My Five Favorite Shrubs and Vines for Attracting Birds
For the first time since last Tuesday, there were no birders in the alley this morning, peering into the back yard. Perhaps our fifteen minutes (well, six days) of fame are over.
The whole experience with the Varied Thrush has inspired me to write about the plants I have in my back yard that are beautiful but that also help create an environment that is attractive to birds. These plants are just a small sample of the many that can serve this purpose, of course. All are native to the American midwest, or are hybrids or varieties of native plants. Here are my top five:
1. Serviceberry (Amelanchier xgrandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’). I love this plant. It has white flowers in early spring, edible berries in late spring, and terrific fall color. Birds love the berries, which look and taste sort of like small blueberries. ‘Autumn Brilliance’ is a hybrid cultivar of two Amelanchier species. We have some right next to our east porch window and enjoy watching the robins feeding on the berries.
2. Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum). My favorite Viburnum. Beautiful lacecap flowers in spring, translucent red berries ripen in late summer, and the maple-like foliage turns a mix of burgundy and other colors. I have both the straight species and the variety ‘Redwing’, which is recommended by the Chicago Botanic Garden. The literature usually says that the berries are not eaten until after a freeze has made them more palatable, but mine get eaten in fall. This is a favorite of the Cedar Waxwing.
3. Wild Currant (Ribes americanum). This is a terrific and underused shrub. Very compact (usually 3-4′ tall), it is also tough and thrives in shade. It is not a showy plant, but does have dangling clusters of chartreuse flowers in early spring, as well as handsome foliage. The black berries ripen over a long period in summer. They are edible, but very sour. I enjoy watching the Robins, Northern Cardinals, and other birds hopping from branch to branch when the fruit is ripe.
4. Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). The leaves of this shrub have a strong citrus fragrance when crushed. This plant has fuzzy little yellow flowers in early spring, kind of like an understated Forsythia. The red berries ripen in fall, and are quickly eaten by migrating birds. Another plus for Spicebush is that it is a host plant for the Spicebush butterfly. Haven’t seen any caterpillars on my Spicebush yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
5. Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa L.). I suppose it is a bit weedy, but I like it anyway. The pyramid-shaped cream flower clusters and glowing red berries are gorgeous. Birds love the berries, but they are toxic to people.
6. Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera Sempervirens). The tubular red flowers are loved by hummingbirds, and the berries are eaten by birds. This native vine needs little pampering, and will take some shade. After a lovely flush of bloom in late spring, it will bloom intermittently all season.
Of course, what performs well in the Chicago region will not necessarily do the same elsewhere. If you’re interested in “birdscaping”, I can recommend three books you may like. The first is The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds, by Stephen Kress. Be sure to get the second edition, which came out in 2006. Then there’s Bird by Bird Gardening, by Sally Roth. Finally for my follow Midwesterners, there’s Birdscaping in the Midwest, by Mariette Nowak.
So what are your favorite bird-friendly plants?
gardeninacity 
Great post! I mostly garden for wildlife, too. “Autumn Brilliance” serviceberry was a favorite in my old garden (I moved to a new house 6 mos. ago). It has such a lovely vase-like shape. And the trumpet honeysuckle is gorgeous. Hmm. I think I can find room for it along the fence …
Of course! You can’t afford not to. After all, landscaping improves property values.
Hi Jason! I love following this kind of posts in your blog because I’m very interested in attracting wildlife in my garden, although I’m still a newbie at this. I have three amelanchier and I love them (there are one lamarkii and two canadensis, or vice versa, they look alike) but I guess my climate is not the one they’d like. I have a viburnum very similar to yours which is a v. sargentii Onondaga: new leaves have a chocolate tinge on them and flowers look alike except for some more maroon coloured ‘blood’ on the surface. Mine had never produced berries though.
I love your sambucus with red berries, I’ve never seen one like that before.
I also guess that birds love evergreen shrubs where they can find shelter during winter, so I’ve planted some, what do you think?
There may be other North American or European shrubs with berries that will do well in your garden. Your Viburnum sounds nice, it may not be fruiting because it needs company. A lot of our Viburnums, even if they are monoecious, need other specimens of different varieties.
There is a Red Elderberry that is native to Europe, which includes the variety ‘Sutherland’s Gold’. And you are definitely right about evergreens. I have a big old Japanese Yew that I don’t really like but I won’t remove it because it’s the only evergreen I have, and the birds use it for shelter.
Viburnum is very attractive plant for butterflies, I saw a lot of them near this bush. Also I have honeysuckle, is as yours! Nice photos!
Yes, there are so many beautiful species of Viburnum, from both North America and Europe.
I inadvertently purchased some shrubs several years ago, for the express purpose of attracting wildlife, but one was bred to NOT produce fruit and the other won’t produce fruit in spite of my efforts to provide a cross pollinator. My serviceberry and chokeberry were girdled by rabbits their first winter and never really recovered. On the other hand, the robins *love* my strawberries.
How very sad about your shrubs! I have avoided vole damage so should never complain about my rodents again, though my rabbits have done their share of damage. I also have wild strawberry and I agree about the robins!
Hi Jason, our ornamental cherry tree is very popular with the birds, but then we do hang the feeders from it. Fruit trees will have the birds flocking in but we don’t have any due to lack of space. We do have sunflowers that the birds should like but they tend to check out the seed feeders first and the sunflowers come a disappointing second. I don’t know f the birds eat berries from the Sarcococca Confusa either so overall we wouldn’t be doing very well if it weren’t for the artificial feeders.
I have feeders also and they definitely bring in a lot more birds. I would say, supplemental rather than artificial. I think birds like the flowers on fruit trees like your ornamental even if there is no fruit. Some eat the buds, others eat the insects drawn to the flowers.
Hi Jason, I used to have a Amelanchier lamarckii tree at my old place and I really miss it. You’ve reminded me I need to get another one!
Hi Alison, thanks for dropping by. I’ve never had that species of Serviceberry but I’ve read that it is excellent.
Gorgeous! So warm and inviting for both people and wildlife. I’m going to have to look into the wild currant. I love berry producing plants but I’m limited because many don’t do so well in my zone. Although, I have a Himalayan Mulberry tree that attracts all sorts of birds and butterflies so that provides for a lot of fun. Must be nice to sit out there and gaze. Hopefully you will catch more snapshots of rare birds for your area and get yet another 15 minutes of fame 🙂
Well, sic transit gloria, but we’ll see. If you’re interested you might want to check out the Audubon book, it has a list of plants for every region in the US.
Callicarpa is the winner for me. It’s one of those double-edged swords – great because the birds love the berries, but bad because the berries are the whole point.
Ah, and the berries disappear down the birds’ gullets. I’ve frequently been tempted by Callicarpa, though I’m concerned it might not be completely hardy here.
I have many of these in my garden….I have not grown the wild currants but have blueberries the birds love.
I grow blueberries in containers because they don’t like our alkaline soil. Haven’t gotten many berries yet, though they are growing.
I also have a cranberry bush viburnum but don’t get as many berries as you probably do because it doesn’t have the right pollinator shrub nearby. 😦 Voles ate the roots of my spicebush and serviceberries. I also have honeysuckle and a chunk of blackberries that the birds love.
Is the Cranberrybush straight species or a cultivar? Can you squeeze in another bush, a different cultivar if the first is not straight species?
Excellent list! I have most of these in my garden. Not the wild currants…not sure they would grow in the southeast. It is a nice looking shrub.
Not sure about the wild currants growing in your area, but they might, you should check them out.
I had a pyracantha that drew birds to it, but it has been gone for some years now. I need to add some more plants that attract birds. I especially like that viburnum.
If I were you I would check out the Audubon book for ideas about plants to use.
Interesting post. I like birds… they seem to like most native plants.
I think the natives are supposed to attract more insects for the birds to eat.
I absolutely adore honeysuckle and it reminds me so much of being at the home I grew up in where my parents had grown a huge display over a fence on the front patio. I really like all the plants you have selected here in this post Jason and will keep this post to hand as I grow my garden over the years. Anything to attract birds and help the plight of the bees is very close to my heart too. A very interesting, useful and inspiring post dude : )
So glad you liked the post! Sad thing about our American honeysuckle is that it is not fragrant. It is beautiful though.
You have six real winners there. I too have Viburnum, but also the pear tree and in summer, the trumpet vine. Both are considered a bit invasive, but only the trumpet vine is here. The pear is sterile.
Ah yes, that was a bit of a proofing oversight – I didn’t notice that my five favorites had turned into six. Why can’t spell check catch things like that? I’d like to have trumpet vine, but I’m concerned about getting overwhelmed. The honeysuckle is much less rampant.
Excellent, Jason. Currants are a big hit out west, too, and some are just as beautiful as they are fruitful and bird-delicious. Every tried Crandall’s clove or Gwen’s Buffalo?
I do have some straight species clove currant (Ribes odoratum). There were a few berries last summer, but I think I ate more of them than the birds.
My what an enviable garden! Lucky birds! I am developing an edible landscape (for me) and sometimes I share with the birds…I do feed them organic seed and fruit from the bulk department at Whole Foods in the meantime.
Wow! Such an awesome way to attract local wildlife. These plants combined can really create an attractive garden. I will thoroughly enjoy sharing the fruits of my labor (no pun intended) with the neighbor birds. Thanks for the great post!
Love your post! I am having a very hard time with my 6 service berry trees. Gorgeous blooms in the spring, then after the rains they succumb to cedar apple rust. Yes there are cedars all over coastal RI where I live. The fruit and leaves are spoiled. This is their 5th season, and I am thinking of replacing them with another multi-stemmed fruit-bearing native.
I’m sorry to hear that about your serviceberries. The big problem I had with serviceberries recently was girdling by rabbits over the winter. Of course there are alternatives: Lindera, Aronia, Elderberries, Chokecherry, Viburnums …