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Re: Planting for Birds (fwd)



Hi C-birders,

By popular demand, here is a repost of Will's message about planting for 
birds. Note that there is also a number of books available on this 
subject; I fondly remember one I had years ago called "Gardening for 
Wildlife" which I think was published by the National Wildlife 
Federation.

Happy planting!

Josh

Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 13:04:03 -0500
From: Will Cook <cwcook@duke.edu>

Here's what I'd recommend:

For privacy/windbreak, plant our native Eastern Redcedar instead of Leyland 
Cypress (which isn't native anywhere!), unless you have apple trees.  (Cedar-
Apple rust is the problem.)  Birds love it and it doesn't get huge like the 
Leyland does.  Cedar Waxwings were named for their love of it.  It provides 
food and dense cover for many species.  Excellent habitat for Saw-whet Owls. 
:-)

For hummingbirds:
*Salvia guaranitica - hummers just love them, even though the flowers are not 
red.  Hardy here.
*Salvia splendens - many cultivars are available at any grocery store or 
garden center (and seed catalogs).  Plant tall red ones.
*Salvia vanhouttei - spectacular 3'x3'x3' plant covered with burgundy flowers 
all fall.  Killed below 28F but very easy to propagate and keep indoors for 
the winter.  Just stick a cutting in a glass of water, give it some light, 
and in a few weeks you'll have a new plant with lots of roots.  You can get 
this from Niche Gardens.
*Salvia greggii - small bush, blooms much of the year, many cultivars 
available.
*Salvia microphylla - similar to S. greggii
*Salvia coccinea - blooms late into the fall, killed below 20F.  The best 
cultivar may be 'Lady in Red', which is available (seed) from Burpee's and 
others.
*Salvia elegans - Pineapple Sage.  Attracts Anna's Hummingbirds. Just barely 
hardy here.  (None of these Salvias is native to NC)
*Lonicera sempervirens - Trumpet Honeysuckle 
*Bignonia capreolata - Crossvine
*Albizia julibrissin - Mimosa Tree

Other good cover/food plants:
*Ilex vomitoria - Yaupon (as well as any other holly)
*Myrica cerifera - Wax Myrtle
*Pines - need these for Brown-headed Nuthatches and Pine Warblers
*Celtis spp. - Hackberries, Sugarberry
*Malus spp. - Apple trees - nice and buggy, so lots of food.  Don't mix with 
Junipers unless you don't mind the disease.
I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of right now.

Good cover/food plants to AVOID:
*Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle.  Birds love it, but it's a nasty 
weed, second only to Kudzu as "the vine that ate the South".  Plant our 
native Lonicera sempervirens instead.  I'd sooner plant Toxicodendron spp. 
(Poison-Ivy, Poison-Oak, Poison-Sumac).
*Eleagnus spp. - The Army Corps of Engineers is in love with these weedy 
plants, but there are plenty of better native alternatives.
*Ligustrum sinense - Chinese Privet.  Very aggressive weedy shrub.  Birds 
love it, but you'll soon have thousands of seedlings in your yard.  Plant 
Yaupon instead.
*Photinia spp. - Redtips.  Birds love it, but it's tremendously overplanted, 
susceptible to disease, and there are better native alternatives.
*Hedera helix - Ivy.  Provides excellent cover for mice and rats that forage 
under your birdfeeder.  Also, it'll take over your yard if you don't pull it 
up regularly.
*Trumpet Creeper - hummingbirds love it, but it'll take over your yard.