Plan Ahead: Plant for Birds

Create the perfect wildlife oasis with shrubs and trees that not only give birds an available food source but provide essential shelter during winter. Plant a variety of seed-, nut-, and berry-bearing plants that you -- and the birds -- are sure to enjoy year-round.

Barberry Berberis thunbergii
These thorny, deciduous shrubs bear bright red berries in fall and winter. Some varieties have bronze or golden foliage.
Learn more about barberry.

Bittersweet

Bittersweet Celastrus scandens
This deciduous vine can can climb 20 feet or more. The tiny orange fruits split in fall to reveal scarlet seeds inside.

Learn how to attract hummingbirds to your garden.

Chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia 
A deciduous shrub, Chokeberry bears clusters of white flowers in spring, burgundy fruits in fall.

Cotoneaster Cotoneaster species
This group includes both deciduous and broad-leaf evergreens. Most bear orange or red fruits in fall.
Learn more about cotoneaster.

Elderberry Sambucus species 
This big, spreading decidious shrub bears showy, flat-topped clusters of white flowers followed by blue, red, or purple berries.

Holly

Holly Ilex species
Hollies can be evergreen or deciduous, trees or shrubs. Female plants bear red, yellow, or black berries, so long as a male pollinator is nearby.
Learn more about holly.

Firethorn Pyracantha species 
The thorny, broad-leaf evergreens bear abundant red-orange fruits in fall and winter. Fragrant white flowers appear in spring.
Learn more about firethorn.

Rugosa Rose Rosa rugosa 
Deciduous, prickly, and super-hardy, this rose's flowers are followed by seedy red fruits known as rose hips.

Sumac Rhus species 
These deciduous or evergreen shrubs sucker to form colonies. Fruits appear in fall, often in showy clusters.
Learn more about sumac.

Viburnum Viburnum trilobum 
A big deciduous shrub, it is adorned with white flower clusters in spring, abundant red fruits in fall.
Learn more about viburnum.

Boston Ivy or Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus species 
This vigorous deciduous vine can climb 50 feet or more. Bluish-black berries appear in fall.
Learn more about Boston ivy.