PLANTS FOR BIRDS
Landscaping with native plants provides for the needs of birds and other pollinators with food sources, cover, nesting sites, and water.
Good bird habitat in your yard helps birds thrive in urban and suburban areas. Explore the resources below to begin planning and planting for our avian friends.
This Orange Honeysuckle is a native vine species that will climb shrubs and trees you already have. Hummingbirds love the flowers, and many kinds of birds enjoy the fruit. Find more native species suggestions to fit your yard at National Audubon's Plants for Birds database.
Nurture your home landscape with sustainable, natural practices. Birds eating and living in your yard are exposed to everything you spray or dump, directly or by eating insects and seeds. Lawns and gardens can be managed naturally. Saving Water Partnership outlines the basics.
Replace more lawn with a pollinator garden! Choose a sunny spot and plant a mix of native species for continuous blooms, to support insects that pollinate our gardens and feed our birds. Resources abound, but Xerces Society and National Fish and Wildlife are very thorough.
Consider a rain garden to slow and filter roof runoff, keeping our surface waters healthier and recharging groundwater aquifers. Rain garden plants also provide birds cover and food that lawn grass cannot. A wealth of helpful information can be found at the WSU extension website.
Pamphlets and other educational materials about planting for birds, including natural yard care, are available in the office at Adriana Hess Wetland Park.