PLANTS FOR BIRDS

You can provide both food and nesting cover for many birds by choosing the right plants, at the same time maintaining an attractive garden. There are many shrubs that produce an abundance of berries during the autumn and early winter, and these will provide food for thrushes and, if you are lucky, more exotic visitors like Waxwing and Blackcap.

Other plants provide dense cover within which birds like Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and finches can nest. If you use evergreen shrubs then birds can use these bushes as places in which to roost during the winter nights.

Different plants require different soil conditions, although some do equally well on a range of soils. Some are suitable for coastal gardens, where sea spray can affect plants, while others can be positioned against north-facing walls.

Click here to find out about plants that provide nesting and roosting cover.

Click here to find out about plants that provide fruits and seeds.

A whole section of 'Gardening for Birdwatchers' - a book on wildlife gardening produced by the BTO's Garden Ecology Team (ISBN 978-1-906204-30-3, £9.99)- is devoted to this subject.

You can get a copy of this book free when you join Garden BirdWatch (£15 annual sub.).

Click here to join Garden BirdWatch.