A Wooden Duck chomping on acorns. A migrating warbler resting amongst sagebrush. A wren constructing its nest throughout the spiky fortress of a cactus. These are just some of the methods native crops help birds all through their life cycles and throughout generations. With their seeds, berries, and branches, they supply meals and shelter for birds of all sizes and shapes, from massive herons to tiny hummingbirds.
The next images supply a beautiful window into the numerous methods native crops help avian life. They’re drawn from the 2025 Audubon Images Awards within the Crops for Birds class, which illustrates how the survival of birds and native crops are intertwined, and the way these connections usually help the well being of whole ecosystems.
As you flick through this gallery, we invite you to replicate on the important roles native crops play within the lives of your native birds. (It’s an train you can even apply to the 2025 photo contest winners, in addition to the top 100 images.) And if you happen to’re impressed to assist birds by planting native crops in your yard, ensure that to take a look at Audubon’s native plant finder to be taught which species are greatest suited on your area.
Cactus Wren on Cholla (above)
Cholla is a cactus present in a lot of the Southwest whose spines stubbornly connect to fur, pores and skin, or clothes. Though these crops can show painful for individuals, Cactus Wrens are proper at dwelling among the many cholla. They usually perch atop a cactus to scan the horizon or, within the case of this chook, construct their nests inside its barbed limbs. Photographer Michael Madding watched this wren in Texas collect small branches and disappear throughout the cholla, the place it constructed a spherical, football-size nest in preparation for the breeding season.
American Robin on American Holly
The American holly, or Christmas holly, is understood for its verdant spiky leaves and vibrant berries, which photographer Tamara Berman Ishee planted in her North Carolina yard as a meals supply for winter birds. The evergreen tree is an ideal attractant for the American Robin, a species that gulps down the berries in preparation for colder climate, for the reason that holly’s attribute crimson fruits ripen across the first frost in fall. The 2 species assist one another: The holly’s berries nourish the robin, and the robin disperses the tree’s seeds.
Gilded Flicker on Saguaro
The towering, tree-like saguaro cactus is an emblem of the Sonoran Desert. These hardy succulents can develop over 40 toes tall and are a key a part of the desert ecosystem. Their tall arms supply good vantage factors for birds, their flowers and fruits present candy treats within the desert warmth, and their stalks function locations for animals to shelter and nest. The Gilded Flicker, a desert specialist, is not any exception, because it nests primarily in holes within the saguaro cactus. These two feminine sparkles, captured by photographer Sean McEntee in Arizona, squabble above a saguaro—probably a territorial dispute.
Anna’s Hummingbird with Arroyo Willow
Throughout a lot of the West, the late-spring air fills with the fluff of the arroyo willow because the tree sheds its cottony seeds. For the Anna’s Hummingbird, the white puffs are an incredible supply of fabric for constructing tiny nests—a conduct that photographer James Nelson captured on this picture from Arizona. Feminine hummingbirds make their nests by weaving collectively plant fibers, gluing the strands with sticky spider webs, and lining the cup with fluff or down feathers. The birds additionally typically place lichen on the surface of the nest to assist it mix into its environment.
Acorn Woodpecker with Oak
This male Acorn Woodpecker, photographed in California by Lee Greengrass, is leucistic, that means that a few of its pigment cells now not produce colour. Its hanging white plumage, nonetheless, just isn’t a damper on its food-gathering expertise. Over the course of a number of visits, Greengrass watched this chook rigorously are inclined to its cache of acorns, referred to as a granary. To create these stockpiles, Acorn Woodpeckers drill hundreds of holes right into a tree and stuff the nuts into them, offering meals for his or her household throughout the winter.
Pink-winged Blackbird on Cattail
Should you’ve visited a marsh, you’ve most likely seen the tubular buildings of cattails standing tall on the shore. However you may need missed one of many options that make these crops so beneficial for birds: Hiding inside a cattail’s attribute corndog-like flower head are, on common, a whopping 220,000 seeds. Every one has silky hairs connected to it, serving to the seed to catch the wind and colonize different elements of the marsh. This fluffy materials is fashionable for chook nests, and the seeds themselves present an incredible snack for overwintering birds like this feminine Pink-winged Blackbird, as captured in Virginia by Julie Davis.
Wooden Duck on California Stay Oak
In lots of elements of North America, acorns are a serious a part of the Wooden Duck’s weight loss plan. This male, photographed by Benjamin Martin Mortimer, is chowing down on the acorns of the California stay oak—greater than 15 of them in a single sitting, by Mortimer’s rely. Also referred to as coast oaks, these extraordinary bushes have a recognizable gnarled cover and type the idea of the oak woodlands discovered alongside California shorelines. They not solely help a variety of species, but additionally can stay properly previous 250 years.
Black-capped Chickadee on American Pink Pine
With its rufous bark and lengthy needles, crimson pine is a well-recognized evergreen tree that may be discovered throughout a lot of northeastern North America. Its seeds, nestled in dense cones, are a favourite of seed-eating birds like finches, crossbills, and chickadees. Photographer Linda Scher captured this Black-capped Chickadee feasting on pine seeds in South Dakota. Chickadees have the power to acrobatically forage and hold the wrong way up from branches, serving to people like this chook entry hard-to-reach seeds.
Northern Harrier with Cattail
Northern Harriers can usually be seen hovering above cattail meadows, the place they use their eager listening to and owl-like facial disk to triangulate the presence of prey. Photographer Eileen de la Cruz thought she was observing this conduct when she noticed this feminine Northern Harrier dive-bombing the bottom in Washington State. However to her shock, the raptor emerged with talons filled with cattail fluff. What the chook was as much as stays considerably mysterious, since de la Cruz took this picture in October—properly exterior the breeding season—and Northern Harriers are inclined to want cattail stalks or different grasses to assemble their floor nests.
Northern Yellow Warbler on Sagebrush
Sagebrush is likely one of the most essential crops of the American West. The spiny, aromatic shrub varieties the inspiration of the sagebrush steppe, an ecosystem discovered nowhere else on the planet that’s dwelling to iconic species just like the Better Sage-Grouse and pronghorn. Sagebrush additionally helps many migratory birds as they go via these arid areas between their breeding and wintering grounds. Such was the case for this Northern Yellow Warbler photographed by Joanie Christian in Wyoming. The plant offers shelter and shade and harbors bugs that these warblers want for refueling.
American Goldfinch on Sunflower
Don’t despair when sunflower heads start to dry up and droop: It’s an indication that the plant’s seeds are ripening and can quickly appeal to all types of songbirds in search of a scrumptious snack. On this picture, photographer Joanie Christian—sure, two of her images landed on this listing—noticed a flock of American Goldfinches descending on the sunflowers on her property in jap Washington. These birds feed nearly completely on seeds and are masters at discovering and dissecting ripened seeds from messy sunflower heads.
Nice Blue Heron on Longleaf Pine
Nice Blue Herons usually construct their nests in massive evergreen bushes, and this stand of longleaf pines in Florida helps an lively colony. Photographer Mahmud Mohamed noticed 12 herons on this grove, the place the birds have been combating to pair up in preparation for the breeding season. The male, pictured right here together with his wings outstretched, was lacking part of his leg, however managed to win the feminine’s consideration by presenting her with branches as nuptial presents. The pair constructed their big platform nest among the many tree’s supportive branches.
Pink-winged Blackbird on Cattail
A lot of the Pink-winged Blackbird’s life cycle depends upon cattails. They nest in these tall grasses and feed on insect larvae discovered on the plant. Within the winter, cattails themselves turn into an essential meals supply. Photographer Elyse Jankowski watched as this feminine Pink-winged Blackbird in Florida pecked at a single cattail seed head till it burst open. The chook pulled free and ate up the seeds, a nutrient-dense snack that helps the blackbird throughout colder months.
Pied-billed Grebe with Eelgrass
Photographed by Craig Bamm alongside Michigan’s Lake Erie shore, this Pied-billed Grebe holds a bundle of freshwater eelgrass, or wild celery, an aquatic plant of nice ecological significance. Within the Nice Lakes, eelgrass varieties lengthy, flowing meadows that present essential habitat for younger fish and are a meals supply for diving geese like scaup. This grebe, nonetheless, just isn’t consuming the eelgrass. As a substitute, it’s utilizing the clump of vegetation to construct the floating nest platform for its eggs and younger.
