23321 SW Bosky Dell Ln.
West Linn, Oregon
PHONE   503-638-5945
FAX   503-638-8047
9am to 5pm   7 Days a Week
(Closed Sundays in November, December, January, February)
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Northern Flicker
  Northern Flicker
Gardening - Its For The Birds!

Create a backyard sanctuary
for your feathered friends

For those of us who love to see birds in our gardens, native plants provide the best enticement. Seasonal visitors and year-round residents rely on our (ever-expanding) residential properties for food, shelter and nesting sites. Many of us put nesting boxes in our yards, bird feeders and bird baths in our gardens. These are great ways to attract birds, and with the addition of some of our beautiful Northwest Natives, your property will be advertised far and wide via bird satellite! Plant a hedgerow, mass berrying shrubs or sheltering conifers in your yard. Your modest homestead can be an important habitat and a garden full of life.

At Bosky Dell Natives, you will find many native plants which provide food and shelter for birds. Use the plant tables below to help you decide what additions would be best for your garden, and HAPPY BIRDING!

BIRD FAVORITES AT BOSKY DELL
click on a plant to view its description
Evergreen
Huckleberry
Red Osier
Dogwood
Shore Pine Western
Columbine
Madrone Blue
Elderberry
Evergreen Huckleberry red-twig dogwood Shore Pine Western Columbine Madrone blue elderberry

Our Natives and their Birds
Food Sources · Birdswholovethem
(s=seeds, n=nectar, f=fruit, i=insects, fl=flowers)
Nesting/Shelter

Trees

 Conifers

  • Abies species (Noble Fir, Grand Fir, Subalpine Fir) · pine siskin, chickadees, nuthatches, grosbeaks, finches, crossbills, and grouse (s) · woodpeckers, sapsuckers (i)
  • Calocedrus decurrens (Incense cedar) · chipping sparrows, hermit thrushes, siskins, flickers, and nuthatches (s) · sapsuckers, woodpeckers (i)
  • Pinus species (Shore Pine, Lodgepole Pine) · grouse, crossbills, grosbeaks, chickadees, band-tailed pidgeons, quail, mourning doves, jays, nuthatches, finches, siskins (s) · bushtits, kinglets, chickadees, and woodpeckers (i)
  • Pseudotsuga mensies (Douglas fir) · grouse, crossbills, siskins (s) · chickadees, nuthatches, brown creepers, and woodpeckers (i)
  • Taxus brevifolia (Western Yew) · numerous (s)
  • Thuja Plicata (Western Red Cedar) · grosbeaks, sparrows, waxwings, nuthatches, and siskins (s)
  • Tsuga species (Western Hemlock, Mountain Hemlock) · juncos, siskins, chickadees, grouse, finches, crossbills (s) · Pileated woodpeckers (ants on Western Hemlock snags)

 Broadleaf Evergreens

  • Arbutus menziesii (Madrone) · quail, band-tailed pidgeons,flickers, varied thrushes, waxwings, evening grosbeaks, mourning doves and robins (f)

 Deciduous

  • Acer circinatum (Vine Maple) · grosbeaks. woodpeckers, nutchatches, finches, quail, and grouse (s)
  • Acer macrophyllum (Big Leaf Maple) · sapsuckers, woodpeckers, nuthatches, song sparrows, (i)
  • Alnus rubra (red alder) · mallards, widgeons, grouse, bushtits, kinglets, siskins, vireos, warblers, and chickadees (s,i)
  • Cornus nuttallii (Pacific dogwood) · sapsuckers, woodpeckers, bluebirds, tree swallows, vireos, thrushes, evening grosbeaks, white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows, towhees, grouse, jays, and house finches (f)
  • Crataegus douglasii (Black hawthorn) · solitaires, robins, waxwings, grosbeaks, thrushes, woodpeckers, band-tailed pigeons, wood ducks, grouse, pheasants, and !turkeys! (f)
  • Malus fusca (Western Crabapple) · grouse, geese, pheasants, sapsuckers, woodpeckers, jays, robins, waxwings, orioles, towhees (f) · finches, sparrows, waxwings (fl) · hummingbirds (n) NOTE:Birds will not eat the fruit of many hybrids - plant native if you want to feed our feathered friends!
  • Prunus emarginata var.mollis (Bittercherry) · grouse, band-tailed pigeons, flickers, jays, rohins, bluebirs, waxwings, tanaagers, orioles, grosbeaks, finches, mourning doves, and towhees(f)
  • Quercus garryana (Oregon White Oak) · wood ducks, mallards, turkeys, band-tailed pigeons, quails, grouse, woodpeckers, nuthatches, thrushes, towhees, jays, and Clark's nutcrackers (acorns)
  • Rhamnus purshiana (cascara) · gamebirds, songbirds (f)
  • Salix species (willow) · Blue grouse and songbirds (buds)

Shrubs&Groundcovers

 Evergreen

  • Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnik) · band-tailed pigeons, evening grosbeaks, sparrows
  • Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry) · sparrows, thrushes, vireos, grouse, pheasants
  • Fragaria chiloensis, virginiana, vesca (Coastal Strawberry, Wild or Mountain Strawberry, Wood's strawberry) · robins, towhees, pine grosbeaks, grouse, waxwings
  • Mahonia species · grouse, waxwings, thrushes, towhees, pheasants (f)
  • Myrica californica · quail, waxwings, songbirds (f)
  • Vaccinium species (Huckleberry) · pheasants, mourning doves, flickers, jays, robins, waxwings, orioles, tanagers, towhees, sparrows, and chickadees(f) · numerous (i)

 Deciduous

  • Amelanchier alnifolia (Serviceberry) · woodpeckers, crows, chickadees, thrushes, towhees, bluebirds, waxwings, orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, goldfinches, juncos, grouse, pheasants
  • Cornus stolinifera (Red Osier Dogwood) · vireos, warblers, robins, flickers, flycatchers, wood ducks, grouse, band-tailed pigeons, quail (f)
  • Holodiscus Discolor (Oceanspray) · chickadees, bushtits, (i)
  • Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry) · grouse, grosbeaks, juncos, waxwings, thrushes, flickers, finches, and quail (f) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Philadelphus lewisii (Mock Orange) · grosbeaks, juncos, thrushes, bluebirds, chickadees, flickers, finches, quail, grouse (s)
  • Prunus emarinata var.emarginata (Bittercherry) · grouse, band=tailed pigeons, flickers, jays, robins, waxwings, tanagers, orioles, and mourning doves
  • Prunus virginiana (Chokechery> · woodpeckers, pheasants, grouse, jays, robins, thrushes, waxwings, vireos, orioles, and grosbeaks(f)
  • Rosa spp. (Baldhip, Nootka, Clustered, and Wood's Rose) · grouse, bluebirds, juncos, grosbeaks, quail, pheasants, thrushes (f)
  • Rubus spp. (salmonberry, thimbleberry) · chickadees, grosbeaks, jays, band-tailed pigeons, robins, sparrows, tanagers, towhees, waxwings, woodpeckers, wrens (f) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Sambucus species (Red and Blue Elderberry) · sparrows, thrushes, warblers, orioles, bluebirds, jays, tanagers, grosbeaks, sapsuckers, woodpeckers, and band-taied pigions (f) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Sorbus sitchensis (Sitka mountain-ash) · grouse, thrushes, waxwings, orioles, grosbeaks, robins, finches (f)
  • Symphoricarpos albus (Snowberry) · grosbeaks, waxwings, robins, thrushes, towhees (f) · hummingbirds (n)

Vines

  • Lonicera ciliosa/hispidula (Trumpet honeysuckle/Hairy honeysuckle) · grouse, pheasants, flickers, robins, thrushes, bluebirds, waxwings, grosbeaks, finches, and juncos (f) · hummingbirds (n)

Grasses and Forbs

  • Aquilegia formosa (Western Columbine) · sparrows, juncos, finches (s) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Aruncus sylvester (Goat's beard) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Dicentra formosa (Pacific Bleeding Heart) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Epilobium angustifolium (Fireweed) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Heuchera spp. (Alumroot) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Lupinus spp. (Lupine) · songbirds (s) · hummingbirds (n)
  • Penstemon spp. (Penstemon) · hummingbirds (n)

Trees

golden-crowned sparrow on incense cedar
golden-crowned sparrow on incense cedar
©Ellen Mast 2003
  • Abies species (Noble Fir, Grand Fir, Subalpine Fir)
  • Acer macrophyllum (Big Leaf Maple)
  • Alnus rubra (red alder)
  • Calocedrus decurrens (Incense cedar)
  • Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Port Orford cedar)
  • Crataegus douglasii (Black hawthorn)(good escape cover for songbirds)
  • Pinus species (Shore Pine, Lodgepole Pine)
  • Prunus emarginata (Bittercherry)
  • Thuja Plicata (Western Red Cedar)
  • Tsuga species (Western Hemlock, Mountain Hemlock)

Shrubs/Groundcovers

Kinnikinnik
Kinnikinnik
©Ellen Mast 2003
  • Arctostaphylos (Manzanita, Kinnikinnik)
  • Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry)
  • Corylus cornuta var.californica (Hazelnut)
  • Holodiscus discolor (Oceanspray)
  • Mahonia species (Oregon Grape)
     
    Mahonia nervosa Mahonia nervosa
    ©Ellen Mast 2003
     
  • Myrica californica (Pacific Wax Myrtle)
  • Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry)
  • Rhododendron macrophyllum (Pacific Rhododendron)
  • Rhododencron occidentale (Western Azalea)
  • Rosa spp. (Baldhiip, Nootka, Clustered, and Wood's Rose)
  • Rubus species (Salmonberry, Thimbleberry)
     
    Thimbleberry
    Thimbleberry
    ©Lory Duralia
     
  • Spiraea douglasii (Hardhack)
  • Symphoricarpos albus (Snowberry)
     
    Snowberry
    snowberry
    ©Ellen Mast 2003

Vines

  • Lonicera ciliosa/hispidula (Trumpet honeysuckle/Hairy honeysuckle) · twining vine provides nesting sites for small birds

Grasses and Forbs

Maidenhair Fern
©Ellen Mast 2003
  • Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair Fern)
  • Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern)
  • Deschampsia caespitosa (Tufted Hairgrass)
  • Festuca idahoensis (Idaho Fescue)
  • Polygonum paronychia (Beach Knotweed)
  • Polystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
  • Viola spp. (Streambank Violet, Evergreen Violet, Early Blue Violet)
     
    Viola glabella, Streambank Violet
    Viola glabella
    ©Lory Duralia

     
Stellar Jay
Plant A Hedgerow*

Hedgerows combine DIFFERENT plants, interwoven in a more natural arrangement than formal hedges, to create the effect of a hedge, provide cover and nesting sites AND food for wildlife, and beauty, all in one marvelous package! Here's the scoop:

Benefits of hedgerows

Plants for Hedgerows in the Pacific Northwest

Planting Guidelines

*Resources used for this section include Landscaping for Wildlife by Russell Link (1999, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) and (especially for inspiration) Noah's Garden by Sara Stein (1993, Houghton Mifflin Co., New York)

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Bird Websites
Bird Books
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red flowering currant
Red Flowering Currant

Ribes sanguineum, or red-flowering currant, provides an excellent example of a shrub every hedgerow should have: The berries, which ripen in the summer, are eaten by robins, towhees, thrushes, waxwings, sparrows, jays and woodpeckers. The striking red pendant flower clusters bloom in early spring, and provide nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, and the foliage is eaten by some butterfly larvae. The deciduous leaves turn lovely shades of red and orange in the fall. The only time this shrub isn't doing anything obviously spectacular is in winter, when you can wait in anticipation of its early spring glory!

Pacific Treefrog
Pacific Treefrog

Hedgerows provide habitat for all sorts of wildlife, including this amphibian (above), who spends part of her time in water, and part on land. The shelter of a generously planted hedgerow is just what this adult treefrog needs during the non-breeding season. It provides protection during dry spells and long daylight hours, and the treefrog can emerge safely at night. Treefrogs lay eggs in aquatic environments like ponds and even small puddles. You may hear their chorusing in early spring, when males call to attract females.

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