer, and clusters of dark purple berries form in late summer to early fall. Although they drop their leaves in the winter, they don’t drop their berries. Their berries are full of moisture and as such are relied upon by the American Robin, Brown Thrasher, Purple Finch, and more. 

8. Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

This beautiful yellow flower blooms from early summer to late fall. As another great garden perennial and cut flower, it attracts many insects and pollinators. It also provides American Finches, cardinals, and sparrows with nutritious seeds to feast on, so make sure not to cut these stems down in the fall. 

9. Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

Mapleleaf Viburnums are low growing, shade tolerant shrubs found in moist to dry wooded areas. Their dense foliage provides safe nesting spots to a variety of songbirds. Their colored berries form in July to October and provide food throughout the late summer into early fall. 

10.  Possumhaw Viburnum (Viburnum nudum)

These shrubs produce clusters of small white flowers in May to June and begin to fruit in late fall into the winter months. The berries start as a pink color and then progress to blue and then to dark purple. These berries provide cardinals and bluebirds food throughout the winter. The stems of these plants grow upright offering a safe nesting spot.

Planting any of these species will not only ensure a beautiful landscape and garden, but will offer the birds and creatures around us the vital necessities they need to survive. Plus, almost all are native; who doesn't love that! 

-Elin Willard