Plants for Birds Ocean-Spray

Western Washington Plants for Birds

Ocean-spray Holodiscus discolor

Photo by Mick Thompson, Eastside Audubon Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

Often found hanging upside down to pick off insects from the underside of leaves and in large flocks, bushtits are common in suburban landscapes.

They build a hanging nest from moss, spider webs, and grasses. Bushtits have helpers, usually adult males, during breeding season and everyone sleeps together in the nest at night. Breeding pairs stay together for many years.

These birds are the only member of their family in North America, other members are found in Europe.

Bushtits are year-round residents in the Puget Sound area. Photo by Donna Franklin, Washington Native Plant Society Ocean-spray

A shrub that grows up to 13 feet tall with slender, arching branches, Ocean-spray produces dense, terminal clusters of white to cream-colored flowers in May and June. The fragrance of the flowers improves with age. In the fall, the dried flower clusters turn brown and persist over the winter. Leaves sometimes turn reddish in the fall.

This plant prefers mostly sun and can live in both moist and dry soils. It has shallow roots, and so areas with little topsoil are not a problem for it.

During winter months, insect-eating birds, such as bushtits and chickadees, forage in the leaves. Its dense branches provide year-round cover for many different birds and insects. The flowers provide nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds.