How to attract feathered friends
Most birds will welcome almost any tree you plant as they provide food and habitat for our feathered friends, as well as a place of safety where they can roost. But here are 10 that, for the most part, flower when birds need extra support while breeding and nesting. Ko¯ whai: Sophora microphylla flowers in spring attracting the nectar feeders: tu¯ i, bellbirds, wax-eyes, stitchbirds and wood pigeons. And shining cuckoos love to eat ko¯ whai moth caterpillars. Po¯ hutukawa: Metrosideros
excelsa offers a roost as well as summer nectar for ka¯ ka¯ , tu¯ i, bellbirds, stitchbirds, sparrows and ka¯ ka¯ riki. They’re more suitable for frost-free climates. Prunus campanulata: ‘Superba’ is literally nectar for birds early in the season. Known as the tu¯ i tree, it’s the earliest cherry to flower, with red-pink blooms that birds adore. Look for the sterile cultivar ‘Pink Cloud’ which provides nectar but does not set seed so isn’t a threat to native bush. Bottlebrush: This is a favourite for birds and wildlife. Tu¯ i and silvereyes feed on it year-round, as do the monarch butterflies, and occasionally yellow admiral butterflies. Apples and crabapples: All varieties provide a 12-course banquet in autumn for birds. They also have flaky bark, perfect for harbouring all sorts of tasty creepy-crawlies in the cracks and chinks. The Japanese crab Malus floribunda is one of the earliest to flower with crimson buds opening to white. Yulan magnolia: Magnolia denudata produces gobletshaped, white, perfumed flowers in late winter. It grows to 7 metres, providing muchneeded perching space for overwintering birds. Magnolias are great sources of bugs and caterpillars too. Pu¯ riri: Vitex lucens is slowgrowing but produces flowers and fruit almost year-round, attracting kereru¯ , bellbirds, tu¯ i and wax-eyes. Wineberry: Makomako (Aristotelia serrata) is a mediumsized native that produces tiny, sweet fruits that are irresistible All varieties of apples and crabapples provide a 12-course banquet in autumn for birds. to birds. It has panicles of pink flowers in spring, but you need a male and female plant to get redblack berries in summer. It likes full sun to part-shade and tolerates wet soil. Kawakawa: Macropiper excelsum attracts tu¯ i, bellbirds, ka¯ ka¯ , kereru¯ and saddlebacks when it bears its fleshy fruit in January and February. It’s a small tree or large shrub, with attractive and aromatic heartshaped leaves. It grows in shade or part-shade, and its upright orange fruiting spikes appear on the female plant.
Abutilons: These are almost always in flower, providing yearround food for tu¯ i and wax-eyes. They thrive in all situations.
What not to plant The birdcatcher, or parapara: (Pisonia brunoniana) has seeds that insects adore, attracting native birds. Sadly, parapara seeds are ferociously sticky – one touch and it’s all over: the poor little birds can’t fight back.