Native Plants

One of the best ways to attract birds to your yard, windowsill, or a public space is by planting native plants.
Mountain Bluebird and Western Juniper. Photo: Shannon Phifer/Audubon Photography Awards

Native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers provide ideal food and shelter for birds to survive. Planting native plants is among the best ways to support bird conservation.  

It’s more important than ever to create healthy habitats for the birds we love.

 Climate change is the greatest threat to birds and people alike, with two-thirds of North American bird species at risk of extinction due to our warming planet. Our Plants for Birds program provides an online Native Plants Database and collaborates with local Audubon chapters and nature centers to help people find the right native plants for their community.  We’ve partnered with individuals across the U.S. to raise awareness about the importance of native plants and to pass legislation expanding the use of native plants. 

1,200
U.S. crops that depend on pollinators to grow. Native plants are essential for pollinators like birds, bees, butterflies, and bats.
550
Types of butterflies and moths native oak trees support
96
Percentage of land birds that feed insects to chicks. Native plants are nature’s bounty.
Our Impact
Anna's Hummingbird on Peritoma arborea (Bladder-Pod Beeplant). Photo: Michael Renzi/Great Backyard Bird Count

For more than a century, we’ve preserved bird habitats, conducted scientific research, influenced policymakers to enact commonsense conservation laws, and engaged communities across the hemisphere to protect the natural resources upon which birds—and we—depend. Our hemispheric approach recognizes that the majority of bird species in the Americas migrate annually between Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Our programs are like the birds—not bound by political boundaries and seamlessly integrated across the Western Hemisphere. We are working to halt, and ultimately reverse, the decline of bird populations across the Americas.

Will you join us? 

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Native Plants Database