Plant a high-fat, berry-producing shrub this spring

Berries from introduced Eurasian plants like glossy buckthorn and Japanese honeysuckle contain less than 1% fat, compared to native plants like arrowwood viburnum and gray dogwood, which contain almost 50% fat by weight.

Winterberry

Red-bellied woodpecker

American cranberrybush viburnum

 
Choose from Northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin), Northern bayberry (Morella Pensylvanica) or Myrica pensylvanica), arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), American cranberry bush viburnum (Viburnum trilobum), winterberry, shown at left (Ilex verticillata), gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa), red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) or shadbush (Amelanchier spp.). All of these native shrubs and small trees produce nutritious, high-fat berries that sustain songbirds through fall and winter.

Don’t birds get plenty of berries already?

Sadly, no, at least not the right kind. What you may be seeing in the landscape are the berries of Oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose or autumn olive. Invasive plants like these produce high-sugar berries in the fall. In winter, birds are in survival mode, so although birds will consume these berries if that’s all that’s available, non-native berries are the equivalent of junk food, offering little nutritional value.

Autumn is a demanding time for migrating birds that need to pack on the fat before they leave, as well as for year-round residents that must survive bitterly cold Connecticut winters. When insects, grubs and caterpillars become scarce in the fall, many birds look for high-calorie berries.

You can help ensure our native songbirds get the fat and carbs they need to get through winter by planting native shrubs that produce energy-rich berries.

One Small Thing is a continuing series of actionable steps you can take to help restore ecological balance in your own backyard.

Ready to take it a step further? Prioritize keystone species.

Eastern bluebird