Cover Image: 100 Plants to Feed the Birds

100 Plants to Feed the Birds

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Member Reviews

This a beautiful book with lots of lovely pictures of birds and there is some really useful information as well. Thank you netgalley for lme read this book

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Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

As a gardener, I own and have read many bird and gardening books. I was pleasantly surprised to find new and usable information in this handy guide.

The information most useful is the description of helpful and noxious, or invasive plants. There are wonderful photos of plants and birds. The maps depicting where certain plants will grow are also very useful. The author describes where native plants are declining and where they are invasive. Not only are plants useful to birds for food, described, but also those that provide a home for insects and caterpillars for bird food. Some of the listed plants are also useful as bird-nesting materials.

One very important fact I came away with is the importance of not providing plants for bird food that could interrupt bird migratory patterns.

There is much useful information to be obtained from this book, whether you are an avid bird watcher, or a home gardener. It is a great reference to keep on your gardening book shelf.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

Helpful and informative guide with great accompanying photos.

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True Story: As I peer out my bedroom window, the sky is dark, the grass is brown, and the weather is cold. Not a bird to be seen. Today my go-to escape from winter dull drums is this extraordinary book on plants and birds. Soon I can change my backyard into a beautiful garden! Humm....what plants should I pick to attract birds and butterflies?


"100 Plants to Feed the Birds" is a treasure trove of information on trees, plants, shrubs, and vines with a guide on what to pick for your specific region. It includes details on planning a natural reserve for your particular space that attract birds. Laura Erickson gives facts containg North American birds favorite plants for beauty and health of the birds. The photographs are exquisite! With this book you can soon enjoy beautiful colorful flowers and bird watching!


Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing, for the honor of reviewing this e-book. It brightened my day and gave me tons of new ideas for my backyard! Mark your calendar!! The book will be published December 6, 2022, just in time for my son to buy me the hardcover for Christmas!! (Wink, Wink!!)

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Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a North American-based book, so if you live outside of the continental US/Canada, unfortunately it won't have much specific information for you.

Lets get into it though! Narrowing down plants to feed birds in North America to just 100 is a HUGE task & B I G kudos to the author for this undertaking! I think it will be useful to bird lovers and plant lovers alike. The visual guides, including native range maps for the plants & noting things like plants that may be native in part of the continent, but may be invasive elsewhere, is such good research and information.

I absolutely love the whole entire concept behind this & it delivered! The photos are clear & beautiful, the graphics are easy to read & understand, and overall I think this is a WONDERFUL resource for anyone looking to diversify the plants in their yard, whether they live in a city or out in the country.

It's wonderful to see the native plant societies for the US states & Canadian provinces listed in the back, as well as some common bird species and plants that they prefer (that way if there's something you particularly want in your yard.. you know what to find!)

This is just such a wonderful resource with so much information - I already added it to my list to pre-order because I need a physical copy for sure!

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Absolutely beautiful book, as at home on display on a coffee table as it would be bedside reading, when planning your next bird-friendly garden. The full color photos of plants and birds are spectacular, and the augmentation with maps showing the native ranges for the recommended plants, as well as a plant classification by graphical icon key, are not only visually stunning but extremely useful for the reader. Organized comprehensively to include evergreens, deciduous trees, plants, shrubs, vines and grasses that provide natural feeding grounds, shelter, nesting or shaded habitat for specific bird species, this book is a bird-loving gardener’s dream.

With details on plant growing requirements, characteristics and recommended species, this information will be invaluable in helping to decide on suitable plants to introduce to welcome more birds into the garden, as well as the insects, butterflies, seeds, and other nesting materials they depend on. Specific references to endangered bird species and suggestions to aid in their protection were welcomed as well as warnings regarding plants on the invasive list, leaving me feeling somewhat better armed to make all-around eco-friendly decisions that will hopefully make a difference.

I can’t wait to buy and share copies for several friends I know of who will love this book as much as I do. The hardest part will be waiting for the May 2022 publication release date!

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I’m gonna pick this up for our household for sure. I’m a big garden enthusiast/nature lover and my husband loves the birds that already visit our house. Each plant mentioned gives a map of its native range and species recommendations so you can get the best plant to support the birds. Lucky for me, I have several of these plants because I’m a butterfly and hummingbird enthusiast!

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Book offers enough information about different plants to help you feed the birds. It’s an ideal situation if you just want to add a few things or design your own bird oasis.

What did I like? I liked that you could pick trees, flower, bushes or vines to compliment birds found in your area. Only thing I didn’t much care for was how the author depicted the feral cat population. I’ve tried for months to get the cats outside my house fixed but to no avail. It’s the animal controls problem to keep these numbers down, but they make it darn near impossible with their rules.

Would I recommend or buy? I’m definitely going to add some of these to my yard but not sure I should since the cat population where I live is pretty high. All I can do is try. Great book. Four stars!

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A good book to help our feathered friends lots of information to be able to plant to suit any garden
I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley for a review

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100 Plants to Feed the Birds is a factually written books with the top 100 native trees, herbaceous plants, shrubs, grasses, vines, and plants that grown on trees for the entire United States. Each entry includes information about that particular item, what birds are attracted to them and for what reason, species that should and should not be planted and why as well as the map of the United States where the entry would be native and the best growing conditions. Under each particular section, each plant was listed in alphabetical order to make finding them easier.

As a beginner in trying to attract birds to my large yard in a state that's new to me, I read through each entry, looking in particular for plants and trees that would work for my particular location, I felt comfortable knowing what I was and wasn't looking for and why I would plant it in my yard.

This is a wonderful reference for anyone looking to plant native species in their yard to attract, not only birds, but the insects, bees, and butterflies that are attracted to them as well and I highly recommend purchasing it when it's released on 5/22/2022.

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An Excellent book if you are trying to attract all those beautiful birds to your yard. The pictures are large enough so you can tell the good plant from the bad plants, and the pictures of the birds are just beautiful. The discription of the plants will tell you why the birds like the plant and how they are benifical for your garden and other critters.
The book is easy read and not complicated at all and I love the reference of the botanical clubs at the end of the book so I can learn more about the plants in my yard.

I want to thank Storey Publishing, Storey Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for this beautiful book about birds.

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Coming out early May next year is this wonderful book, for all looking to encourage more birds to their garden. Although the book is focused on the birds and poants more commonly found in North America, there are many plants and trees that are found in the UK that can be utilized to bring more of our avian friends to our gardens. Hopefully the book will encourage enough of us who appreciate these wonders of nature, to help restore some of their lost habitat into our own gardens.
For more information about the author visit https://www.lauraerickson.com/about-laura/

Thanks go to @netgalley @storeypub for an advanced copy to read.

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I love to feed the birds in my backyard, but bird seed can become expensive to buy year round. This book helps you pick plants, shrubs and trees that will not only add beauty to your yard but provide for your feathered friends during the summer and fall.
The book is divided into sections. The first section is how to create a habitat for birds to live in. This section goes into details about the bird and plant relationships. There are beautiful pictures of the different types of birds and the trees/plants they enjoy.
Then it breaks down into plants: trees of all kinds, shrubs, plants and vines. In this section it list individual tree/plant type and information about that item. A map with the areas in which it is native. A chart with uses, type of sun exposure it likes, the seasons that this plant is useful to birds, color and size. It will even tell what birds favor that plant.
This is a must have book for bird lovers that want to provide some natural habitat for their local birds.

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This is a great guide for what trees, vines, annuals, perennials and shrubs to plant to feed the birds in North America. They are divided by sections (trees, vines, etc.) and each one is detailed with native range, photos, photos of birds they help feed, growth information, etc. There are numerous stock photos. There is also an extensive section on what birds need, how plants help them in multiple ways (nesting materials, bringing insects, etc.) and the problems with invasive plants, etc.

I appreciate that the book focuses quite a lot on the caterpillars and other insects that some of these plants provide since so many people only think of seeds and perhaps berries and nectar. Most birds need insects more than anything else, especially to feed their young. Some plants like cherry and oak trees support hundreds of different types of caterpillars, for instance, which are a crucial food source for many birds. The book also goes into the many other ways each plant helps (protection, nesting options once short-lived trees die, etc.) and the pros and cons of each and when they're not recommended.

I do wish the book had photos that showed the plants used in landscaping. They tend to be up close photos or photos of them in isolation, and I would love to see more examples of these plants being used in bird-friendly gardens and landscapes. It's an excellent guide though, and will be very helpful for anyone who wants to design their yard to help the birds.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

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