Dear Michele,

I'm a volunteer Backyard Wildlife Habitat Steward for the National Wildlife Federation. I'd love to help you but don't know exactly where you're located.

You may want to contact your local NWF office because there are Stewards all over the state who would just love to help you out. That's what we here for!

Texas has so many different zones that's it's hard to say what will work in your area (what birds are native or migratory, which plants they like).

Generally you want to provide food, shelter, water and a place to raise young. That means dense shrubbery, berries, seeds and grasses. It also means using native plants.

If you aren't close to a Federation office I can put the word out on our Listserve to find a volunteer. You can email me via My Page (see above)or my website which has some information about creating a habitat and links to more information.

Best of luck- you're doing "a good thing"!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hill Country Gardens

I can vouch for the fact that winterberry, Ilex verticillata is big with the robins and Aronia has great berries,Fall color and nice white flowers. At the lowest levels, if Sun is there and water is more common, blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum are beautiful in branching and red color in winter and loved by the birds. I also think Cornus mas, Viburnums or many sorts and some of the weeping sorts of crabapples would look beautiful to you and the birds.

Since you want it to look nice year round, plants that are evergreen will be high on the list. Hollies come to mind. Even the deciduous winterberry holly would be nice since it has the berries when the leaves are gone. Natives are always a good bet so also try the natives forum. It will be helpful to know just where you are in formulating lists. I can tell you from experience that any kind of berries do not last long around here in Westchester County, NY (suburbs of NYC).