Birds, Mammals and Wildlife Gardening - Feeding garden birds

Berry or fruit-bearing trees and shrubs will attract many birds and growing such plants allows you to provide ‘natural’ bird food all year round. Choose from some of the following to beautify your garden and give nutrition to our feathered friends. Note that all the species that have a * in front of their name are beloved of birds but poisonous to humans, so should be planted with care if you have small children.

Shrubs with berries
Berberis - most forms have black/purple berries which blackbirds adore
Cornus (Dogwood) - white berries
*Cotoneaster - prolific red, orange or yellow berries – take these in preference order red first, then orange and yellow last.
*Euonymous europaeus also known as spindleberry - large pinkish-red fruits which open to emit orange red seeds.
*Ilex, better known as holly – red or yellow berries – the birds always prefer the red berries and you need both male and female plants to get the fruit.
Mahonia - bears lovely large yellow flowers followed by decorative black berries known commonly as Oregon grapes
Rosa rugosa - has large red hips, particularly attractive to finches who pick out the seeds.
Sambucus is the common Elder from which we get elderberry wine and cordial – it has red or black berries
Viburnum opulus or Guelder Rose - bears translucent red berries
*Viscum album is the well-known Mistletoe – it has familiar white berries and is a parasite that grows in trees, especially apple. Blackbirds love this plant too

Climbers With Berries or Fruit
Chaenomeles commonly known as the Flowering Quince, large golden fruits that last much of the winter and peach flowers in early spring before the leaves appear
*Hedera or Ivy - shiny black berries on umbel heads
*Lonicera (Honeysuckle - red or black berries that are particularly tasty to thrushes and finches

Trees with Berries or Fruits
Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn) - red berries.
Prunus is the Cherry - as any gardener will tell you, the fruits quickly picked off by all birds, but particularly by bullfinches!
Sorbus aucuparia is better known as either the Mountain Ash or Rowan – has red, orange or white berries with a pinkish tinge. The darker the fruits the more attractive they are to birds.
*Taxus is the botanical name for Yew - sparse red berries that look like beads and attract a wide range of birds.

Birds, mammals and wildlife gardening berries photograph by Scoobygirl, used under a creative commons attribution licence

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