 Plant Types
Seven types of plants for bird
habitat
Conifers -- Evergreen trees and shrubs such as
pines, spruces, firs, arborvitae, and junipers. Provide shelter, nesting sites, and food
(fruits and seeds).
Grasses and Legumes
-- Provide cover for ground-nesting birds (if not mowed during nesting season) and seeds
for food.
Nectar-producing
Plants -- Attract hummingbirds (especially flowers with tubular red corollas)
and orioles.
Summer-fruiting
Plants -- Provide food during the nesting season. Various species of cherry,
chokecherry, honeysuckle (native), raspberry, seviceberry, blackberry, blueberry, mulberry
and elderberry.
Fall-fruiting
plants -- Important both for migratory birds building up fat reserves before
migration and nonmigratory birds that need to enter the winter season in good physical
condition. Dogwoods, mountain ash, winter-berries, cottoneasters and buffalo-berries.
Winter-fruiting
Plants -- Fruits remain attached to the plants long after they ripen in the
fall. Glossy black chokecherry, Siberian and "red splendor" crabapple,
snowberry, bittersweet, sumacs, American highbush cranberry, eastern and European wahoo,
Virginia creeper, and Chinaberry.
Nut and Acorn
Plants -- Oaks, hickories, buckeyes, chestnuts, butternuts, walnuts and hazels.
Also contribute to good nesting habitat.
(adapted from For the Birds, a
pamphlet produced by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
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