State of the Birds
I value my garden more for being full of songbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. ~Joseph Addison, The Spectator, 1712
Last Wednesday a New York Times editorial, titled “State of the Birds”, disclosed “grievous” news about the decline of native bird populations:
"Ken Salazar, the secretary of the interior, released a new, nationwide survey last month that assesses the state of bird populations in America. The news is grievous. Over all, a third of the bird species in this country are endangered, threatened or in serious decline... However unintentional, it is the direct result of human activity — of development, of global warming, of air and water pollution and of our failure to set aside the habitat these birds need to flourish."
And it is that last line that links us to our weekly column “Native Plants in the CT Home Landscape”. Our homes, our roads, our shopping centers have all replaced habitat for native birds. And in the home landscape not only have we eliminated native habitat, we have planted our properties with exotic grasses and plants that cannot provide service to the native wildlife. Exotic plants remain poisonous to native insects that have not evolved along with these plants. This is important because 96% of terrestrial birds use insects to feed their young - fewer insects, fewer birds.
By planting more native trees and shrubs, additional birds can be attracted to our neighborhoods. It’s important to plant a variety, so that the plants will flower and bear fruit or seed at different times of the year. Birds want a more natural planting with ground covers, annuals and perennials, short shrubs, tall shrubs and trees, the last three being essential to provide cover to bird species, even if they do not have any food to offer. Any unplanted area should be mulched with leaves or compost to encourage worms and bugs for ground-feeders. This layering provides food, shelter and nesting sites.
Dead trees are messy, but they are especially valuable to wildlife; try to keep them unless they pose a safety hazard. As a tree dies, boring insects move in attracting insect-eating birds. Often woodpeckers drill deeper and the tree becomes a home for cavity-nesting birds.
The following list highlights shrubs and trees that have fruits that attract birds and are valuable for their ornamental value in the home landscape:
Shrubs
- Aronias/ red Chokeberry and black chokeberry: shrubs with 4-season interest including flowers in spring, red foliage in fall, berries in winter
- Ilex / hollies: Among the hollies, Ilex verticillata is a deciduous shrub with the best winter red berry display to be found. (Note: this is a dioecious species, meaning you need a male plant for a grouping of females)
- Lindera benzoin / spicebush: one of the first shrubs to bloom in spring, red berries, attractive yellow fall foliage, will tolerate shade.
- Prunus virginiana / chokecherry: dense shrub, tall, features a profusion of white flowers in spring, red & orange fall foliage, profusion of berries. You’ll find “Canada Red” or “Schubert” cultivars.
- Rosa virginiana / Virginia Rose: glossy foliage, pink flowers, persistent scarlet fruit, maroon fall color, and drought-tolerant
- Sambucus canadensis/ Black elderberry: large shrub, white flat-topped flowers in summer, large panicles of black berries that can be made in jams, jellies and wine, and is favored by many bird species.
- Vaccinium angustifolium and V. corymbosum / Low sweet blueberry and Highbush blueberry, respectively. Attractive shrub, delicious fruit, and fantastic fall color. My Highbush blueberries rivals my neighbors burningbush each fall and she does not have the opportunity to enjoy the fruit that I do.
Trees
- Amelanchier arborea / Downy serviceberry or Shadbush: Small tree, featuring early spring flower display, summer leaf color, growth habit, and fall color.
- Cornus florida, C. alternifolia / Flowering dogwood and Pagoda dogwood, respectively: Flowering dogwood is arguably the queen of small flowering trees. Full four-season interest.
- Crataegus viridis / Green hawthorn cultivar “Winter king”: spring flowers, glossy green foliage, red & purple fall colors, red berries persisting in winter.
- Juniperus virginiana / Eastern red cedar: This evergreen conifer is the best bird attracting tree in Eastern North America. Provides dense cover. Female trees produce round, light blue berries which 80 species of birds adore. Cedar waxwings earned their common name because of their reliance on the fruit.
- Pinus strobus / Eastern white pine: The most beautiful and majestic of all North American pines, and one of the finest of the nearly one hundred pine species in the world.
- Sassafras albidum / Sassafras: Sassafras is one of the easier trees to identify by its leaves - a mitten shape, with either a left thumb or a right thumb, or the sassafras leaf can be three-lobed. One of the most beautiful trees in autumn. In earlier times, homemade root beer was made by fermenting molassess and sassafras root. Commercial root beer used oil of sassafras. Root beer is now made with artificial flavoring.
