Backyard birdwatching

Birds are drawn to landscapes for many reasons, but plants are critical elements. Plants provide nectar, nesting sites and protective cover, not to mention food in the form of seeds, nuts, berries and other fruits. By choosing plants known to please a variety of bird species, your customers can be well on their way to creating ideal bird habitats.

As with native pollinators such as butterflies and bees, native birds have close associations with native plants. Plants that host healthy populations of native insects are especially important. Approximately 96 percent of all North American land birds feed insects to their young, with caterpillars as a primary source of essential fat and protein. (Don’t let the idea of attracting too many insects put you or birding customers off. Entomologist and wildlife ecologist Dr. Doug Tallamy estimates that four to six baby chickadees can handle 9,000 caterpillars in the 16 days between the time they hatch and first take flight.)

You can help customers make the connection between plants, bird watching and bird conservation by integrating bird-preferred plants into displays alongside bird houses, feeding stations, birdbaths or even birding field guides. The bird-attracting qualities of plants already in your pollinator garden promotions offer added selling points as well.

Click here to read about the 10 best plants to bring birds to the garden, which was published in our 2016 Birding Report in the August issue.