Birding Plants

• What’s your growing zone? Use the zone filter above. Our birding plants cover zones 3 through 9.
• What do you want to feed? Berry shrubs and trees feed robins, bluebirds, catbirds and waxwings. Seed heads feed finches and sparrows. Red tubular flowers bring hummingbirds.
• Do you have layers? Birds use every height. Combine a few trees, a mix of shrubs and a bed of flowers so there’s food and cover at every level.

Trees and Shrubs That Feed Birds

White Dogwood is one of the best bird trees in the East. Its red fall berries are rich in fat, giving migrating thrushes, bluebirds and robins the fuel they need. Mulberry fruits in early summer and draws more bird species than almost any other tree: orioles, cardinals, catbirds, waxwings and woodpeckers. Sugar Maple offers seeds, nesting sites and insect-rich foliage for warblers and vireos. Serviceberry, elderberry and black chokeberry fill the shrub layer with summer and fall berries.

Plants That Attract Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds look for red and orange tubular flowers packed with nectar. Trumpet Vine is the classic hummingbird plant, blooming from early summer into fall. Cardinal Flower brings them to wet, sunny spots in late summer, and Indian Pink feeds them in part shade in early summer. Bee balm adds another long-blooming nectar source. For flowers that bring in both hummingbirds and butterflies, see our butterfly plants .

Seed Plants for Finches and Songbirds

Leave flower heads standing in fall instead of cutting them back. Black-Eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower seeds feed goldfinches, chickadees and sparrows well into winter. The standing stems also shelter insects that birds forage for in spring.

How to Plan a Bird Garden

Plant shrubs in groups rather than single specimens, so birds have dense cover to hide from hawks. Choose plants that fruit at different times: mulberry in early summer, serviceberry and elderberry in midsummer, dogwood in fall. Skip insecticides; most songbird chicks are raised on caterpillars. Add a shallow birdbath, and leave a brush pile or a few dead branches where you can.

When Birding Plants Ship

Trees and shrubs ship bare root during our fall planting window, November 15–29, and perennials ship now. Fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs, so roots grow all winter before spring growth. See our planting instructions for step-by-step help.

FAQ (add FAQPage schema)

What plants attract birds the most? Native berry trees and shrubs. Dogwood, mulberry, serviceberry and elderberry feed dozens of bird species. Add native flowers for seeds and nectar, plus dense shrubs for cover.

What plants attract hummingbirds? Red and orange tubular flowers: trumpet vine, cardinal flower, Indian pink and bee balm. Plant them in sun to part shade, in groups, so hummingbirds spot them easily.

What is the best tree for birds? In the eastern US, flowering dogwood is one of the best. Its high-fat fall berries feed migrating songbirds. Mulberry draws the widest variety of birds in early summer.

Do birds like the smell of flowers? Most birds have a weak sense of smell. Hummingbirds find flowers by color and shape, especially red tubular blooms, not by scent.

What berries do birds eat in winter? Birds rely on fruit that hangs on the plant into winter, such as chokeberry, winterberry holly and sumac. Dogwood berries usually get eaten in fall by migrating birds.

Do you ship birding plants outside Tennessee? Yes. We grow in Tennessee and ship nationwide.

What if my plant doesn’t arrive alive? Every order comes with our live-arrival guarantee. See our warranty for details.