Best Trees and Shrubs for Birds in the Winter

During the colder weather here in Maryland, birds have to find their own food. Berries, seeds, and habitats in protected tree limbs are not as plentiful as they are during the warmer summer months. But, there’s an easy solution to this problem: planting trees and shrubs for birds to get sustenance from throughout the cooler weather.

Let’s talk about the best trees and shrubs for birds in the winter! Great examples of smaller shrubs that attract the birds in the winter are bayberry, winterberry holly and viburnum. All of these have berries that persist throughout the winter that provide food for birds. The winterberry holly even has evergreen foliage that offers shelter to birds in inclement weather.

Bayberry

Winterberry Holly

Virburnum

Fall and Winter Trees Birds Adore

Some of the larger trees that make winter easier on our fine feathered friends are dogwood, serviceberry, maple and birch. The native dogwood trees are a beautiful understory tree that bloom in early spring and sport beautiful berries later in the year, with those berries lasting through the fall and winter.

The serviceberry also flowers which benefits pollinators, then produces small edible berries that birds enjoy eating. Maples and birch both produce seeds but not flowers; which provide food for birds in the winter.

Native Dogwood, Cornus florida

Maple

European Birch

Serviceberry

Patuxent Nursery has all these trees and shrubs available now. Stop by today and pick out some plants to help the birds in your backyard this winter!