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| Northern Cardinal perching on an Aronia shrub |
What can you do to get birds to visit your yard and garden? Plant trees and shrubs! Specifically, evergreen trees and
fruit-bearing shrubs.
Bird feeders and bird baths attract birds, but you'll have
fewer birds without trees and shrubs for birds to perch, rest and hide from
predators.
This makes sense when you think about it. And recent
research showed that yards with more evergreen trees and fruit-bearing shrubs
had more native bird species.
Researchers
studied 25 sites near Chicago to record bird and plant species, and they surveyed over 900 residents about
plants types in their yard and whether or not they bird feeders. The researchers found little connection
between the number of bird feeders and the number of bird species present. But, those yards with evergreen trees and
fruit-bearing shrubs had a much higher number of bird species.
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| Northern Cardinal resting in a Western Cedar tree. |
We've found that feeders placed near evergreen trees and
shrubs attract a lot more birds than feeders in more open areas. They feel safer and can quickly escape from
predators like hawks. And they have
places to perch and scope out the area before they visit the feeder.
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| Northern Cardinals at a busy bird feeder near a Cedar Tree. |
Evergreen trees also offer shelter from the weather. When it's cold and windy, the birds will
perch in the evergreens where it's sheltered from the wind.
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| Bluejay perching on a snow-covered Cedar branch. |
The variety of birds in our gardens really increased when we
planted fruit-bearing shrubs. The flowers
in the spring bring in insects that the birds eat. And the fruits attract all
kinds of birds that would never visit a seed feeder, such as Cedar Waxwings.
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| Cedar Waxwings eating Winterberry fruit. |
Conifers also add alot of interest in the winter when there's
little color in the garden. And their vertical structure provides focal points and
frames your garden.
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| A variety of evergreen trees and shrubs add interest to the winter garden. |
Fruiting shrubs are beautiful in bloom and often the fruit
can be shared with the birds, if you can get to it before they do!
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| Cedar Waxwings eating Amelanchier (Juneberry) fruit. |
Both conifers and fruiting shrubs also offer nesting and
roosting places for birds. You may see
more bird species during spring and fall migration that will rest in your
garden during the migratory season.
So, if you've put out bird feeders into an open backyard and
haven't had many birds visit, it may be time to plant some evergreens and some
fruit-bearing shrubs!
