Bird-friendly plants, hedges and berries

A feeder runs out. A hawthorn hedge does not need filling. The wildlife-friendly garden page makes the general case for natural food first; this one goes into the plants themselves: which ones feed birds, what part of the plant they use, and how to garden so that food is still there in winter.

Every plant named here is on the RSPB’s Top garden plants to grow for birds page, opened on 14 November 2026, and the birds paired with each are the ones that page names. We have not added plants from memory, and we have not grown a test bed. Where the RSPB marks a plant as non-native, we say so.

Berries and fruit

Berries are the winter larder for thrushes, blackbirds and their relatives. The RSPB’s list includes:

• Ivy. Berries eaten by woodpigeons, thrushes, robins, starlings and blackcaps. Robins and wrens also hunt invertebrates in the leaves.
• Guelder rose. Berries for blackbirds, fieldfares and redwings.
• Holly. Berries for thrushes, robins, pigeons and doves.
• Crab apple. Fruit for thrushes.
• Dog rose and burnet rose. Hips for thrushes; the RSPB also names greenfinches for burnet rose, and rosehips generally for greenfinches.
• Honeysuckle. Berries for pigeons and doves.
• Common barberry. Berries for thrushes and blackcaps. The RSPB marks it as non-native or naturalised.
• Buckthorn. On the RSPB’s berry list.

Fruit that falls and softens on the ground is still food. Leaving windfalls under a crab apple, rather than tidying them, is part of the same idea.

Hedges and shrubs

A native-style hedge is food, shelter and a nest site in one. The RSPB names several hedge and shrub species:

• Hawthorn. Greenfinches eat the haws in winter; bullfinches eat the buds.
• Blackthorn. Sloes for thrushes; buds for bullfinches.
• Hazel. Nuts for great tits, great spotted woodpeckers, nuthatches and jays.
• Bramble. On the RSPB’s tree and shrub list.

The RSPB also lists alder, birch, elm and willow among trees, with alder and elm seeds named for finches. A dense, thorny hedge has another use: it is hard for a cat to get into, which is why it makes good nesting cover. More on that in cats and garden birds.

Seedheads

Finches, sparrows and tits feed on seeds left standing through autumn and winter. The RSPB’s list includes:

• Teasel and common knapweed. Seeds for goldfinches.
• Sunflower. Seeds for finches and sparrows in the colder months. Marked non-native.
• Echinacea and rudbeckia. Cone heads for finches and house sparrows. Purple coneflower is also named for blue tits.
• Verbena bonariensis. Seeds for sparrows and goldfinches. Marked non-native.
• Lavender. Seeds for finches and sparrows in winter.
• Cardoon. Seeds for greenfinches in winter. Marked non-native.
• Cornflower and corn marigold. Seeds for small birds.

None of this works if the plants are cut down in October. The RSPB says you do not need to deadhead and clear everything away in autumn, and suggests leaving seedheads standing; even plants without obvious seeds may hold insects that birds feed on over winter.

The “weeds”

The RSPB includes a short list of plants most gardeners pull up: common nettle, broad-leaved dock, curled dock, chickweed, goosefoot, groundsel, dandelion and thistles. Nettle seeds are named for dunnocks and bullfinches; chickweed for sparrows and finches; goosefoot for greenfinches, goldfinches and bullfinches. A corner left to grow is a corner that feeds birds. Ragwort is also on their list; it is a plant many people deliberately remove, so check the RSPB page for their wording before you leave it.

Leaf litter, logs and dead hedges

Not all bird food is a seed or a berry. The RSPB says leave leaves where they fall: dunnocks and blackbirds search leaf litter for insects, woodlice and spiders. They also suggest log and stick piles in sheltered corners, and using prunings to make a dead hedge, which feeds insect-eating birds and gives shelter and nesting space.

Those same untidy corners are what hedgehogs use. Leaf piles and log piles in a garden connected to its neighbours, as described in hedgehog highways, do two jobs at once. If you are leaving a leaf pile for winter, read hedgehogs in winter before you move it later.

Planting for the whole year

The RSPB’s broad point is variety: plants that flower, fruit and seed at different times, so there is something available across the year. That matters most from May to October, when the RSPB and the BTO want seeds and peanuts paused at feeders. In winter, plants and feeders work together; the routine for that stretch is in feeding garden birds in winter, and the seasonal split itself is in what to feed garden birds.

A pond adds insects and water to the same picture. Building one is outside this site’s scope; Pond Setup Guide covers it.

A safety note

The RSPB warns that some of the plants on its list may be harmful to people or pets, and suggests checking labels and the Horticultural Trades Association guide. If you have young children, a dog or a cat that chews plants, check each plant before you buy it.

Which plant should I start with if I only have room for one?

The RSPB page does not rank them. Ivy is paired with more birds than most plants on their list, and it grows on a wall or fence, which suits a small garden.

Should I cut back seedheads in autumn?

The RSPB says you do not need to deadhead and clear everything away in autumn. Leaving seedheads standing feeds birds, and even plants without obvious seeds can hold insects over winter.

Do the plants have to be native?

The RSPB list mixes native plants with some it marks as non-native or naturalised, such as sunflower, cardoon and verbena. It does not tell you to avoid them.