6 Berry-Bearing Shrubs to Plant Now and Feed Hungry Birds Through Winter

Feeding garden birds in winter is such an easy way to support wildlife, and growing berry-bearing shrubs is a great way to supplement birdseed and fatballs. So many avian species depend on berries to survive winter, so planting a berried shrub to feed birds is a great way to attract feathered visitors to your yard. Waxwings and American robins gather into berry-seeking flocks once temperatures drop and, once insects become scarce, many rare garden visitors such as bluebirds, warblers and woodpeckers can be tempted in with a feast of plump berries.

Not all shrubs with berries are created equal when it comes to winter food, however. Some berries are incredibly high in fat, carbohydrates or anti-oxidants, offering birds highly nutritious, energy-rich fuel to stay warm, and stay alive. Others are the equivalent of avian junk food. It’s good to offer a variety of berries, too: some super-tasty treats to be gobbled up in fall, and some that are too tart to eat before the freeze-thaw of deep winter sweetens them up to provide a late-season larder.

All these shrubs grow energy-dense berries for winter birds, so they’ll bring feathered garden friends flocking. All are well-behaved ornamental plants you’ll welcome in your garden, as they don’t take much looking after but easily earn their yard space with plenty of color. And all are best planted right now in fall so they have time to grow their roots deep into the soil before winter arrives. So which will you choose to feed birds in winter?

1. Berry Poppins Winterberry Holly

Ilex verticillata ‘FarrowBPop’ tops our list of berried shrubs for birds, producing a profusion of red berries rich in nutrients. It’s a dwarf cultivar of a native deciduous holly so it drops its leaves in fall to create a highly visible feast of berries that will act as a magnet for over 40 species of birds including waxwings, robins, bluebirds and northern cardinals. As it’s a compact and grows berries all along its stems, foraging birds like thrushes and sparrows will benefit, too.

Berry Poppins winterberry holly is a great asset to any garden as its berry-packed branches are an eyecatching sight for us humans, too. Because the berries start off firm and tart, it's an enduring display as the fruit only gets eaten up in January or February once it's sweetened up into a late-season lifeline for birds.

Growing to just 3-4 feet high and wide in zones 3-9, this is a neat, disease-resistant shrub that’s easy to grow. There’s one catch, however! Berry Poppins is a female plant, and needs a male plant nearby to produce berries. Mr Poppins winterberry holly, also available from Plant Addicts and a similar size, is the ideal choice of male plant to partner Berry Poppins. While Mr Poppins doesn’t produce berries, it’s a pleasant zero-maintenance foliage shrub and can be planted up to 50 feet away; one male plant will service up to five females, too.

2. Brandywine Viburnum

Next on the list of shrubs for winter birds is Viburnum nudum ‘Bulk’, sold as Brandywine. There are so many berry-bearing viburnums to choose from but this cultivar wins hands-down for its abundant high-fat berries and incredible garden beauty.

Green berries start forming in late summer then, in fall, shift into stunning pink and blue shades, often with different-hued fruit in the same cluster. As the days grow darker, so do the berries, turning a glossy purple-black as the surrounding foliage takes on fiery red hues. Brandywine viburnum is another late-winter pantry for birds as the berries only sweeten once the deepest winter weather sets in.

Hardy in zones 5-9, this low-maintenance shrub reaches 5-6 feet high and wide in five or so years, and you will need to let it grow to its natural height as it flowers and fruits on 2-year-old wood. But then you can expect to see waxwings, robins, bluebirds, thrushes and even woodpeckers feasting on its berries.

3. Berry Box Pyracomeles

If you don’t have the garden space for a Brandywine viburnum, then Berry Box Pyracomeles is a smart choice. Staying compact at just 2-3 feet high and wide, this evergreen shrub looks good year-round and while its berries are small, they start out a bright orange in late summer before transitioning to a vibrant red in winter, and the sheer number creates an impressive display. Because of its small size, Berry Box thrives in a container, making it a lovely choice for colorful fall planters that last into winter. Growing this shrub in a pot also means that if you’re a little outside its growing zones of 7-9, you can keep it in a sheltered spot.

Pyracomeles is a cross between Pyracantha and Osteomeles and has inherited the high-nutrient berry and heavy-fruiting genetics of the former and the compact nature of the latter. With fruit persisting on the branches well into winter, Berry Box berries are a valuable food source for robins, waxwings and thrushes, and small birds will find shelter in the shrub's dense evergreen foliage.

4. Chokeberry Bush

Aronia shrubs create a valuable winter resource for birds with dense growth offering shelter as well as long-lasting berries that offer a life-saving pantry when most other food has been gobbled up. Chokeberries have a high level of tannin which gives them a bitter taste but also acts as a preservative, so they last all through fall and early winter. Freezing weather breaks up those tannins, however, so these berries bring an emergency food supply high in antioxidants through the coldest days of late winter.

Chokeberry’s fire-engine-red fall foliage makes these low-maintenance shrubs fabulous plants for the garden, too, and this native shrub is a great substitute for invasive burning bush. And whatever the size of your yard, there’s an Aronia to suit.

If you have the room then Aronia ‘Viking’ should be your go-to as it was originally bred as an orchard crop so has big black berries and lots of them, that will attract American robins, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings and even blue jays; it grows to 4-6 feet high and wide in zones 3-8. Turn chokeberries into jam, jelly and syrup to enjoy the health benefits of these anti-oxidant-rich berries yourself, too. Berry Scape Chokeberry, available from Plant Addicts, is more ornamental with pretty bright red berries, growing to 4-5 feet high and wide in zones 4-9. If you’re short on space, then LowScape Mound Chokeberry, available from trees.com, only reaches 1-2 feet high and wide but still produces plenty of purple-black berries that ground-dwelling birds will appreciate.

5. Proud Berry Pink Coralberry

Another useful emergency supply of late-winter berries is Proud Berry Pink coralberry. Symphoricarpos orbiculatus is a close native relative of the snowberry and, like chokeberry, has berries high in tannins that only become palatable after many freeze-thaw cycles. That’s a bonus for gardeners as well as birds because the large pink berries, that gradually become more vibrant as temperatures drop, are so decorative. Coralberry's arching branches and rounded blue-green leaves are pretty, too.

Ornamental coralberry, also known as Indian currants, grows to 3-4 feet high and wide but because it fruits on new wood, it’s easily kept smaller without sacrificing the berry supply. Hardy in zones 3-7, plant this shrub now for berries next year.

6. Pearl Glam Beautyberry

Of course, you need some berries for birds to scoff through fall and early winter, and Callicarpa is the garden-worthy beauty to pick. But don’t just plump for the native American beautyberry. Pearl Glam offers all the same nutritional, high-moisture berries that cardinals, robins and bluebirds love, but has a much tighter, upright habit, reaching 4-5 feet high and 3-4 feet wide in zones 5-8. As well as a profusion of violet-purple berries, Pearl Glam also boasts deep purple foliage (the native beautyberry has regular green leaves).

While Plant Addicts stocks Pearl Glam in a garden-ready #3 container, if you’re on a budget and have a little patience then Lowe’s offers the same Proven Winners shrub in a great-value gallon pot.

Any or all of these shrubs will give your feathered friends a feast and help them survive through winter. They'll attract birds into your yard, too, so be sure to plant them in view of a window. All well as adding winter color to your backyard, these beauties are easily smart and low-maintenance enough to work as front-yard shrubs that add curb appeal, too. They'd also make welcome Christmas gifts for bird-loving friends. And don't forget, it's also perfectly acceptable to gift your garden birds the best-ever present of a berry-bearing shrub!