Conifers
Conifers are evergreen trees and shrubs that include pines, spruces,
firs, arborvitae, junipers, cedars, and yews. These plants are important
as escape cover, winter shelter, and summer nesting sites. Some also
provide sap, buds, and seeds.
Grasses and Legumes
Grasses and legumes can provide cover for ground nesting birds--especially
if the area is not mowed during the nesting season. Some grasses and
legumes provide seeds as well. Native prairie grasses are becoming increasingly
popular for landscaping purposes.
Nectar-Producing Plants
Nectar-producing plants are very popular for attracting hummingbirds
and orioles. Flowers with tubular red corollas are especially attractive
to hummingbirds. Other trees, shrubs, vines and flowers can also provide
nectar for hummingbirds.
Summer-Fruiting Plants
This category includes plants that produce fruits or berries from May
through August. Among birds that can be attracted in the summer are
brown thrashers, catbirds, robins, thrushes, waxwings, woodpeckers,
orioles, cardinals, towhees, and grosbeaks. Examples of summer-fruiting
plants are various species of cherry, chokecherry, honeysuckle, raspberry,
serviceberry, blackberry, blueberry, grape, mulberry, plum, and elderberry.
Fall-Fruiting Plants
This landscape component includes shrubs and vines whose fruits are
ripe in the fall. These foods are important both for migratory birds
which build up fat reserves prior to migration and as a food source
for non-migratory species that need to enter the winter season in good
physical condition. Fall-fruiting plants include dogwoods, mountain
ash, winter-berries, cotoneasters, and buffalo-berries.
Winter-Fruiting Plants
Winter-fruiting plants are those whose fruits remain attached to the
plants long after they first become ripe in the fall. Many are not palatable
until they have frozen and thawed numerous times. Examples are glossy
black chokecherry, Siberian and "red splendor" crabapple,
snowberry, bittersweet, sumacs, American high bush cranberry, eastern
and European wahoo, Virginia creeper, and Chinaberry.
Nut and Acorn Plants
These include oaks, hickories, buckeyes, chestnuts, butternuts, walnuts,
and hazels. The meats of broken nuts and acorns are eaten by a variety
of birds. These plants also provide good nesting habitat.
See also: deciduous trees
