THE EXPRESSION ‘BIRDBRAIN’ is a disparaging one, but I beg to differ: I’m grateful that I had birds on my mind when I started making a garden. The result—a year-round landscape—seems positively brilliant to me and my feathered friends.
The award-winning “Growing a Greener World” public-television show visited to talk birds, before heading up to Cornell Lab of Ornithology to continue the conversation with Mya Thompson. It’s all in their latest show (stream it above, or check when your local PBS station will re-air Episode 526). Don’t forget to share it with all your similarly birdbrained friends.
get all my best bird-gardening advice:
- Want to make, or enhance, your own bird garden? I’ve rounded up some of my best advice on this page.
I always love your photos. What are the trees in your yard that have red berries in the winter months? I love them, not to mention most likely food for the birds.
Hi, Jacquie. I have probably 40 mature winterberry hollies, Ilex verticillata, that keep their fruit into the New Year or even February (unless the birds gobble them early). Other things, too, like Viburnum and crabapples, but the mot colorful in winter are the hollies.
Hi, Margaret. I enjoyed the show and seeing your beautiful gardens. While not a great gardener I, too, have a strong affinity for birds and especially, their nests. There’s an amazing book by photographer, Sharon Beals, that you and other birders would enjoy. It contains 50 nests and information about the birds who built them. Just exquisite. Happy new year! Judith
Thanks for the tip, Judith, and Happy New Year to you as well.