Create a backyard habitat - Food
Food
Birds spend most of their time foraging for food such as insects, fruits and seeds. They locate food primarily by sight and will feed wherever there's food to be found. Supplement their diets with the premium ingredients found in Scotts® Wild Bird Food and watch them return again and again.
In addition to putting out feeders, you can also grow plants that bloom and produce fruit, seeds or nuts - attracting even more birds to your backyard.
When possible, use plants that are native to your area. Talk to your local nursery or agricultural extension agency to find out which plants grow best in your region.
Many perennials, grasses, vines, shrubs and trees provide food for birds. Here's a list of some of the best ones to plant.
Grasses for seed:
- Big Bluestem
- Buffalograss
- Gama Grass
- Little Bluestem
- Prairie Dropseed
Perennials:
- Black-Eyed Susan: seeds
- Blazing Star: seeds
- Common Evening Primrose: seeds
- Coneflower: seeds
- Fireweed: nectar
- Helianthus: seeds
- Phlox: nectar
- Strawberry: fruit
- Sunflower: seeds
Shrubs and trees
- American Elderberry: juicy fruit in mid-summer
- Black Cherry: fruit
- Chokecherry: fruit
- Crabapple: flowers, fruit and seeds are attractive to many species
- Dogwood: red fruits appear in late summer, and bear until fall
- Mulberry: juicy berries ripen in July and August
- Northern Bayberry: berries attractive to bluebirds, catbirds and tree swallows
- Raspberry: fruit
- Serviceberry: fruit appears in summer
- Viburnum: red, yellow, blue or black berries
Vines
- Virginia Creeper: blue berries in late summer
- Wild Grape: fruit is attractive to many species
