The Arrowwood Viburnum berries are starting to ripen and the birds have quickly found them.
Today, there were a number of birds eating berries, including Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrasher and Robins. At one point there were 4 catbirds on the bushes.
The Gray Catbirds are generally very secretive birds that we routinely hear, but don't see very often. But when the Arrowwood Viburnum berries ripen in early July, we see them often. They also enjoy Beautyberry berries in the fall.
I also often see Eastern Kingbirds eating these berries.
I highly recommend various native viburnum bushes for your yards. They produce lots of flowers to support pollinators and then berries to support birds. The various viburnums bloom at different times and their berries ripen at different times, thus supporting wildlife throughout the summer and fall.
Photos of Gary Catbirds and Brown Thrashers eating berries, can be found at:
flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
Some info on Arrowwood Viburnum pollination. A common cultivar sold in nurseries is 'Blue Muffin' Viburnum, which is touted as producing big clusters of purple berries. However, unless you have another compatible cultivar that blooms at the same time, you'll get sporadic berry production. That's because most plants resist self-pollination, so as to maximize survival of offspring by genetic diversity.
Compatible cultivars for 'Blue Muffin' include 'Indian Summer' and 'Autumn Jazz'. You can also match 'Blue Muffin' with a native Arrowwood Viburnum bush.
You should generally plant 2 or more plants near each other. I generally plant in clusters of 3 bushes.
A number of years ago, we had 3 'Blue Muffin’ bushes which produced lots of flowers, but low numbers of berries. One year, I manually cross-pollinated a 2 foot circle of flowers on 'Blue Muffin' with a flower from a native arrowwood bush. The 2 foot section produced large berry clusters, but the rest of the bush had low numbers of berries. I now have several compatible cultivars nearby.
Photos of this experiment showing sparse berries with no cross-pollination and large clusters with cross-pollination can also be found at the link above.
Some time ago, I wrote a 6 part series of articles on “Gardening for birds, Bees and Butterflies, which includes a section on "Berries for Birds”. If you’re interested, email me offline and I’ll send you a copy.
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
