This spring, Maine Audubon’s Native Plants staff found four different bird nests—all in trees less than two feet tall!
When it comes to native tree restoration to provide food and habitat for wildlife, I often think in distant terms. I imagine decades from now our little nursery trees becoming tall oaks with hundreds of feeding caterpillars, sprawling Winterberry bushes with a feast of winter fruits, and thick maple trees with cavities for nesting songbirds. However, when I found a nest full of Chipping Sparrow eggs in an Eastern White Pine tree that didn’t even reach my hip, I was reminded that the instant you put a native plant in the ground, it starts providing value for wildlife.
If you want to offer nesting habitat for birds right away, foliage density is key. There are two things to consider when we talk about density:
Individual Plant Foliage Density
All four nests that we found this year were in conifers, trees that have dense and structured branching even when they are small. We found the nests in pines and spruces, but firs and cedars are also great choices to provide immediate habitat. Here are a couple species that make excellent nesting habitat, even when small:
With its long, dense needles, Eastern White Pines (Pinus strobus) provide optimal nesting habitat for songbirds. In the fall, the cones drop seeds that are eaten by squirrels, mice, deer, and songbirds. The same dense foliage that makes it great for nesting habitat also makes this tree an excellent privacy screen or windbreak! Although this tree can get up to 80 feet tall, with special care it can be pruned into a hedge.
Black Spruce (Picea mariana) is naturally found in bogs and peatlands, so it likes sunny and wet conditions. The seeds from these cones remain viable for up to 25 years, and they are a good fall food source for songbirds such as Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, and Crossbills. Chipmunks, mice, voles, and shrews eat the seeds as well. The dense foliage of this tree makes it desirable for special human use—as a Christmas tree! If you decide to cut this tree down for holiday festivities, you can rest assured that this tree has already provided plenty of wildlife value during its life.
Density of Foliage by Surrounding Plants
Although buried in the branches of conifers, the nests we found were also surrounded by other plants that provided structural support and cover. Try planting a hedgerow with various shrubby species, and let the branches overlap to provide a matrix of optimal nesting habitat. Or, plant some tall herbaceous species that will surround your small tree now and provide an understory layer full of insect food once your tree is tall.
In the same way that small trees can instantly provide nesting habitat for songbirds, herbaceous plants immediately start acting as a food source for insects—which correspondingly creates a food source for birds! Here are some plants that host insects, no matter how small the plant is:
Out of all native herbaceous plants, Goldenrods (Solidago) and Asters (Symphyotrichum) support the largest number of caterpillar species. Because birds rely exclusively on caterpillars to feed their young, these two genera are the best that you can plant for nesting birds! These plants are also hosts for spittlebugs, which form a foamy home as they suck on plant juices. Although the larvae are hard to access through the froth, the adult spittlebugs are commonly eaten by songbirds.
Plantain-leaved Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) is a woolly, silvery-green groundcover with cat-paw-like flower heads. It makes a good lawn replacement and supports pollinators in spring. The American Lady is best known for using this wildflower as a host plant, but there are four other caterpillar species that rely exclusively on Antennaria.
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) are a food source for a variety of different insects. Butterflies, beetles, ebony bugs, and bees feed on the nectar, including the specialized Golden Alexanders Andrena Bee. Ladybugs lay their eggs under flower clusters so their young can eat the aphids that tap into the flower stems. And this wildflower is a host plant for Black Swallowtail caterpillars, which birds use to feed their chicks!
Check out our Nesting Habitat Kit! Save $10 and customize your bundle with your choice of conifer, goldenrod, aster, and a bonus plant! Or, visit our online store to choose plants on your own. Attracting a nesting pair is not guaranteed, but who knows…you may hear some little cheeps soon!
