Plant with Purpose: Attract and Delight Feathered Friends

By: Scot Pipkin, Director of Education

Beauty. Respite. Sense of place. For many, gardens offer emotional nourishment and peace of mind. For some of us, this relationship approaches a spiritual level of significance. Partly, this is the result of a deep human urge to engage with our surroundings and cultivate the earth. There is something hopeful and celebratory associated with planning and planting a garden. What could be more fulfilling than facilitating life and watching it flourish? At the same time, gardening, particularly gardening with native plants, offers the promise to beget even more life in the form of other organisms that visit our yards for the flowers, food, and shelter we’ve cultivated.

To some degree, the delight we get from seeing a butterfly, bumblebee, or bird in our garden is due to the seemingly random distribution of these animals. One week they’re there, the next week they’re gone. They are independent beings, after all, with brains, life histories, and agendas of their own. However, with some thoughtful planning and appropriate selection of plant material and landscape features, we can greatly increase the chances of attracting a diverse array of organisms to our gardens and neighborhoods.

Beyond the personal joy and fulfillment that comes from seeing a migrating bird, butterfly, or dragonfly (yes, there are migratory dragonflies!) in one’s yard, it’s becoming increasingly critical to use our backyards and neighborhoods to support wildlife. Habitats continue to be fragmented into smaller parcels by urban development, the use of chemical pesticides disrupts ecological processes, and climate change looms — so our neighborhoods and backyards make gardening, particularly with native plants, an action that shifts from personal gratification to environmental activism. Even in the smallest yard, we can support the smallest organisms. In turn, those organisms provide food and other benefits for the rest of our ecological network.

Gardening Is for the Birds

In many ways, birds are the perfect target for wildlife gardening. Though sometimes furtive and skulk-y, birds tend to be visible, active, and gregarious in the garden. They also live on every continent, provide numerous ecological benefits, and exhibit some of the most incredible life histories. (Did you know that the rufous hummingbird, which migrates up the Pacific coast in spring and down along the Rocky Mountains after breeding in late summer/fall, has the longest migration relative to body length of any bird?) Moreover, birds tend to be higher up in the food chain than many other animals we should reasonably expect to attract to our yards. This means if we’re doing a good job of attracting birds to our yards and neighborhoods, we’re also benefitting countless other critters.

In addition to the sheer abundance of birds, they are diverse and beautiful. A garden full of birds is a riot of color and of sound. Birdsong is nature’s poetry and has filled people’s dreams throughout the millennia. If those songs have their desired effect, they yield one of the most foreign, yet familiar processes in the animal kingdom: nesting, egg laying, hatching, and fledging. We as humans can identify with the great care that many birds take to build nests and then feed their young, protect them, and watch them fledge. At the same time, we watch with a mystical fascination, bewildered by the seemingly miraculous appearance of bird from egg.

Beyond this, birds are beneficial. Many of them eat insects throughout the year. Almost all songbirds feed their young a diet that consists exclusively of insects. Often, that diet is dominated by the scourge of many gardeners: caterpillars. Therefore, if we’re attracting birds, we get to benefit from watching the joy and drama of avian life as well as natural pest control. The key to attracting the highest diversity of native insects to one’s yard is to use native plants. Many insects, especially caterpillars, have evolved to eat very specific foods during critical stages in their lives. Without those host food plants, the insects will not be there. No insects means fewer birds, especially during spring/fall migration and the breeding season of May to August. For those of you keeping score, that’s about eight months of the year.

Tips for Successfully Attracting Birds

Setting Expectations

It’s always important to build an understanding of what birds you can reasonably attract to your yard. Though it is entirely within the realm of possibility that your backyard could become a haven for rare and migrating birds, it’s more likely that a welldesigned garden is going to attract more of the common birds in an area. If you don’t know what birds are in your area, there are a few ways to learn more. First, you can go outside and start watching birds. You can also use tools such as eBird.org to explore bird sightings people have submitted in your area. There are great visualization tools to see what birds you can expect at what times and relatively how abundant they are for a given location. Once you are armed with a greater understanding of your local bird life, you can do a better job of providing the resources that those birds need to thrive.

One must also consider the expectations of the birds. Once we begin providing great structure and forage for these organisms, they will come to expect resources that we provide. To continually support the birds once an attractive habitat has been installed, it’s important to maintain that habitat. Make sure features, such as water sources, nest boxes, and other accoutrements, are kept clean and accessible. Plants should be well cared for so they continue to provide the food and structure birds need.

Habitat Structure

As with any organism, birds require certain habitat conditions to be successful. Each bird has a preferred setting for feeding, nesting, and hiding. In general, it is a good idea to consider the different planes of habitat you might be providing. For instance, what does your ground plane look like for birds that eat seeds? Does your garden have spaces where birds, such as the Dark-eyed Junco or Spotted Towhee, can nest on the ground under the cover of a shrub? Similarly, it’s helpful to consider what your mid-canopy and canopy layers provide in terms of places to forage, nest, and roost. Small- to medium-sized shrubs can be great choices to install for creating a variety of layers in your habitat. In addition to providing birds with the feeding/perching structures they need, well-designed layers can help your garden look more appealing.

One important principle that must be considered when creating bird habitat is where the birds will hide. If you’ve ever paid attention to bird behavior while walking in nature, you’ve probably noticed that there is a tendency to scatter when you or another animal (such as a dog or cat) approaches. I challenge you to keep watching and see exactly where the birds go once startled. Oftentimes, you will find that they fly straight for the darkest shadow they can find. If you try to layer your habitat both vertically and with depth, birds will be grateful for the hiding spaces you provide and will show their gratitude by appearing in your yard.

Provide the Right Food Through Native Plants

Given their diversity, birds have a wide range of foods that sustain them. Insects have already been introduced as an important food source, but there’s more to that story. Caterpillars are one of the most important food sources for birds during breeding season and beyond. Certain groups of plants are particularly good at attracting a wide variety of caterpillars. Chief among those are oaks (Quercus spp.), wild cherry (Prunus ilicifolia and P. ilicifolia lyonii), and buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.).

Other important food sources include seeds, nectar, and fruit. Some plants that provide those are members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), those with tubular red flowers (i.e., hummingbird sage [Salvia spathacea] and California fuschia [Epilobium canum]), and coffeeberry (Frangula californica), respectively.

Providing food throughout the course of the year is another essential consideration. Many of the birds we can hope to attract to our yards are yearround, or resident birds, so ensuring resources throughout the seasons is critical for maintaining those populations. At the same time, there is an array of birds that are highly seasonal, spending either the breeding, wintering, or migration periods in our neighborhoods. Ensuring an abundance of food and resources during those critical life stages is important as well.

A corollary to planning one’s garden to support birds and other wildlife is that the traditional maintenance regime should be reconsidered. Whereas traditional ornamental gardening practices would prescribe quickly removing the seedheads of pollinated flowers (deadheading), wildlife gardeners are recommended to leave the seedheads of their Encelia, Eriogonum, and other flowers.

Overall, it’s important to understand the birds and what they need.

Meet the Birds: Collect All Six in Your Backyard

Anna’s Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: Medium-sized hummingbird around 4 inches (10 centimeters); when perched, wings extend almost to the tip of the tail; males display a vibrant magenta gorget and head feathers.

Behavior: Often hovers while hunting insects; during courtship, males will perform a “display flight” where he dive-bombs in an exaggerated J shape in front of the female.

How Native Plants Support Them: A hummingbird’s diet is composed of two primary foods: nectar and insects. Red, tubular flowers are particularly attractive to hummingbirds and a combo of hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea), climbing penstemon (Keckiella cordifolia), and California fuschia (Epilobium canum) could potentially cover an entire year’s worth of attractive blooms. Dense shrubs offer attractive nesting habitat for Anna’s Hummingbirds.

Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea)

Photo: Lynn Watson

California Towhee

California Towhee

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: 9 inches (22 centimeters); long-tailed sparrow-like bird that spends most of its time on the ground; gray-brown overall with a rufous patch under the tail.

Behavior: Generally more secretive and unassuming than the Spotted Towhee. California Towhees spend most of their time feeding on the ground; these birds build their nests below about 6 inches (15 centimeters) in shrubs and small trees with dense foliage. How

Native Plants Support Them: California Towhees rely primarily on plants for food. Therefore, providing plants with nutritious seeds, such as California daisy (Encelia californica), or fruits, such as redberry (Rhamnus crocea), are good choices.

California Daisy (Encelia californica)

Hooded Oriole

Hooded Oriole

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: A medium-large songbird at about 7.5 inches (19 centimeters); males are particularly colorful, displaying bright yellow-orange head, back, and underparts contrasting with a black “bib” on its throat. Females and juveniles show a yellow wash over head, back, and breast. Both males and females have white wing bars against dark wing feathers. Male wings are darker black, and females have gray wing feathers.

Behavior: Hooded Orioles spend much of their time in the canopy of trees, calling and singing from high perches. Being omnivores, they feed on a variety of foods ranging from insects to nectar (they will come to hummingbird feeders) and fruit. One of the most remarkable aspects of orioles in general is their nest, which is an intricately woven hanging cup.

How Native Plants Support Them: Hooded Orioles eat nectar, fruit, and insects, such as caterpillars, that rely on native plants. They also utilize native plants extensively during the breeding season for nesting purposes. In particular, the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) provides an important source of nest weaving materials and dead fronds that hang against the trunk provide perfect nesting locations for these birds.

California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera)

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinch

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: Small at 4.5 inches (11 centimeters), songbird; bright yellow belly contrasting with blackand-white wings; males have a dark cap on their head and a greenish-yellow back; females are greenishyellow all over head and back.

Behavior: Typically seen in small flocks, these birds are vocal and acrobatic feeders. Often, they can be seen perched on a flower stalk that is swaying with their weight. How

Native Plants Support Them: Lesser Goldfinches are quintessential seed eaters, with a smattering of fruits and young leaves mixed in. Sages (Salvia spp.) provide an excellent food source, as do coyotebrush (Baccharis pilularis) and deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens).

Allen Chickering Sage (Salvia spp.)

Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla)

Photo: Ron Williams

Deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens)

Photo: Elizabeth Collins

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: 8.5 inches (21 centimeters); long-tailed, deep-bellied bird; mostly black upper with spotted wings; dark “hood” with a contrasting red eye; rufous flanks and light underside.

Behavior: Distinctive “double hop” as it moves leaf litter in search of insects, seeds, and fruit. Creates a nest on the ground, under the cover of shrubs.

How Native Plants Support Them: Native plants provide a layer of leaf litter that attracts the insects Spotted Towhees need to eat, particularly in the breeding season. Specific plants, such as toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), elderberry (Sambucus nigra caerulea), Catalina cherry (Prunus ilicifolia lyonii), and coffeeberry (Frangula californica) provide fruit/seeds that towhees love.

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)

Photo: Randy Wright

White-crowned Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrow

Photo: Alan Schmierer

Appearance: Large sparrow with bold white-andblack stripes on its crown; gray breast fades to brown wings with white wing bars; long-tailed; juveniles have rufous on the crown and a red eye stripe.

Behavior: Spends most of its time on the ground, where it feeds primarily on seeds. White-crowned Sparrows tend to exhibit flocking behavior, so if you attract one, you’ll probably have many in your yard. As spring approaches, they increase their intake of insects for food.

How Native Plants Support Them: Being primarily an herbivore, plants are critical for providing Whitecrowned Sparrows with food. In the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, these sparrows are commonly seen in the Ground Cover display in winter, where they are feeding on the seeds of sages, buckwheats, and coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis). O

Buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens)

Photo: Sangeet Khalsa