The Birds and The Trees: Five Families to Enlarge your Bird Family
It’s that time of year again. I’ve cleaned out the tube bird feeders, hung a couple new suet feeders, and I have already had on ripped down by the bear. I always like to wait until winter is really coming to start feeding. Primarily because I like to let the birds “Free Range” on wild flower seeds and the summer fruits and berries in the garden. I like the thought of them helping with the natural cycle of scarifying and dispersing the seeds the way nature intended. I also like not having the bears visit everyday, especially with my daughter playing outside by herself all summer. This is a luxury we have living on a rural mountainside that we didn’t have on an urban street corner. Not that the bears are the threat that some of our neighbors were. They are more akin to urban raccoons that scavenge their way around on garbage day and pilfer your bird feeders.
Being in a natural setting is a blessing in so many ways, but one of the greatest is the flora for the fauna that already exists naturally. There are hoards of native shrubs that adorn our woods and one of the reasons is that the birds love them so much and help to spread their seed. This time of year really makes me appreciate where we are, but it also reminds me of our urban garden where we worked to bring native varieties into the garden to bring the birds with them. One of our prouder moments was when are daughter chose “peepepper” as one of her first words. He was the first neighbor we got to know on the mountain. He lived in the four story highrise in the woods next door that largely resembles a dead white pine. Of course his name eventually evolved to woodpecker, and now she boast a better knowledge of the neighbirds than myself. Of course this started with books, but my wife’s iBird app has helped as well.
So as I see the return of the flocks, I have been wanting to spread the joy of the season and share a list of plants that would help bring some good neighbirds to you. I am going to limit this list to natives that transfer well to an urban setting. However, there are plenty of hybrids and commercial varieties that do the job too. I thought I would start here because I like to save those varieties for places where natives just won’t grow. Going native first is one of the first rules of sustainability. What I have chosen are the five palnt families (Genus) with the widest selection of bird friendly varieties I could find. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should give you a great place to start with your plant and bird searches.
Pinus (Pine): There are dozens of native pines that make great trees for birds. Pinus Strobus (Eastern White Pine) is the most commonly planted in the United States, but for smaller varieties in residential gardens some other native options include Pinus aristata (Bristlecone Pine), Pinus banksiana (Jack Pine), Pinus Bugeana (Lacebark Pine), Pinus Resinosa (Red Pine), and Pinus monophylla (Pinyon Pine). These pines are all more moderate in size than the White Pine, but still maintain a natural feel in a formal landscape. This makes them ideal for urban or residential situations.
Pines provide food for birds in a variety of ways. The cones of pines open to release as many as 12,000 seeds per pound, usually in winter when the other smaller seeds of wildflowers have been eaten. The bark also harbors lots of insects that make it a favorite for woodpeckers. As the interior branches shed they provide copious amounts of small twigs and needles to build nests, and their evergreen needles provide protections from the cold winter winds.
Juniperus (Juniper): Juniperus communis (Common Juniper), Juniperus monosperma (Oneseed Juniper), Juniperus occidentalis (Western Juniper), Juniperus scopularum (Rocky Mountain Juniper) and Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar) are the most common native varieties in the continental United States. Between these five you can find a native Juniper almost anywhere in North America. All of these varieties have been cultivated into varieties for landscape use that can be safely used without worrying about reseeding invasive offspring. If seed stock does emerge it will come out as one of the native varieties. There are some hybridized varieties that could revert to something else, so if trying to stay native stick to cultivated or native varieties only.
Junipers produce berries throughout summer, winter, and fall that provide a great source of food. They also have a nice evergreen shell that provides protection from the wind. Junipers provide great cover from prey. As the growth on the interior of the plant sheds it dries and stays in place becoming extremely prickly. This makes it less desirable for thin furred animals such opossum and weasels to come after the nests.
Viburnums: Viburnums are a favorite of landscape designers because they are extremely hardy They also produce nice flowers, foliage and berries and provide some great fall color. Some are even evergreen, and the flowers are often extremely fragrant. However, they are usually somewhat of an unknown to beginning gardeners or casual retail nursery shoppers. Native species include Viburnum dentatum (Chicago Luster Viburnum), Viburnum prunifolium (Blackhaw Viburnum), Viburnum rufidulum (Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum), and Viburnum trilobum (American Cranberry Viburnum), All of these plants have abundant flowers and berries and can be kept as large shrubs or small trees in any landscape. The birds love them for the berries and their height is achieved with fairly small horizontal branches that are great for perching but don’t hold the weight of predators making them a nice place for birds to hang out. There are also many cultivated and hybridized non-native varieties that are not invasive. If for some reason a native option doesn’t work for you, I would not hesitate to explore those options.
Cornus (Dogwood): Everyone thinks of Dogwoods as the spring flowering tree, however they also come in some naturalizing and shrub forms as well. Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) is a sentimental favorite for gardeners with the pink and white flowers at Easterand red berries in the fall. However Cornus racemosa (Gray Dogwood) makes a great naturalizing thicket of about 12-15 feet and produces a nice white flower in May and June and a waxy white berry birds love. Other varieties include Cornus alternifolia (Pagoda Dogwood), Cornus drummundii (Rough-leaved Dogwood), Cornus nuttallii (Pacific Dogwood), and Cornus sericea (Red Twig Dogwood). The Rough-leaved and Red Twig Dogwoods provide a shrub form and the red twigs provide great winter interest. All of these plants have wonderful landscape value, as well as make great naturalizers. They all have reliable berries for the birds, provide nesting habitat, and add aesthetic value to add to any garden.
Prunus (Cherry): The Prunus (Cherry) family covers more than the cherries we eat or the flowering trees we see in spring. There several shrub forms and not as showy trees that can add subtle accents to the landscape, as well as habitat and fodder for birds. Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry) comes in several forms and varieties and is a great alternative to some of the hybrid and grafted tree-form varieties. Prunus caroliniana (Carolina Cherrylaurel) and its Asian counterpart Prunus lauroceasus (Cherry Laurel) make great evergreen shrubs, providing both protection and berries as well as a nice evergreen foliage for the landscape. Prunuis subhirtella (Weeping cherry) is a nice pink flowering native that drops small berries mid summer. Prunus besseyi (Sand Cherry) is a great naturalizing shrub with small white flowers and black berries that are low enough to provide fodder for foraging birds like pheasant and turkey. Finally, Prunus americana (Wild Plum) is probably one of the most common fruit bearing trees and can be found in almost all states east of the Rockies. Of course there are other varieties as well, but as a family, Prunus may provide more food for the birds this continent than any other plant family.
There are countless other plants and plant families that I could include in this list, and look for more to come. For now, these families provide the most variety in terms of native trees and shrubs to bring in birds, and they adapt well to the urban and residential landscape. All of these plants look great, when used in the right place at the right time. But when it comes down to it nothing brings out the beauty of a plant better than when it gets to do what it was born to do….be a part of nature.
Of course, all of the trees and shrubs profiled in this post may be found in Botany Buddy’s Tree and Shrub Finder for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
