I love my garden - but let's face it: I am a lazy gardener. I let my flowers go to seed and leave them all winter. One reason is that some of the seeds will germinate and grow into beautiful blooms next summer.
So who nibbles the seeds of my purple coneflowers and bee balm? Blue jays do. So do cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, juncos and sparrows. These are the same birds that show up at my feeder ... but on those days I'm slow to refill the feeder, I'm happy there are plenty of seeds out in the garden for them.
Birds, and other wildlife, glean seeds from grasses and other plants as well.
You can find out more at this article, "Native Plants Provide Winter Food Sources for Birds" here.
This week, look for birds visiting seedy heads of flowers and grasses in your neighborhood.
Who do you see?