Top 10 plants for birds

Even a small garden can provide a selection of natural food sources for birds all year round.

From autumn onwards, this is particularly important, as temperatures start to drop and food becomes more scarce. But which plants are the best?

Here are 10 that will provide a succession of valuable foods for a wide range of bird species.

Holly

Although holly berries are often ripe by autumn, birds such as song thrushes, blackbirds, fieldfares and redwings don't usually feed on them until late winter. Only female plants produce berries, but there must be a male nearby to ensure pollination.

Ivy

In autumn, ivy flowers attract insects, which in turn provide food for robins and wrens. When the black berries appear in the middle of winter, they're devoured by everything from thrushes, waxwings, starlings and jays, to finches and blackbirds. The leaves provide food for caterpillars of the holly blue butterfly, as well as nesting and roosting shelter for birds.

Hawthorn

The shiny clusters of haws can stay on hawthorn trees until February or March. They're the favourite berry of blackbirds, redwings and fieldfares and are enjoyed by many other species too, including chaffinches, starlings and greenfinches. The leaves are the foodplant for caterpillars of many species of moth, providing food for baby birds in spring.

Honeysuckle

As it's a climber, honeysuckle is ideal when space is tight. In autumn it provides berries and shelter for birds such as thrushes, warblers and bullfinches. In summer, its scented flowers attract insects and so provide food for a different range of birds.

Rowan

Depending on which species of rowan tree you plant, it will bear berries from late July (Sorbus aucuparia) to November (Sorbus torminalis). You could also grow crab apples, which will attract birds such as blackbirds and starlings.

Teasel

This tall architectural plant is a stalwart of naturalistic plantings. Teasels form striking seedheads in early autumn, which can last until December, depending on the weather. Goldfinches, sparrows and buntings all feast on the compact seedheads.

Cotoneaster

The branches of this shrub are laden with small red berries from autumn onwards. This plant is often the first to be stripped of its bounty, as the nutritious berries are extremely popular with garden birds such as blackbirds, thrushes and waxwings.

Cotoneaster horizontalis, alongside four other cotoneaster species, are listed as invasive, non-native species on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales. It is an offence to plant or otherwise cause to grow these species in the wild. You should stop them spreading from your garden and avoid purchasing or accepting gifts of these species.

Sunflower

Leave the faded flowers on this sun-loving annual to form large seedheads. The plentiful seeds, tightly packed at the centre, provide oil-rich nourishment throughout autumn for finches, long-tailed tits, nuthatches and other seed-eating birds.

Guelder rose

This native deciduous shrub, Viburnum opulus, bears heavy clusters of glossy berries from November through to March. These are loved by mistle thrushes and bullfinches, in particular. It makes an excellent hedging plant too.

Shrub rose

Some of the largest rose hips are produced by hedging roses, such as Rosa rugosa 'Roseraie de l'Hay', and these are taken by blackbirds, fieldfares and mistle thrushes. The smaller hips of the dog rose, Rosa canina, are eaten by a wider range of birds and stay juicy until late winter.

Kate Bradbury says

The more berrying plants you grow, the better. These provide a perennial source of nutritious, antioxidant-rich food for birds in autumn, which is a longer lasting and more reliable way to help birds than by filling feeders.