Berries for the Birds
The other morning as I sat at the computer thinking about this month’s article, Gilbert, our cat, (and yes, his brother’s name is Sullivan) sat in the bay window staring steadfastly at a small gray bird warbling from the peak of the garage. As Gilbert’s tail snapped back and forth, and light growls emitted from his throat, I began to think about birds, migration and eating habits. At this time of year there is a frenzy of bird movement as they relocate to their winter habitats. It struck me that winter can be a difficult time for the avian population. Where do they go for food? What do they eat? What kind of struggle do they go through in order to feed themselves when plants where they normally eat are settling into dormancy? What can we humans do to assist these birds in their quest for nourishment?
No matter where we live, there are plants that we can include in our gardens that will help these cheerful little creatures sustain themselves over the winter season. On a continent as vast as North America, winters are as varied as the species of birds that live here. Temperatures and conditions range from evenly temperate to breath-cloud frigid to windy and rainy.
Not all birds head south for the winter; some don’t relocate at all. Yet as the landscape changes, each species needs a stable food supply to get them through the longer nights and cooler days. Here are some ideas of how you can help your bird population sustain themselves over the winter. Not only will your birds be happy, you will be more likely to enjoy those gray winter days as the birds sing, play and soar throughout your garden.
There is no way in such a short space to present every choice we have to attract and feed birds in the winter. So here are a few suggestions, for each of three regions – Northeast, West and South – of plants that will produce food for our avian friends.
Northeast
Having grown up in upstate New York, I remember birds like the blue jay, the cedar waxwing and the red-winged blackbird frequenting our garden. I can’t say that I remember exactly what we had that attracted them, but one of the favorite foods of the cedar waxwing is the berries of the cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis). This smallish shrub has stiff branches and grows to 2-3 feet. The dark green leaves turn bright orangey red and it produces brilliant red fruit in the fall. The cedar waxwing, strikingly marked with a yellow stomach, yellow-tipped tail and velvet black feathers around its eye, methodically strips all the fruit from a bush before moving on to the next one.
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