Until the wild strawberries are ripe there are few fruits that ripen before then. Any berries would be leftovers from last fall at this time of the year. Many of the fruit eaters eat flower buds before berries ripen.

I don't have any berries left now but I did still have some in March on my red aronia and on v. dentatum 'Chicago Lustre'. I didn't expect them to last so long on the viburnum. My other viburnum dentatums didn't get a heavy load of berries like that one so I don't have another to compare to. Maybe that cultivar isn't as tasty. They were finally eaten but I'm not sure what got them. I only saw a mockingbird in the shrub and of course there were robins around.

You might want to post a similar question in the shrubs forum if you don't get much response here. I'm curious too. I'd like to add more hollies. I think some of those are supposed to last a long time.

This year please observe your plants. Once the new leaves, blooms etc start emerging the old years fruit, leaves etc will be pushed off the plant. Therefore generally in spring when the leaves emerge there will be no fruit on your plants so don't expect that there will be fruit for migrating birds after the leaves start forming. It won't happen. Start watching the various cycles of your plants to learn how you can help the birds and other animals.

Supply your birds with store bought dried fruit and nuts if you must but by this time, late April, the birds have found other food.

maifleur - I understand that. I had a bird garden for over a decade, but moved so am re-designing. This time I am lucky enough to have input from other gardeners and was checking to see if I may have overlooked a plant which I should consider. Back then, computers had "B" drive and the internet was text only. Seriously. I've learned an amazing amount about plants I didn't have experience with or know about from books.

christie - Hollies have always been my best spring berries. Nellie Stevens (hybrid) is a great one, I planted several as soon as I moved in because they were such a success for food and nesting. Big plant though. American was a good one too but not as dense so not a nesting site. I did plant a couple of Yaupons at the new house and the berries just fell off, no takers, but I don't have a lot of berry eating birds yet since the property has nothing to attract them. Working on that!

Oddly, last month some Cotoneaster dammeri coral beauty (not native) with berries was suddenly the center of attention of several bird species and picked clean. It is my understanding that the dammeri is not invasive, but the franchetii is. Juniper berries still here but ignored.

Oh - and the Juncos plowed through my new grass seed right before they left. They loved it! Grass seed is apparently great pre- flight food. I only planted grass to keep my HOA happy, the Juncos aren't helping. The boogers. :D

I have an American Holly (second one died) but with only one I'm not sure I'll ever get berries. I also planted a Castle Wall and Castle Spire holly but one died and I don't know which one I still have, the male or the female, so I never replaced the one that died.
I also planted some deciduous hollies back along our fence row but haven't figured out whether they're still alive at all. Trees and branches fell in that area during the 07 ice storm and it's hard to get to.

Several people have said that birds won't eat their viburnum trilobum berries but mine don't last long into winter here and it was the vibunum dentatum berries that stayed on the bush so long. The opposite of what I expected.

Maifluer - The leaves push the berries off of my nandinas in the spring like you described. I don't think the birds eat any of those. No reseeding here though.

I find some kind of BUDS laying around my yard every spring but I'm not sure what tree they're from. The birds or other wildlife must be eating them because I find them on the deck, patio and other places not under any tree. They look like (for lack of a better description) a big dog's toenail. lol

Sounds like you're working on having a large variety of plants for the birds Laylaa which is best in my mind also. I want one or two of everything so I'll see more of a variety of birds. Hope your're having some luck with your cuttings.

My mulberry tree bloomed early this year and has seemed slower to finish with its berry making. The birds absolutely LOVE mulberries and the tree is always full of birds.
The wax wings have already gone through and now I'm seeing many new species that I've not seen here before...like indigo buntings (usually just see the painted variety), tanagers and many many more firsts. Don't know whether it's the climate change or what.
At any rate I highly recommend mulberry trees for attracting birds in the Spring. Also great for attracting humans who enjoy the berries on cereal or ice cream!

christie_sw_mo - I had a single American holly and it berried fine, but I am not sure why. Could have been a wild male in the woods as I was not in/near a neighborhood. There were some male Clarissa hollies on the property but those should not logically pollinate it. I am crazy about hollies for birds, but it sounds like they are just one of those bad luck plants for you.

I've never seen a bird eat a nandina berry. Been some discussions on the subject here, and I have not heard of anyone that has had birds eat the berries either. No clue why that plant has a rep for bird berries. There were some on this property - okay a thousand of them on this property - but I pulled them up to replace them with other known successful plants. Nandina is a major problem in south Georgia forests so I decided to forgo them completely, make room for serviceberry.

One thing that has become very clear to me with the moving from established garden to re-building is to plant hedgerows, hedgerows and more hedgerows. It's a major difference in the bird populations to have thickets and safe places. Birds have been nesting here, but only cavity nesters, and the second the babies fledge the parents take them off property to cover. Very few warblers around and no ground nesters except visitors.

I have always heard that the vibunum dentatum berries get eaten quickly - will have to find out how that goes. The viburnum trilobum I have is the cuttings you sent so of course they won't berry, but the dentatum should if pollinated. The Aronia arbutifolia is one I want to watch as well - I have cuttings and purchased a potted plant, but it's just getting leaves. Very late to leaf out - is this normal?

By the way, goumi (Eleagnus multiflora) was always a great bird food source. Grew it for ten years, nevera single seedling. It does not germinate easily and cuttings are difficult, so apparently not invasive. I've heard of others rooting cuttings so maybe it's my area, but it's a non-native I will grow.

The cuttings are doing beautifully so far. I baby them and hope I can get them to make it. It's an outstanding collection for my personal hedgerow (thank you thank you thank you) in the making. Maybe I'll get to a point where I can grow enough to share. Been working on a system for potting and moving after they root. I've had people stop by and ask for advice on their own yards and I'd looove to be able to supply some of these plants you can't find in local nurseries. These are regular people, not gardeners, who just want some landscaping and birds and they aren't going to be ordering online like we are. I have a lot to learn, particularly about native plant ID, but can share what I do know. Some neighborhood kids knocked on my door and asked to "see the baby birds" as I had mentioned to one of their Mothers that I had birds in my boxes - and the kids were impressed with "how many animals I had in my yard". Apparently they told their parents. For me it was totally out of the blue and I was delighted.

I did not relize there was a native plant exchange here - I need to head over and beg cuttings. :D

dragonfly_wings - I had two mulberry trees before and they were my waxwing magnets. Hundreds of waxwings descended during migration, what a beautiful sight. Great plant and I want another, but one tree seeded all to heck and back. The other was an old tree, totally different leaf and I believe native. It was there long before I was. Both were red mulberry and distinctly different as mulberry tends to be. I had no problems with seeding on the second but can't figure out what exactly the genus of tree it is that I didn't have problems with. I loved it and really want another but it's gone on the back burner due to the fact that I am not positive which to get. If I see one on the side of the road similar to the one I like, I'll be hopping out of the car and knocking on doors and making a nuisance of myself. And I am shy!!!!!! But for that plant, I'll do it.

Just an FYI in case you did not know it. If you put your pots where the bottom of the pot is in the air the roots of most plants will self prune.

Tree Bands are a type of pot that has a cross brace on the bottom like a + but the rest of the pot bottom is open. They can be put in the plastic garden trays that have an open weave bottom then up on bricks. I looked for years for tree pots before I was told the name was Tree Bands.

There is a mulberry that has fruit almost all summer. Is that the one you are looking for.

Mulberry seedlings are difficult to pull out or kill if you let them go very long. We have the non-native type back in our fencerow. They're very large old trees and I've never seen fruit on them but maybe there's some up in the top. I get seedlings occasionally in my flower beds.

Dragonfly Wings - I'm jealous of your buntings and tanagers. Is it the mulberry where you see them? Do you know what kind you have?

I bought Aronia 'Brilliantissima' twice and planted it under some trees where it got dappled shade and couldn't keep it alive there. Both times it lasted only a year or two. My seedlings are doing fine in my shrub row though. Less competition maybe.

Don't forget that birds also eat insects and springtime is plentiful for that. Plant native plants that support native insects and your birds will thank you for it. Insects are the primary diet of young chicks - full of protein!

maifleur - I received some plants I ordered in those pots but didn't know what they were. They are great! The roots went straight down, practically soil-less. I'll have to look into it. Right now I have a large cutting bed but my shrubs are too young to take cuttings from - I am aiming for a system where I can select easy to root wildlife friendly natives, grow them to size and give away. Wax myrtle, serviceberry, viburnums, that sort of thing. The Tree Bands would probably be perfect. Here comes another learning curve!

Esh - we have bugs! Things with terrordactyl in their linage. Migrating warblers gleaned caterpillars from cherry and maple, without the caterpillars I would have missed these birds totally this season.

christie - I may need to get the Aronia 'Brilliantissima' I bought more sun. It's in dappled shade.