Native Plants Make the Best Bird Feeders: Winged Elm (Ulmus alata)

Here in Athens, GA, the Winged Elm trees (Ulmus alata) are now starting to fruit. The number of species I've observed dining on these samaras over the past few days is truly awe inspiring. But this is not the first time I've been struck by the truly awesome power of native plants to feed local wildlife (see this eBird checklist where 46% of the species I observed that day were seen dining on the fruit of Virginia Creeper vines, Parthenocissus quinquefolia).

This has inspired me to start a journal series that I am calling "Native Plants Make the Best Bird Feeders". The books of Doug Tallamy have been truly eye-opening to the necessity of incorporating native plants into our "home and office" landscaping. Supplemental bird feeding is widely poplar, but if we really want to support bird and other wildlife populations, native plants are far superior. In addition to providing food directly to wildlife in the form of berries, seeds, flowers, etc., native plants support arthropod populations that are absolutely vital for most songbird nestlings and many other life forms.

Here is the list of species I have observed eating Winged Elm samaras over the past few days:
Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius), Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula), Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina), Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla), White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata), Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus), Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata), Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).

Ulmus alata is a medium-sized tree native to the southeastern United States (range map here). The name Winged Elm comes from the corky "wings" that form on each side of the young branches (see second photo in the associated observation). Like other North American native elms, it is susceptible to Dutch elm disease and elm yellows, two accidentally introduced diseases. Elms are the host plant for a number of butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Posted on Φεβρουάριος 26, 2023 0429 ΜΜ by