Tag Archives: Attracts Birds

Backyard Birds: American Goldfinch

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American Goldfinch: The American Goldfinches are songbirds found throughout the United States in riparian areas, woodlands, orchards, weedy fields, agricultural lands, gardens and parks. The males’ bright yellow and black plumage makes them very recognized at the bird feeder. Females are brownish yellow with brownish black wings with white streaks; both are identifiable by their short conical bills and short notched tail. They are year-round residents west of the Cascades in the interior valleys. In the wild they eat sunflower seeds, thistle, asters, grasses, and tree seeds of alder, birch, western red cedar and elm. At the feeder they prefer sunflower seeds and nyjer thistle seeds.

Photo by  Mdf, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

Backyard Birds: Lesser Goldfinch

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Lesser Goldfinch: Lesser Goldfinches are in great abundance in the Rogue Valley where they are year-around residents. Lesser Goldfinches forage on grains and seeds so they are often seen in weedy fields, steam side trees, bushy thickets by open fields and in the treetops by open areas. Their habitat is lower valleys to high in the mountains. They are very common in the suburbs during the winter when they migrate to lower elevations for food. Lesser Goldfinches are regular visitors to backyard feeders where they eat black oil sunflowers seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, nyjar thistle seeds and suet.

Lesser Goldfinch, male

Photo by Richard Griffin, Flickr

Backyard Birds: Chestnut-backed Chickadee

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Chestnut-backed Chickadees:  These birds frequent backyard bird feeders regularly where they eat black oil sunflower seed, hulled sunflowers seeds, suet, nyjar seeds and some fruit, but 65% of their diet is made up of insects and other arthropods, including aphids, caterpillars, spiders, leafhoppers, tiny scale insects and wasps. Chestnut-back Chickadees are found up and down the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest. Their habitat is dense wet coniferous forests of Douglas firs, Monterey pine, Ponderosa pine, Sugar pines, White firs, Incense-cedar and Redwoods. But, while these social noisy little birds prefer dark wet forests they have moved into cities where they utilize stands of willows and alder trees along streams, madrone trees, shrubbery along the edges of oak woodlands and ornamental shrubs in parks and gardens.

Photo by Kathy Munsel, ODFW https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/chickadees-and-nuthatches

Article by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member

Firewise Plant: Evening Primrose

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Plant Name:  Oenothera species

Common name:  Evening Primrose
Plant Type: Herbaceous Perennial or Biennial
Plant Height: 2’ – 6’
Plant Width:  1’ – 2’
Bloom Time: Spring, Summer, Fall
Flower Color:  Yellow or Pink or White
Exposure:  Sun to Shade
Soil Requirements: Rocky or Sandy Soil; Well-Drained
Water Needs: Low to Medium
Fire Resistant: YES; Zone 8 – Plant 30’+ from Structure
Attributes: Attract Moths; Birds Eat Seeds; Attracts Hummingbirds; Fragrant Flowers; Deer Resistant; Drought Tolerant
Uses: Full Sun Ground cover; Rock Gardens; Erosion Control; Native Plant Gardens
Note: Flowers Open in the Evening
Native to: Eastern North America
Oregon Native:  NO
USDA Hardiness Zone:  3 – 8

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member & Master Gardener

Firewise Plant: Prairie Coneflower

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Plant Name:  Ratibida columnifera
Common name:  Prairie Coneflower or Mexican Hat
Plant Type:  Herbaceous Perennial
Plant Height: 18” – 24”
Plant Width:  12” – 24”
Bloom Time: July – October
Flower Color:  Yellow or Red with Distinct Tall Center.
Exposure:  Full Sun
Soil Requirements: Dry to Moist Well-Drained; Loamy/Sandy.
Water Needs: Medium
Fire Resistant:  YES; Zone 2 – Plant 40’+ from House.
Attributes: Drought Tolerant; Deer Resistant; Long Bloom Season; Nectar for Bees, Butterflies, Insects; Seeds for Birds.
Uses: Sunny Borders; Rock Gardens; Native Plant Gardens; Containers.
Native to: Most of North America, but NOT Oregon
Oregon Native:   NO
USDA Hardiness Zone:  4 – 9

 

 

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member/Master Gardener

Photo courtesy of: Stickpen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Horticulture Report: Rock Cress

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Plant Name:  Aubrieta deltoidei
Common name: Rock Cress
Plant Type:  Evergreen Herbaceous Perennial
Plant Height:  .5’ – .75’
Plant Width:  1’ – 2’
Bloom Time:  Late Spring – Early Summer
Flower Color:  Purple-Red
Exposure: Full Sun
Soil Requirements: Well-Drained;
Water Need:  Low
Fire Resistant: YES; 30’+ from house.
Attributes: Deer Resistant; Attracts Birds, Butterflies, Hummingbirds;
Uses:  Rock Gardens; Front of Border; Containers.
Note: Cut Back After Flowering, Not in Fall; Short Lived; Divide Every 1 – 3 Years;
Native to: Eastern Europe
Oregon Native:  NO
USDA Hardiness Zone:  4 -8

Purple Rock Cress

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member

Photo Credit: Eli+, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons