Audubon® Native Arrowwood Viburnum

A living bird feeder! Arrowwood Viburnum is a birdfeeder you’ll never have to clean or refill. In late spring, this welcoming Accent produces flat clusters of creamy white flowers that attract native pollinators, such as green metallic bees, miner bees, and hoverflies. When their work is done, the bounty appears—navy blue berries that last until mid-fall (if the birds don’t strip them first). Bluebirds, robins, cardinals, grosbeaks, flycatchers, Cedar Waxwings, vireos, and mockingbirds are a few of the fruit’s biggest fans. The berries provide quality nutrition, too! One study found that they contain 48% fat, which for birds means high-energy sustenance.

Arrowwood Viburnum is a wide-ranging native Accent that is present in most eastern states, from Maine to Florida and west to Iowa and Texas. It’s a variable species that grows in a variety of habitats, but everywhere it appears, it’s a blessing for birds. Besides the nutritious fruits, Arrowwood Viburnum offers birds protein-packed caterpillars in the form of moth larvae such as the green marvel, brown scoopwing, pink prominent, and horrid zale. (Look, too, for the dainty spring azure butterfly, which lays its eggs on the buds and flowers.) Arrowwood Viburnum’s dense growth also makes it appealing to thicket-dwelling birds as nesting habitat.

Arrowwood Viburnum’s fall color will be another feature you’ll look forward to seeing each year. The pretty, toothed green leaves start turning a rich burgundy-red in mid-fall, and the color lasts a long time.