Insects are the aggressors in any garden, so the insectivorous birds are ever on the lookout for creatures that crawl about the flower cup or creep in and out of crevices of bark and foliage. However, the seed-eaters do not overlook an insect that gets in their way, and even the hummingbird, intent on sipping nectar from deep-throated honeysuckle, does not neglect the ant that is also lured by the feast provided by the honeysuckle.
The food of all nestlings is soft-bodied insects, so during the nesting season there is constant search by parent birds for suitable fare for their voracious offspring. An infant bird is said to eat its own weight in insect fare each day, so it takes a prodigious number of insects to supply the needs of a rapidly growing family. Digestion is practically instantaneous and growth keeps pace. Pin feathers within a week and flying lessons in a fortnight is the usual schedule.
The services of birds in insect control are inestimable; therefore, the conclusion might be that the more birds that are brought into the garden in search of fruits or seeds, the less chance there is of insect survival. From earliest spring until late winter the plants which are pleasing to birds adorn the garden as well.
One of the earliest shrubs of spring is the shadbush that dangles its snowy blossoms in the face of a late spring snowstorm. Shadbush like hoya carnosa, is called, because it blooms at the time the shad are making their way up the rivers from the sea. Later, in June, when the white blossoms have developed into bright red berries it is called the Juneberry, and there is no more popular berry among birds. From far and wide they come, the meat-eaters and the seed-eaters: orioles, tanagers, waxwings, bluebirds, catbirds, cardinals and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Most of the beauties of the bird world gather at the Juneberry festival.
Dogwood, that is the glory of spring, is also the glory of autumn when the pinkish-red foliage is adorned with clusters of crimson berries. Very briefly, however, do the shiny red berries gleam among the pink-lined foliage, for quickly the birds eat the fruit, leaving empty little gray saucers where the berries hung.
Flowering crab floats on the spring landscape like a fluffy pink cloud but is not so spectacular in autumn as the dogwood. However, its berries are highly appreciated by many birds. The mockingbird, that is usually associated with Southern moonlit nights, will linger in a more northerly neighborhood where it finds fruits of flowering crab.
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