This month, I’ll welcome nature’s song into my garden with thoughtful planting of berry-producing shrubs and other food sources
by Helen Yoest
During a deep slumber, I begin to hear dawn songs — first the American robin, making himself known well before sunrise, followed by the Northern cardinal and the Carolina wren. The wren’s a small bird with a mighty call: the male will sing a loud, complex teakettle dawn song, hoping to attract a female; she will sing a simpler churr. These sounds are a welcome alarm for me to begin my day. And my garden provides various types of feed to keep all of these visitors returning.
Many berry-producing shrubs form berries in March, while others persist through the winter, providing food through spring. Eastern Red Cedar produces small blue, waxy berry-like cones that are a staple for Cedar waxwings and robins. Robins eat protein-rich earthworms and insects the first part of their day, when the ground is damp, then switch to berries and seeds in the second part of the day. Winterberry Holly produces heavy crops in December that can persist into early spring to feed Eastern bluebirds and woodpeckers. Wax Myrtle produces small, waxy berries that are a favorite of the Yellow-rumped warblers.
While I try to plant food sources for the wildlife in my garden, I also have feeders to watch their activity from the warm inside. Black oil sunflower seed is the best overall seed for the birds, attracting cardinals, chickadees, titmice and jays. Safflower will attract nuthatches. Nyjer (marketed as thistle) feeds goldfinches, purple finches and pine siskins — this can be purchased in a sack for hanging or poured into a thistle feeder. Suet is essential in winter and early spring for woodpeckers and insect-eaters, providing vital fats. Unsalted peanuts will attract woodpeckers, jays, titmice and nuthatches (but also squirrels!). Millet attracts ground-feeding birds like doves, juncos and sparrows.
As we enter spring later this month, perhaps you, too, will be inspired to invite more birdsongs into your home garden.
This article originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of WALTER magazine
