Hummingbirds aren’t the only birds that can benefit from planting flowers in your yard. Planting native seed-producing flowers can support various other types of birds, including finches, chickadees, and more, with some extra benefits to boot.
With these flowers, you can feed the birds and grow beautiful gardens that benefit all kinds of species. Most of these flowers produce seeds, but planting any native flower species will be of great benefit to wildlife.
Many birds rely on hundreds or even thousands of insects to feed both themselves and their young, and native plants are the only way to provide as many insects as these birds require.
Native flowers come with serious benefits. Let’s take a look at 10 flowers that can help you attract songbirds.
Key Takeaways
- Bird-friendly gardens: Planting native flowers like coneflowers, sunflowers, and black-eyed Susans can attract and feed a variety of birds, not just hummingbirds.
- Ecosystem boost: These plants support birds and other wildlife by providing seeds and attracting insects, which are crucial for feeding both adult birds and their young.
- Unique benefits: Some plants, like milkweed and elderberry, offer more than just food for seed-eaters. Milkweed provides nesting material, while elderberry offers berries for birds and attracts pollinators.
10 Flowers To Attract Songbirds
Coneflowers
Within its range stretching from the Great Plains to the East Coast, purple coneflower is one of the most common flowers found growing in many open prairies.
Drooping purple pedals spread from a center cone that gives this flower its name. While lacking the color and much of the flair of its eastern relative, the western coneflower can still provide wildlife with food and be part of a healthy ecosystem.
Goldfinches and sparrows are among the birds that will eat coneflower seeds, although they’re not alone.
Sunflowers
If you’re an experienced backyard birdwatcher, you probably know that sunflower seeds may be the most popular bird feeder offering for many birds. Instead of deciding between black oil sunflower seeds or striped sunflower seeds, why not go straight to the source and plant sunflowers yourself?
There are 52 species of sunflowers, all native to North America and Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Common sunflower is native across much of the United States. It can grow to double-digit feet in height, with large, yellow, sun-shaped flowers.
The list of birds that eat sunflower seeds is wide-ranging, including finches, nuthatches, chickadees, and more.
Black-eyed Susan
What do you get if you cross the shape and size of the purple coneflower with the sunny yellow of the sunflower? Pretty close to the black-eyed Susan. Though they’re not all in the same genus, the coneflower, sunflower, and black-eyed Susan are all members of the daisy family.
Keep in mind that black-eyed Susans are toxic to cats — though cats should be kept inside anyway if you care about protecting the birds, as cats kill billions of birds each year.
Continuing a common theme that will persist through the end of this article, goldfinches are among the birds that like to eat the nutritious seeds from black-eyed Susans. Butterflies also love them.
Milkweed
Milkweed is most commonly thought of as benefitting monarch butterflies, as milkweed plants are the only ones that can feed monarch caterpillars, but these plants are also beneficial to bird species.
It’s not for food purposes, however. Birds will use the fluffy parts of milkweed to line their nests, according to Audubon Director of Community Conservation John Rowden.
Milkweed also provides habitat for a wide variety of insects and spiders besides monarchs, which can provide a much-needed food source for the insectivorous birds in your backyard.
Asters
Aster is a genus of Eurasian flowers, so you don’t want to plant true asters if you’re looking to plant native species. The genus used to include North American asters, but those were moved into various other genera.
New England aster is among the most common North American “asters.” Despite its name, it’s native in areas outside the Northeast as well, in large numbers as far west as the Midwest, as well as sporadically in the Great Plains, Rockies, and limited parts of coastal states like Washington and Oregon.
More common in these latter states is the western aster, a light purple flower.
The usual suspects like chickadees and finches are among the backyard birds that will eat seeds of North American asters.
Thistle
Speaking of finches, these popular feeder visitors are known for their love of thistle, both the actual flower and the unrelated seed named because, like the flower, it’s a finch favorite.
Field thistles are circular purple flowers found across the eastern United States, where their seeds feed American goldfinches and other birds.
“Thistle” seed, also sold in stores under the name Nyjer, is not actually related to thistle flowers, but rather, it’s the seed of the African yellow daisy. Because finches of all kinds love it, it’s often called thistle, but that’s about all that links these seeds with thistle flowers.
Elderberry
American black elderberry is a flowering shrub most common in the eastern United States, and it’s the first plant on this list that provides food for birds in a way other than its seeds.
Growing up to a dozen feet tall, you may find the white flowers of the elderberry appealing, but it’s the nutritious black berries themselves that will appeal to a number of birds like cardinals, catbirds, and waxwings.
That doesn’t mean the flowers won’t benefit wildlife, however, as an elderberry shrub or two can be a hotspot for native insect pollinators like bees and butterflies.
Although humans shouldn’t eat the fruit raw, black elderberry can be eaten in jams or baked into treats for you to enjoy as well.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod seeds can be eaten by birds, but there’s also the insect food that comes with goldenrod flowers, including the goldenrod gall fly. Larvae of this fly hibernate in large balls on the stem of goldenrod.
During the winter months, they can be key food sources for hungry birds like downy woodpeckers.
A great plant for pollinators, and a beautiful addition to any native plant garden, goldenrod’s aggressive nature is important to consider before planting. They’re not invasive plants, but they kind of act like it, taking over an area and spreading quickly if given the opportunity.
Native Zinnias
Finches are among the birds that may eat the seeds of zinnias. Common zinnia is native to Mexico, but there are zinnia species native to the rest of North America, such as wild zinnia, native to the southwestern United States as well as Central America.
They have beautiful yellow flowers and can be “water-wise” flowers for gardeners, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Salvia
You may know salvia as one of the most popular nectar-rich flowers for hummingbirds, but its seeds can also feed house finches and goldfinches, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Terry W. Johnson.
Salvia, also known as blue sage, is a member of the sage family, as you could maybe have guessed. Its range excludes most Pacific and Atlantic coastal states, but most (though not all) interior states are within this plant’s native range.
There’s also mealy blue sage, also called mealy cup sage, with a range that is mostly spread across the southern United States.
In Conclusion
No matter which native plants you decide to plant in your yard, you’re likely to benefit your feathered friends by cultivating a healthy ecosystem in your outdoor space. While some may have direct benefits for songbirds like tasty seeds or berries, others will help them build their nests or give them fertile hunting grounds for insects.
Every little bit of habitat that you create will help the wild birds in your area, including these flowers. It all makes a difference.
Happy birding!