Birds are most desirable in the garden for their unique insect and weed seed destruction powers.
That does not mean they should be welcome to the gardener’s laboriously tended crop of cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and grapes!
However, the latest studies on wildlife preferences for foods among the fruiting plants make it clear that by strategically planting a number of the preferred berrying bushes, vines, or trees, such unrestrained pilfering by birds can be kept to a minimum.
Recommended Plant Material Species
The four recommended species of plant material include the following:
- Shadberry and elderberry shrubs
- Virginia creeper or American woodbine vine
- Mulberry and black cherry trees
Together these encompass the entire flowering and fruiting year. Each, by itself or in conjunction with another, presents its berries during the period when one or more of the favorite small home fruits is ripening.
Furthermore, as we shall see, these plant materials are among the finest landscaping species, embodying a broad range of uses.
What The Birds Prefer
Cherries, those toothsome delicacies beloved by robins, bluebirds, and other birds, and strawberries, which we’ve watched too often being borne off on the wings of a sleek and saucy catbird, are protected by both shad berries and mulberries.
Together these shrubs provide an abundant source of berries that birds find irresistible.
Here, it is well to state that, strange as it may seem to the human mind, according to data recorded by trained observers of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, birds prefer berries that range from the “sweetly insipid” fruits of the mulberry to the “bitterly astringent” fruits of the holy commonly called black alder!
The Shadbush
Otherwise called shadblow or service-berry, it is a beautiful native shrub that presents its many white, narrow-petalled flowers, fragrant and graceful on almost bare branches in early spring.
Of natural, informal habit, it can be used effectively in small masses and will withstand both partial shade and moderately severe seaside exposure.
It grows from 3’ to 8’ feet tall and, in June, bears a tremendous crop of purplish-black berries that are relished by the thrushes (which include the robin and bluebird) and vast numbers of birds, in whose early summer diet it is an important part.
The Mulberry
Related to the romance of silk culture is a tree that grows to a height of 45 feet, with spreading limbs and a rounded head.
The dark twigs, with their shiny, greenish-to-brown buds, produce large, heart-shaped leaves 4” to 6 inches long.
These branches, which become heavily laden with red-purple fruit in early summer, soon become laden also with birds!
It is reported that these fruits are among the most popular of fruits regarding birds and that “The birds do not even wait until the mulberries are ripe before they start eating them.”! Mulberries should be transplanted in the spring.
Mulberry and Elderberry
Raspberries and blackberries are among the berries taken avidly by birds, but even these take second place when competing with the mulberry and the elderberry.
The American elderberry grows from 5’ to 8’ feet tall and spreads its branches equally as wide.
It has several landscape uses: for borders, for informal effects, for fast-growing screens, for accent, and for specimen use when severely pruned. The fragrant white flowers, in flat clusters, sometimes measure a foot across and are in full glory in June and July.
In addition to the buds, blossoms, and foliage that birds eat in spring when food is scarce, in mid-to-late summer, the shiny black fruits are taken — even before they ripen — by 100 or more species of birds!
Grapes
That fruit that embodies the sweet essence of the harvest has often fallen prey to the nip of a passing bird. Yet birds are fonder of black cherries than they are of grapes. The black cherry has a very great deal to recommend its use.
With a little early pruning of its lower branches, this familiar tree of my grandfather’s time can be groomed to assume the noble and graceful silhouette of the American elm at a distance.
Black Cherry
Furthermore, the black cherry is resistant to drought and pests and only requires routine care and sufficient space to reach its aspiring limbs skyward. The cherries themselves are considered outstanding among the important wildlife food plants.
It is common to see one stream of birds entering and another leaving with cherries while a third group intently feeds upon the abundant fruits of this tree.
Virginia Creeper
The last plant to be considered is the Virginia creeper or American woodbine. This vine is extraordinary because it has few demands and wide toleration of conditions. Also, it can be used in a multitude of places.
For instance, because of its deep roots, it flourishes in light sandy soil. Being vigorous, it can so withstand a lack of moisture; it can be used on rocky slopes and embankments.
Its hardiness also allows it to be used on exposed rivers, lakes, and seashores in the north as a ground cover or as an ornament for fences in the far south.
The abundant foliage of the Virginia creeper, with its five (as differentiated from the three of poison ivy) gracefully-shaped leaves, turns vividly red in mid-fall.
The blue fruits which appear at a grape time are long-lingering, clinging to the vines through the winter until eaten.
Robins, bluebirds, thrushes, catbirds, and thrashers are among the 35 to 40 species of birds that eat its fruits. Together, the black cherry and Virginia creeper do much to attract birds away from spoiling grapes and so preserve them for the human palate.
44659 by Barbara Elinore Hayden