Category: American Holly

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Photo of the Day

American Robin
We don’t have a resident groundhog at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, but the arrival of an American Robin to begin cleaning the abundance of berries from our holly trees and shrubs gives us the idea that spring is just around the corner.  We could hardly be happier.
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Select Your Berry-producing Plants Now

You probably know that fall is an excellent time for planting.  Roots continue to grow in the warm soil even after the air becomes cool and leaves change color, setting the stage for your new trees and shrubs to sport splendid foliage and flowers in spring.

But did you know that autumn can be the best time to visit your local nursery/garden center to select the native trees and shrubs that produce berries for attracting and feeding overwintering birds and other wildlife?  Here are three of our favorites.  Each is looking its best from now through at least the first half of winter.

American Holly
American Holly is a favorite small evergreen tree for winter beauty in the landscape.  The showy red berries are produced only on female plants, so you’ll need to select at least one of each gender to grow fruit.  They do best in acidic soils, responding well to a mulching of plenty of dead leaves each fall.
American Robins Feeding on American Holly
American Robins eating American Holly berries in February.
Common Winterberry
Common Winterberry is a slow-growing deciduous shrub and a member of the holly family; you’ll need both a male and a female plant to get a crop of berries.  It just so happens that fall is the best time to visit the nursery for selecting a female that’s a good fruit producer.  Winterberry is at its best under full sun in moist, acidic soils.  These plants are very happy to receive the water from your downspouts and a mulching from the leaves in your garden.
American Robin Feeding on Common Winterberry
An American Robin feeds on Common Winterberry on a snowy February evening.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a low-growing arching deciduous shrub of sunny locations in various well-drained soils.  It is a plant of the southern United States that, given current temperature trends, will thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, particularly on south-facing slopes.  And yes, it does well in mass plantings on embankments.
American Beautyberry
The fruits of American Beautyberry may be the most colorful of any native species.

There’s still time to get the shovel dirty, so visit your local native plant dealer this week and invest in some fruit-producing trees and shrubs.  Fall is also a good time to plant pines, spruces, and hemlocks.  Who knows, you might just get a good end-of-season deal.

White Pines, Norway Spruces, and Eastern Red Cedar
When planted in mixed clumps, conifers like these White Pines, Norway Spruces, and Eastern Red Cedar provide excellent winter food and cover for birds and other wildlife.
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Five Best Values for Feeding Birds

Despite being located in an urbanized downtown setting, blustery weather in recent days has inspired a wonderful variety of small birds to visit the garden here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to feed and refresh.  For those among you who may enjoy an opportunity to see an interesting variety of native birds living around your place, we’ve assembled a list of our five favorite foods for wild birds.

American Goldfinches in drab winter (basic) plumage visit the trickle of water entering the headquarters pond to bathe and drink.  In addition to offering the foods animals need to survive, a source of clean water is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your property.

The selections on our list are foods that provide supplemental nutrition and/or energy for indigenous species, mostly songbirds, without sustaining your neighborhood’s non-native European Starlings and House Sparrows, mooching Eastern Gray Squirrels, or flock of ecologically destructive hand-fed waterfowl.  We’ve included foods that aren’t necessarily the cheapest but are instead those that are the best value when offered properly.

Bread, “bargain” seed mixes, and cracked corn can attract and sustain large numbers of House Sparrows and European Starlings.  Both are non-native species that compete mercilessly with indigenous birds including bluebirds for food and nesting sites.  Though found favorable for feeding Northern Cardinals without attracting squirrels, the expensive safflower seed seen here is another favorite of these aggressive House Sparrows.  Ever wasteful, they “shovel” seed out of feeders while searching for the prime morsels from which they can easily remove the hulls.  Trying not to feed them is an ongoing challenge, so we don’t offer these aforementioned foods to our avian guests.

Number 5

Raw Beef Suet

In addition to rendered beef suet, manufactured suet cakes usually contain seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, and other ingredients that attract European Starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels to the feeder, often excluding woodpeckers and other native species from the fare.  Instead, we provide raw beef suet.

Because it is unrendered and can turn rancid, raw beef suet is strictly a food to be offered in cold weather.   It is a favorite of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many other species.  Ask for it at your local meat counter, where it is generally inexpensive.

Raw beef suet is fat removed from areas surrounding the kidneys on a beef steer.  To avoid spoiling, offer it only in the winter months, particularly if birds are slow to consume the amount placed for them.  If temperatures are above freezing, it’s important to replace uneaten food frequently.  The piece seen here on the left was stored in the freezer for almost a year while the rancid piece to the right was stored in a refrigerator at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for just two months.  You can render raw beef suet and make your own cakes by melting it down and pouring it into a form such as cupcake tin.  But do it outdoors or you’ll be living alone for a while.
A female Downy Woodpecker feeds on raw beef suet stuffed into holes drilled into a vertically hanging log.  Because they can’t be cleaned, log feeders should be discarded after one season.  Wire cage feeders though, can usually be scrubbed, disinfected, dried, and reused.
Pesky European Starlings might visit a raw beef suet feeder but won’t usually linger unless other foods to their liking are available nearby.
This male Downy Woodpecker has no trouble feeding on raw beef suet packed into holes drilled into the underside of this horizontally hanging log.  Starlings don’t particularly care to feed this way.
Unusual visitors like a Brown Creeper are more likely to stop by at a suet feeder when it isn’t crowded by raucous starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels.   This one surprised us just this morning.
Below the feeders, scraps of suet that fall to the ground are readily picked up, usually by ground-feeding birds.  In this instance, a male Eastern Bluebird saw a chunk break loose and pounced on it with haste.

Number 4

Niger (“Thistle”) Seed

Niger seed, also known as nyjer or nyger, is derived from the sunflower-like plant Guizotia abyssinica, a native of Ethiopia.  By the pound, niger seed is usually the most expensive of the bird seeds regularly sold in retail outlets.  Nevertheless, it is a good value when offered in a tube or wire mesh feeder that prevents House Sparrows and other species from quickly “shoveling” it to the ground.  European starlings and squirrels don’t bother with niger seed at all.

Niger seed must be kept dry.  Mold will quickly make niger seed inedible if it gets wet, so avoid using “thistle socks” as feeders.  A dome or other protective covering above a tube or wire mesh feeder reduces the frequency with which feeders must be cleaned and moist seed discarded.  Remember, keep it fresh and keep it dry!

Niger (“thistle”) seed is very small, so it is offered in specialized feeders to prevent seed from spilling out of oversize holes as waste.
An American Goldfinch in winter plumage feeding on niger seed from a wire mesh feeder.  By April, goldfinches are molting into spectacular breeding feathers.  Niger seed can be offered year-round to keep them visiting your garden while they are at maximum magnificence.
American Goldfinches in August.  This tube feeder is designed specifically for goldfinches, birds that have no difficulty hanging upside down to grab niger seed from small feeding ports.
During invasion years, visiting Pine Siskins favor niger seed at feeding stations.
Like goldfinches, Pine Siskins are quite comfortable feeding upside down on specialized tubes with perches positioned above the seed ports.  Seeds dropped to the ground are readily picked up by ground-feeding birds including Mourning Doves and Dark-eyed Juncos.  Periodically, uneaten niger seed should be swept up and discarded.

Number 3

Striped Sunflower Seed

Striped sunflower seed, also known as grey-striped sunflower seed, is harvested from a cultivar of the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same tall garden plant with a massive bloom that you grew as a kid.  The Common Sunflower is indigenous to areas west of the Mississippi River and its seeds are readily eaten by many native species of birds including jays, finches, and grosbeaks.  The husks are harder to crack than those of black oil sunflower seed, so House Sparrows consume less, particularly when it is offered in a feeder that prevents “shoveling”.   For obvious reasons, a squirrel-proof or squirrel-resistant feeder should be used for striped sunflower seed.

Striped sunflower seed.
A male House Finch and a Carolina Chickadee pluck striped sunflower seeds from a squirrel-resistant powder-coated metal-mesh tube feeder.
An American Goldfinch in winter plumage finds striped sunflower seeds irresistible, even with niger seed being offered in an adjacent feeder.
A Tufted Titmouse visits a feeder stocked with striped sunflower seeds.
Northern Cardinals readily feed on striped sunflower seeds, especially those that fall from our metal-mesh tube feeders.
An Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has no choice but to be satisfied with striped sunflower seeds that spill from our wire-mesh tube feeders.

Number 2

Mealworms

Mealworms are the commercially produced larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor.  Dried or live mealworms are a marvelous supplement to the diets of numerous birds that might not otherwise visit your garden.  Woodpeckers, titmice, wrens, mockingbirds, warblers, and bluebirds are among the species savoring protein-rich mealworms.  The trick is to offer them without European Starlings noticing or having access to them because European Starlings you see, go crazy over a meal of mealworms.

Dried mealworms can be offered in a cup or on a tray feeder.  Live mealworms need to be contained in a steep-sided dish, so they don’t crawl away.  Unless you’re really lucky, you’ll probably have to place your serving vessel of mealworms inside some type of enclosure to exclude European Starlings.
A male Eastern Bluebird tossing and grabbing a dried mealworm.
A female Eastern Bluebird with a dried mealworm.
A pair of Eastern Bluebirds.  The value of mealworms is self-evident: you get to have bluebirds around.

 

To foil European Starlings, we assembled this homemade mealworm feeder from miscellaneous parts. The bluebirds took right to it.
It frustrates the starlings enough to discourage them from sticking around for long.
If you’re offering dried mealworms, a source of clean water must be available nearby so that the bluebirds and other guests at your feeder don’t become dehydrated.

Number 1

Food-producing Native Shrubs and Trees

The best value for feeding birds and other wildlife in your garden is to plant food-producing native plants, particularly shrubs and trees.  After an initial investment, they can provide food, cover, and roosting sites year after year.  In addition, you’ll have a more complete food chain on a property populated by native plants and all the associated life forms they support (insects, spiders, etc.).

In your garden, a Northern Mockingbird may defend a food supply like these Common Winterberry fruits as its sole means of sustenance for an entire winter season.  Having an abundance of plantings assures that in your cache there’s plenty to eat for this and other species.
The American Goldfinches currently spending the winter at our headquarters are visiting the feeders for niger and striped sunflower seeds, but the bulk of their diet consists of tiny seeds from the cones on our Eastern Hemlock trees.  At night, birds obtain shelter from the weather by roosting in this clump of evergreens.
While the Eastern Bluebirds visiting the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters are fond of mealworms, the bulk of their diet here consists of these Common Winterberry fruits and the berries on our American Holly trees.
Cedar Waxwings are readily attracted to red berries including Common Winterberry fruit.
Migrating American Robins visit the headquarters garden in late winter each year to devour berries before continuing their journey to the north.

Your local County Conservation District is having its annual spring tree sale soon.  They have a wide selection to choose from each year and the plants are inexpensive.  They offer everything from evergreens and oaks to grasses and flowers.  You can afford to scrap the lawn and revegetate your whole property at these prices—no kidding, we did it.  You need to preorder for pickup in the spring.  To order, check their websites now or give them a call.  These food-producing native shrubs and trees are by far the best bird feeding value that you’re likely to find, so don’t let this year’s sales pass you by!

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More than a Mint Dish

On a snowy winter day, it sure is nice to see some new visitors at a backyard feeding station.  Here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, American Robins have arrived to partake of the offerings.

American Robins feed on peanut hearts and chopped apples.

For this flock of robins, which numbered in excess of 150 individuals, the contents of this tray were a mere garnish to the meal that would sustain them through 72 hours of stormy weather.  The main course was the supply of ripe berries on shrubs and trees in the headquarters garden.

Their first choice—the bright red fruits of the Common Winterberry.

American Robins strip the fruits from a Common Winterberry.
Eat fast or lose your turn.
Irresistible crimson delights.
Cedar Waxwings get their share too.
Robins will linger until nightfall to feed on winterberries.

After cleaning off the winterberry shrubs, other fruits became part of the three-day-long feast.

Robins eating Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus) fruits.
The blue-gray berries of junipers are attractive to robins, waxwings, and bluebirds.
The American Holly (Ilex opaca) is a favorite of berry-loving birds.  Its evergreen foliage provides cover and roosting sites for wintering birds.

Wouldn’t it be great to see these colorful birds in your garden each winter?  You can, you know.  Won’t you consider adding plantings of native trees and shrubs to your property this spring?  Here at the susquehannawildlife.com headquarters we mow no lawn; the lawn is gone.  Mixing evergreens and fruit-producing shrubs with native warm-season grasses and flowering plants has created a wildlife oasis absent of that dirty habit of mowing and blowing.

You can find many of the plants seen here at your local garden center.  Take a chunk out of your lawn by paying them a visit this spring.

Want a great deal?  Many of the County Conservation District offices in the lower Susquehanna region are having their annual spring tree sales right now.  Over the years, we obtained many of our evergreens and berry-producing shrubs from these sales for less than two dollars each.  At that price you can blanket that stream bank or wet spot in the yard with winterberries and mow it no more!  The deadlines for orders are quickly approaching, so act today—literally, act today.  Visit your County Conservation District’s website for details including selections, prices, order deadlines, and pickup dates and locations.

Evergreens like this Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) are essential to the survival of many species of wintering birds.  Plant evergreens in clumps, the bigger the better, to provide birds with thermal protection against the cold winds of winter nights.
County Conservation District Tree Sales offer bare root evergreens like this Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) in packs of five or ten.  Buy a bunch.  Spend this year’s lawn treatment money on them.  Then, get them planted immediately after pickup in the spring and in a few years you’ll have a nice grove of evergreens for wildlife habitat, a wind break, or a privacy screen.
Groves of mixed evergreens among deciduous woods, grasslands, farmlands, or suburbs are ideal cover for wintering wildlife.  These stands attract many species of migrating and nesting birds as well.  Seen here, left to right, are Eastern White Pine, Norway Spruce (Picea abies), and Eastern Red Cedar.  Though not a native species, the Norway Spruce is frequently used for conservation and ornamental plantings in the northeastern United States due to its appealing attributes and lack of invasive characteristics.
Feeding wildlife is great fun.  But remember, if you’re running a hotel for animals, you’ve got to offer more than an after-dinner mint to your tired and hungry guests.  Let’s get planting!

County Conservation District Tree Sales

Consult each County Conservation District’s Tree Sale web page for ordering info, pickup locations, and changes to these dates and times.

Cumberland County Conservation District Tree Seedling Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Tuesday, March 30, 2021.  Pickup 1 P.M. to 5 P.M., Thursday, April 22, 2021, and 8 A.M. to 2 P.M., Friday, April 23, 2021.  https://www.ccpa.net/4636/Tree-Seedling-Sale

Lancaster County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders (hand-delivered to drop box) 5 P.M., Friday, March 5, 2021.  Pickup 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., Thursday, April 15, 2021.  https://www.lancasterconservation.org/tree-sale/

Lebanon County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders  Thursday, March 11, 2021.  Pickup 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Friday, May 7, 2021.  https://www.lccd.org/2021-tree-sale/

Perry County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Wednesday, March 24, 2021.  Pickup 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., Thursday, April 8, 2021.  www.perrycd.org/Documents/2021 Tree Sale Flyer LEGAL SIZE.pdf

York County Conservation District Seedling Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Monday, March 15, 2021.  Pickup 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., Thursday, April 15, 2021.  https://www.yorkccd.org/events/2021-seedling-sale

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