A feeder offers seed. A native plant can offer berries, seeds, nest sites and caterpillars, which Missouri Botanical Garden calls a major food for nestlings. Audubon defines native plants as those that occur naturally in the region where they evolved, and notes that most landscaping plants sold in nurseries are not native. Below: the research, a plant-by-region table and the ZIP-code finders.
Quick read
Why: native oaks support over 500 caterpillar species; the ginkgo, a common Asian landscape tree, supports 5 (Audubon, citing Doug Tallamy).
How much: yards with more than 70 percent native plants were the only ones where Carolina Chickadees could sustain their numbers (Smithsonian and University of Delaware, 2018).
What: start with the table below, then check your ZIP code in Audubon's or the NWF's plant finder.
Why native plants matter to birds
Caterpillars are the link. Audubon says native plants and the insects that evolved with them form the base of the food web, and that raising one brood of chickadees takes over 6,000 caterpillars. A 2017 Audubon report on research by Desirée Narango and Doug Tallamy puts it at 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars for a brood of five in a season. The Smithsonian adds that over 90 percent of plant-eating insects eat only one or a few native plants, so a yard of non-native shrubs can look green and still feed few birds.
The chickadee studies. Narango's team surveyed about 97 suburban yards around Washington, D.C. In five minutes of searching, native trees such as oaks often yielded 20 or more caterpillars; most introduced plants yielded one or fewer (Audubon, 2017). Chickadees nested more often in yards with many native trees. A follow-up in PNAS (2018) used nest boxes in more than 160 yards watched by Smithsonian Neighborhood Nestwatch volunteers. As non-native plants increased, Carolina Chickadees were less likely to breed there and raised fewer young. Below about 70 percent native plants, UDaily reports, the chance of sustaining the local population dropped to zero. (UDaily calls it native plant biomass; the Smithsonian says plant composition.) See our chickadee profile for telling Carolina from Black-capped.
The scale. Audubon counts over 40 million acres of US lawn, and says suburban lawns average 10 times more pesticide per acre than farmland. UDaily notes that 432 US bird species, more than a third, eat insects.
- Native oaks: over 500 caterpillar species (Audubon, citing Tallamy).
- Ginkgo: 5 caterpillar species (Audubon). UDaily quotes Tallamy: "Instead of a Ginkgo, plant an oak."
- Native trees such as oaks: often 20 or more caterpillars in five minutes of searching (Narango et al., 2017, via Audubon).
- Most introduced plants: one caterpillar or fewer in the same search.
- Below 70 percent native plants: the chance of sustaining a local Carolina Chickadee population dropped to zero (UDaily, 2018).
- Dashed line: the 70 percent threshold (Narango et al., PNAS 2018).
- Above 70 percent: yards produced enough chickadees for a stable population (Smithsonian).
- Brood demand: 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars for a brood of five in a season (Audubon, 2017).
Plant-by-region table
These are examples the cited sources name for each region, not complete lists. "Native" varies within a region, so confirm each plant for your county with the finders further down.
| Region | Trees and shrubs | Flowers and grasses | Birds the sources name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast and New England | Winterberry, inkberry, gray, red-osier and silky dogwoods, hawthorns, eastern red cedar, staghorn and smooth sumac, maple-leaved viburnum, hobblebush, American mountain ash: all fruit for fall and winter (UNH Extension) | Eastern red columbine, rough blazing star (Audubon) | Dogwood fruit: Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Dark-eyed Juncos, Gray Catbirds, bluebirds, waxwings, over 35 species in all (Audubon); columbine nectar: hummingbirds |
| Southeast | American holly, yaupon holly, sparkleberry, American beautyberry, eastern red cedar, serviceberry (UGA Extension, Coastal Georgia Botanical Garden) | Cardinal flower, scarlet sage, bee balm, little bluestem, pink muhly grass (same list) | American holly berries: big winter flocks of Cedar Waxwings and robins (UGA); sparkleberry: Tufted Titmice, robins, thrashers, mockingbirds, Bobwhite (Audubon); cardinal flower and scarlet sage: hummingbirds |
| Florida | Wax myrtle, Simpson's stopper, wild coffee, American beautyberry, Chickasaw plum, red mulberry, native persimmon, sabal palm (UF/IFAS) | Native wildflowers, whose seeds birds eat (UF/IFAS) | Sabal palm fruit: robins, mockingbirds and "many more" (UF/IFAS) |
| Midwest | Serviceberry, black cherry, white oak, pagoda and gray dogwoods, winterberry, spicebush, American elder, blackhaw viburnum (Missouri Botanical Garden) | Purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, New England aster, cup plant, switchgrass, prairie dropseed (same) | Coneflower and black-eyed Susan seeds: goldfinches; aster seeds: finches, wild turkeys; switchgrass seed: over 30 species; elder fruit: several dozen species |
| Great Plains and central US | Chokecherry, a native shrub; the NRCS 'Schubert' cultivar comes from a native stand near Valley City, North Dakota (USDA NRCS) | Pale purple coneflower, prairie blazing star, switchgrass, muhly grass (Audubon) | Chokecherry fruit: birds (NRCS); blazing star seeds: American Goldfinches, Black-capped Chickadees, Indigo Buntings, Tufted Titmice; muhly seeds: sparrows, finches (Audubon) |
| Rocky Mountains and Great Basin | Utah serviceberry, 5,000–9,000 ft, Montana to Oregon and south to New Mexico and California (USDA NRCS); ponderosa pine; bristlecone pines in the Southern Rockies (Audubon) | Rocky Mountain blazing star; blue, yellow or red columbines; penstemons (Audubon) | Serviceberry: birds eat the berries and nest in it (NRCS); pine seeds: finches, nuthatches, grosbeaks, chickadees; penstemon: hummingbirds (nectar), sparrows (seeds) (Audubon) |
| Desert Southwest (Phoenix area) | Desert hackberry, which keeps its leaves in winter and grows dense and thorny (Audubon Southwest) | Chuparosa, which blooms nearly year-round (Audubon Southwest) | Hackberry berries: Northern Mockingbirds, House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes; chuparosa: Anna's, Black-chinned and possibly Costa's Hummingbirds |
| California | Toyon, Mexican elderberry, California coffeeberry, hollyleaf cherry (California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley chapter) | — | Toyon: robins, waxwings, Purple Finches, over 20 species; elderberry: quail, thrashers, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, orioles, House Finches, Orange-crowned Warblers; coffeeberry: Western Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers |
| Pacific Northwest | Oregon grape, Garry oak, western flowering dogwood, evergreen huckleberry, serviceberry, elderberry (Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife); Pacific wax myrtle, "a Pacific Northwest native" with berries into winter (OSU Extension) | Red-flowering currant, western trumpet honeysuckle, columbine, penstemon (WDFW) | Oregon grape: hummingbirds, robins, Cedar Waxwings, sparrows, juncos, towhees; red-flowering currant: hummingbirds, woodpeckers, jays, robins, Cedar Waxwings, sparrows, towhees (WDFW) |
One honest caveat from the Southeast: a 1996 University of Georgia piece says birds don't especially prefer American beautyberry, even though it fruits in fall.
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Photo: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant groups that work almost everywhere
Audubon's guide to 20 common native plant types names several genera with native species across much of the country:
| Plant group | Birds Audubon names | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oaks | Insect-eating songbirds; woodpeckers and jays (acorns); cavity nesters such as bluebirds | Upwards of 200 US species |
| Serviceberries | Northern Cardinals, Cedar Waxwings, tanagers, grosbeaks, vireos, robins | Much of the country |
| Elderberries | Brown Thrashers, Red-eyed Vireos, Gray Catbirds, warblers, orioles, waxwings | American black elderberry: almost all of the Lower 48 |
| Sunflowers | Northern Cardinals, goldfinches, siskins, grosbeaks, jays | Dozens of native species |
| Goldenrods and asters | American Goldfinches, chickadees, insect-eating birds in fall migration | Many species, especially in the East |
UDaily adds a D.C.-area ranking: oaks, native cherries, willows, elms, birches, hickories and black walnuts were among the best choices for birds. For seed-eaters like the American Goldfinch, Missouri Botanical Garden notes that finches eat purple coneflower seeds from summer into winter.
What to skip or replace
- Invasive honeysuckles: Amur, Tatarian, Morrow's and Japanese. Plant native trumpet or yellow honeysuckle (Audubon).
- Tropical milkweed and Scotch pine: Audubon suggests native milkweeds and pines in their place.
- Ginkgo, zelkova and Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica): poor food plants in the D.C. study (UDaily).
- Florida invasives: Brazilian pepper, nandina, coral ardisia, asparagus fern and Surinam cherry (UF/IFAS).
- Phoenix area: oleander, which Audubon Southwest calls poisonous and invasive; swap for desert hackberry.
Find the native plants for your ZIP code
- Audubon's Native Plants Database shows bird-friendly plants for your area and where to buy them, using range data from the Biota of North America Program.
- The National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder ranks plants by the number of caterpillar species they support, based on Tallamy's research, and filters by ZIP code using county-level USDA native-range data.
- Look for keystone plants. Penn State Extension says about 5 percent of a region's native plants host 70 to 75 percent of its butterfly and moth species. Keystone lists are set by EPA ecoregion; in Pennsylvania, examples include white oak, black cherry and pussy willow.
- Check your hardiness zone. The Smithsonian release points to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, and Audubon Southwest advises checking your zone. It also notes that native plants still need regular water while they establish.
Native-plant checklist
- At least one native oak, cherry or other caterpillar-rich tree if you have room
- Berry shrubs that fruit at different times, including some that hold fruit into winter
- Seed flowers and grasses left standing after they bloom
- Nectar flowers for hummingbirds (see our hummingbird feeder guide for the feeder side)
- Invasive honeysuckles and other listed invasives replaced over time
- A goal of more than 70 percent native plants (Narango et al., 2018)
- Water nearby: see the bird bath guide
Feeders add the rest: see what to feed backyard birds.
Sources
- Why Native Plants Matter — Audubon (updated 2024)
- Native Plants Database — Audubon
- Get to Know These 20 Common Types of Native Plants — Audubon (Carlyn Kranking, 2021)
- New Research Further Proves Native Plants Offer More Bugs for Birds — Audubon (Michelle Donahue, 2017)
- Biodiversity for the birds — UDaily, University of Delaware (2018)
- New Smithsonian Study Links Declines in Suburban Backyard Birds to Presence of Nonnative Plants — Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (2018)
- About the Native Plant Finder — National Wildlife Federation
- Keystone Species: A Framework for Selecting Native Plants — Penn State Extension (updated 2026)
- Native Trees and Shrubs That Provide Berries for Birds Through the Fall and Winter — UNH Extension (2024)
- Native Plant Garden brochure — UGA Extension, Coastal Georgia Botanical Garden (PDF)
- Plant Berries for Birds in Your Wild Garden — UGA CAES Field Report (Jeff Jackson, 1996)
- Bird-Friendly Plants — UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions
- Native Plants to Attract Birds — Missouri Botanical Garden
- Plant Fact Sheet: Chokecherry — USDA NRCS (PDF)
- Plant Guide: Utah Serviceberry — USDA NRCS (PDF)
- Plant This, Not That — Audubon Southwest (Cathy Wise, 2026)
- Berries for the Birds — California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter (Jeffrey Caldwell, PDF)
- Pacific Northwest trees, shrubs and perennials and the birds that use them — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (PDF)
- Plants that feed backyard birds in winter — Oregon State University Extension
- File:Cedar Waxwing gobbling a Smooth Serviceberry (47930276982).jpg — Wikimedia Commons (photo source)
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