For the Birds

Cardinal eating sunflower seeds.  Taken July 2006.

I apologize in advance for the picture quality.  I took this with my Canon Elph, and it only has a 3x zoom.  Regardless, the Cardinal is the point of this post, not the photograph.  Pat and I enjoy sitting outside watching the birds eat from our feeders, if the squirrels have left any food.  On this particular day, Pat had just filled our largest bird feeder when this Cardinal dropped by to eat the seeds which fell onto the table.

Birdfeeders and sunflower seeds are not the only things that attract Cardinals and other birds to feed in our yard.  We have grape vines and fig trees that help when the fruit ripens.  And we have other plants that attract them; such as:  Asters, Purple Coneflowers, and Goldenrod.  The other day I was reading a post on About.com's blog about plants that attract birds.  The three plants I mentioned are in their post, but there are others. 

"Plants for Feeding Birds" has a short list of plants which grow well in Texas. Another website Birds n Garden is actually a store in Austin, Texas.  This site not only lists plants, but also states the type of bird or butterfly the plant attracts.  If your property is prone to deer nibbles, they even tell you which plants are deer resistant along with drought tolerant, etc.  Finally, "Plants to Attract Birds" lists several plants that are good food for birds and note those that are native to Texas.

What plants do you have that grow well in your yard and notice birds feeding at?  I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment and include your state or country!