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To Attract Songbirds
If you have dry land:
  • White Oak
  • Red Maple (October Glory)
  • Eastern Redcedar
  • Red Mulberry (food and nesting)
  • Ninebark
 
If your land is moist:
  • Swamp White Oak
  • Eastern Redcedar
  • River Birch Clump 
  • Pussy Willow
  • Silky Dogwood
(Birds photo by Matt Degnan) 
 
Total for either kit: $220, a $115 discount from individual purchases

To Attract Songbirds

$220.00Price

  • Birds need lots of things to survive including clean water, clean air, habitat and food.

    While some birds do eat seed, most birds depend on insects to sustain themselves and raise their young.

    Where do those insects come from?  They feed on tree leaves--notably the leaves of oaks, willows, cherries, birch and maple.

    According to Entomologist Doug Tallamy, the best trees in North America for supporting biodiversity are:

    • Quercus: Oak trees support the most biodiversity of all native plants -- more than 550 caterpillar species.   

    • Salix: Native willows host caterpillars of the Mourning Cloak, Swallowtail, Red-Spotted Purple and hundreds of other butterfly species that birds depend on to feed themselves and raise their young.  Birds also use the fuzzy catkins to line their nests.

    • Prunus: American Plum, Black Cherry and Chokecherry support more than 450 species, including the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

    • Betula: Audubon named River Birch a Bird-Friendly Native Plant of the Year for 2016.  In the winter woodpeckers can grab insects hiding in the peeling bark.

    • Acer: Red Maple, Sugar Maple -- trees in this genus support nearly 300 species.

    Also recommended for birds: 

    • Thickets, where they can hide

    • Fruit-producing native shrubs like chokeberry, elderberry and winterberry

    • A bird bath, on a pedestal to protect the birds from cats.

    • A brush pile for shelter in extreme weather.  

    • Fallen leaves underneath trees and shrubs to create habitat for earthworms, insects and spiders -- a cafeteria for your songbirds.  

    • Native grasses in place of lawn to provide seed and cover for birds.  

    • Keeping cats indoors.  Cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year, and the spring fledglings are especially vulnerable.

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