{"id":13356,"date":"2019-12-04T06:42:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T11:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=13356"},"modified":"2019-12-03T13:01:06","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T18:01:06","slug":"take-5-birds-love-berries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/take-5-birds-love-berries\/","title":{"rendered":"Take 5: Birds Love Berries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As winter closes in, many species of wildlife look to fuel up for the challenging conditions of winter. Fortunately, several plant species take advantage of this<\/a> in their seed dispersal strategies by producing delicious and nutritious berries that wildlife will eat then excrete, depositing seeds in a new location along with a dose of fertilizer. While many of the fall berries have long since gone by, some varieties last well into winter, providing a larder for the fruit-eating species that are active all winter long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a fruit-bearing plant in your yard or neighborhood, you\u2019ll have a better chance of capturing a great photo of some fruit-eating birds. Visit our website for more tips to attract birds to your feeders<\/a> and enjoy these five photos of birds snacking on berries from our annual Picture This: Your Great Outdoors<\/a> photo contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cedar
Cedar Waxwings on a variety of crab apple \u00a9 Stephen Kent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pine
Pine Grosbeak on a variety of crab apple \u00a9 Kevin Bourinot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Eastern
Eastern Bluebird on Winterberry \u00a9 Cheryl Rose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"American
American Robin Eating Winterberries \u00a9 Alan B. Ward<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Northern
Northern Flicker on a variety of crab apple \u00a9 Peggy Chao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As winter closes in, many species of wildlife look to fuel up for the challenging conditions of winter. Fortunately, several plant species take advantage of this in their seed dispersal strategies by producing delicious and nutritious berries that wildlife will eat then excrete, depositing seeds in a new location along with a dose of fertilizer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":13359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[158],"tags":[28,209,72,83,84,85],"class_list":["post-13356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-take-5","tag-birds","tag-food","tag-native-plants","tag-photo-contest","tag-photography","tag-plants"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2019\/12\/3611Stephen_Kent13744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t87A-3tq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3069,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/all-about-holly\/","url_meta":{"origin":13356,"position":0},"title":"All About Holly","author":"Rosemary","date":"December 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The American holly does more than brighten up our winter woods. Here's a primer on this iconic plant. Identification The American holly\u00a0(Ilex opaca) grows as far south as Florida, but it\u2019s also found in a few places in Massachusetts. To spot one, search for these characteristics: Small size\u2014in the Northeast,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/12\/holly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/12\/holly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/12\/holly.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12007,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/an-epic-winter-for-nomadic-finches\/","url_meta":{"origin":13356,"position":1},"title":"An Epic Winter For Nomadic Finches","author":"William Freedberg","date":"December 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every few winters, several bird species abandon their normal wintering areas to our northwest, and move into Massachusetts by the thousands. While distantly related, redpolls, siskins, and grosbeaks all rely on food sources that go through boom and bust cycles, peaking and crashing every 3-6 years. When conifer and birch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Evening Grosbeak \u00a9 MDF (CC BY-SA 3.0)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/12\/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/12\/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/12\/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/12\/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2018\/12\/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14894,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/siskins-and-grosbeaks-and-purple-finches-oh-my\/","url_meta":{"origin":13356,"position":2},"title":"Siskins and Grosbeaks and Purple Finches, Oh My!","author":"William Freedberg","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Most bird species overwinter in the same general area from year to year. Not so with some finches. Around eight species of winter finch become nomadic in winter, sometimes crossing the continent in search of food. One reason these birds don\u2019t stick to an annual pattern is the annually shifting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pine Siskin. 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Unlike the familiar American holly, this plant loses its leaves in the fall, which makes the berries stand out even more. Only the female plants make fruit, and they're much-needed winter fuel for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Take 5"","block_context":{"text":"Take 5","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/take-5\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/12\/Amber-Murphy-2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/12\/Amber-Murphy-2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/12\/Amber-Murphy-2015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3673,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/many-faces-of-poison-ivy\/","url_meta":{"origin":13356,"position":5},"title":"The Many Faces of Poison Ivy","author":"Rosemary","date":"June 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Do the words \u201cpoison ivy\u201d make you itch? Not all people are allergic to the oil that\u2019s found throughout this plant, but for those who are and who come into contact with it, the result can be weeks of misery. 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