Keeping Common Birds Common

Birches (Betula) are ranked among the top-tier woody plant genera for supporting biological diversity.

River birch, also commonly known as red birch or black birch, is a robust riparian stabilizer, stormwater mitigator, and a keystone wildlife host. Native to a handful of counties in Upstate New York, it thrives across the eastern United States in floodplains and along riverbanks where its extensive root systems anchor loose, saturated soils, preventing erosion during heavy spring thaws and flash flooding events.

Betula nigra serves as a critical host plant for over 410 species of caterpillars, including iconic native species like the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak, and Luna Moth. Because it hosts such a vast population of caterpillars this tree also serves as a critical food source for birds during spring migration and summer breeding seasons.

The river birches' early-maturing spring seeds and winter catkins provide vital food sources for songbirds like chickadees and finches, as well as small mammals, when other food sources are scarce.

The distinctive, shaggy, peeling bark of the river birch creates deep fissures that host overwintering insects, providing a winter foraging ground for nuthatches, brown creepers, and woodpeckers as well as nesting material for many birds.