Birds are some of the most visible and charming visitors to our gardens. Are you interested in being a better host to them? This talk provides practical cultural tips and plant suggestions to invite them in and help your feathered guests feel at home. Speaker Alyssa Ford Morel is an Extension Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist.
Zoom session, recorded May 2, 2025
Video of Presentation
Seven “Do’s and “Don’ts to be an Excellent Bird Host
- Do offer a drink of water
- Do provide shelter and safety
- Do leave snags
- Do leave the leaves.
- Don’t kill their protein: eschew pesticides
- Do remove invasive plants.
- Do offer them the healthy food they need: native plants
The question of cultivars . . .
Additional Information
Seven Great Sustenance Plants to Consider
- Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)
Alternative: Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) - Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Alternative: Red-twig Dogwood (Swida sericea) - Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Alternative: Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) - Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Alternative: Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) - Native Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.)
Alternative: Black-eyed Susans, Brown-eyed Susans (Rubeckia spp.) - Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Alternative: Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix) - Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Alternative: Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Seven Keystone Plants to Consider
Resources
- Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic Fact Sheets - Audubon at Home Northern Virginia
- National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder
- Audubon Native Plant Database
- HomeGrown National Park
- Native Plants Quick Start Guide
- Native Plant Sales
- Gardening for Songbirds
- Gardening for Hummingbirds
Addendum – Follow Up on Questions from Zoom Chat, 2025 Class
Effect of Herbicides on Birds
Doing a little more looking at the question of the effect of herbicides on birds shows that there have not been many studies specifically of herbicide effects on birds, and that different herbicides work differently and have different effects.
One of the most common herbicides, glyphosate, has been studied. It turns out that glyphosate is unlikely to directly harm a bird that ingests part of a treated plant. However, the (obvious) indirect effect reduces seeds and habitat and may reduce the number of insects available to be eaten by birds. Without more specifics about which herbicide is being used, how much is used and how frequently it is used, it is hard to say how the questioner with an herbicide-using neighbor should react.
A very limited or one-time targeted use of an herbicide to kill a specific problem plant could pretty easily be worked around by removing bird feeders in the area or water from bird-baths temporarily. More frequent, sustained or significant use would not be ideal.
If the neighbor’s use of herbicides is drifting into the questioner’s yard, and killing desired plants, that would be a big red flag and an obvious cause for a neighborly conversation. I would hope that a talk with the neighbor explaining the desire to support wildlife might yield a sympathetic response.
An extra word on Pokeweed:
I do want to emphasize that, despite the Southern tradition of making Poke Sallet, all parts of this plant can be poisonous and even deadly in sufficient quantity. Contact with the skin can also cause irritation and so gloves are definitely recommended if you work with this plant. You can find good information at
- https://weedguide.cfaes.osu.edu/singlerecord.asp?id=112 or
- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/phytolacca-americana/#poison
Addendum – Follow Up on Questions from Zoom Chat, 2021 Class
Ladder-backed Woodpecker: I pointed out a Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the presentation and someone in the chat was concerned that it wasn’t a local bird. That person was correct. The bird was in Arizona, the photographer was a local birder who traveled to Arizona. I just thought his faucet-drinking behavior was too cute to exclude.
Desiree Narango Chickadee Study: I referred several times to a study of Chickadees by Dr. Desiree Narango. If you would like to see the actual study, it is available at Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Bamboo: A question was asked about substituting bamboo for stalks of native plants for insects that lay their eggs in those stalks. I only understood after I answered that the question was due to the problem of HOA and neighborhood criticism of leaving dead stalks up. What I wish I had said is that if the stalks don’t look good enough through winter (they will be covered by new growth in the spring), they can be cut and bundled and left out in an out-of-the-way spot for the insects to find. This article gives several ideas: Dried Plant Stalks Important Winter Homes for Bees and More! Gateway Gardener.
Cedar Oil: I spent a fair amount of time looking at university documents about cedar oil used either as an insect repellant or as a pesticide. In a nutshell, I didn’t find a lot of scientific documentation of its success or failure in either of these areas, though it looks like it is still being studied. So I’m afraid I cannot either recommend or caution against using cedar oil. We Extension Master Gardeners always like to encourage people to do their own research by adding either site:edu or site:gov onto their search terms in order to access science-based information put out by universities or the government.
Replacement for Nepeta: A question was asked about native replacements for Nepeta, a.k.a. Catmint. I mentioned Monarda punctata (Spotted Beebalm), Liatris (Blazing Star), and Zizia (Golden Alexander). Upon further reflection, I can add Salvia lyrata (Lyre-leaf Sage), Penstemon digitalis (Beard-tongue), Sisyrinchium angustifolium (Narrow-leaved Blue-eyed-grass) and Silene caroliniana (Wild Pink). Which one of these is most appropriate depends on your situation and what you are trying to accomplish.
Native Plants for Shade: A question was asked about native plants for shade, and though my presentation included a number of them, there is no more definitive or comprehensive list than is available at this Plant NOVA Natives link: Shade Gardens Using Native Plants.