Winter can be a challenging time for our beloved backyard birds. Shorter days bring less time to forage, colder temperatures keep the tasty insects away, and plant dormancy gets rid of vital shelter and food sources for birds. Though birds are resilient and change their behaviors to survive this harsh season, there’s still plenty we can do to help them thrive and give our gardens beautiful pops of color in the wintertime. Ecologist and bird expert Forrest King-Cortes gave us the scoop on what to plant to attract birds to our yard in the winter.
- Forrest King-Cortes is the national director of community-centered conservation for the Land Trust Alliance and served on the Chicago Audubon Society board.
Planning Ahead
If you want to ensure avian visitors in the winter, it’s important to plan ahead. “Planting for winter starts in the spring,” says King-Cortes. Following and understanding a plant’s lifecycle is key to making sure you have attractive plants in the winter.
“What you plant in the spring will bloom in the summer,” says King-Cortes. “Then the seeds will follow in the fall. When you leave the plant standing even when it’s not blooming, that’s the food you’re leaving for birds to survive the winter.”
Though it may be enticing to cut down or take away plants that aren’t flowering, it will actually keep birds away from your yard in the long run. “However much you’re tempted, don’t touch the fallen leaves and sticks on your lawn or the stocks of plants that look barren in your yard,” says King-Cortes. “Those are nesting materials, shelters, and spots for the bugs that will feed birds in the spring.”
Best Bird-Attracting Plants for Winter
Before you choose which plants to have in your garden this year to attract birds, it’s crucial to make sure you’re getting native plants to your region. “The right plants depend on where you live,” says King-Cortes. “Always go native over whatever you may find more easily.”
Native plants are adapted to your local climate and soil, so they thrive with less maintenance and provide ideal food sources for birds in your area. “The best way to find out which plants are native to you is by checking your local university agricultural extension,” says King-Cortes.
Though native plants look different all throughout the country, there are a few that grow almost everywhere.
Flowers
To attract smaller birds like chickadees and goldfinches, King-Cortes says you’ll want to “plant flowers that produce smaller seeds.” These include:
- Coneflowers
- Asters
- Zinnias
- Milkweeds
Shrubs
Shrubs are highly attractive to birds due to their berries and shelter. These include:
- Viburnums
- Chokeberries
- Hollies
Ensuring Visits From Birds
To make your yard extra attractive to birds, make sure there is a diversity of plants. “A good rule of thumb to tell if your yard is set up to invite lots of birds is to look at the heights of your yard,” says King-Cortes. “Are there some low-growing flowering plants along with different grasses and shrubs?”
If the answer is yes, you’re much more likely to see diverse species of birds in the winter and all year long. “You want a good mix of grasses, flowering plants, shrubs, and both small and big trees,” says King-Cortes.
