These are on my Lonicera "Alabama Crimson".
Will the birds eat them? Sorry I forgot to resize pic.
Berries on Honeysuckle Vine; good for Birds?
I had berries on my Lonicera americana earlier this summer, and somebody ate them... not sure if it was birds or bugs, but they didn't just fall to the ground.
Your post made me curious enough to do some googling , while honeysuckles can be mildly toxic to humans it seemed that all berries were edible by birds .
Thank you!
I have a honeysuckle along my driveway. This past week it's been regularly visited by a small flock of cedar waxwings.
Oh that would be cool!
Just saw your thread. I'm a little late but wanted to tell you that I have Alabama Crimson. Mine is a total hummingbird magnet in spring and early summer and is covered in Cardinals in late summer when the berries ripen. So, yes, birds do eat the berries. Lonicera sempervirens is listed as one of the top vines recommended for bird and wildlife habitat by numerous sources including usda.gov and the Audubon society. In addition to providing nectar for hummers and seeds for birds it is also a host plant for several butterflies.
Birds that eat the seeds include: Cardinal, Cedar waxwing, bluebird, finches including goldfinch, quail, and some sparrows, but this is not an exhaustive list.
The seeds on my vine go fast, so I suspect that by now yours are already gone.
You already have your answer but I just wanted to say I have 7 Lonicera sempervirens on my small property tucked between shrubs and growing up trellises and arbors. As previously stated by scutler they are a top rated vine for wildlife. I also had nests in 3 of mine. In early spring they tend to attract aphids and the birds even eat them for me. Of course they don't clear them entirely and the first flush of flowers are distorted but by the second flush the flowers are perfect. I love this vine. I have the red "Blanche Sandman", the yellow "John Clayton" (which is a little less vigorous then "Blanche" so it's an excellent choice for a smaller space) and the real disappointment
"Magnifica" which blooms just once and sparely.
Thanks for the info everyone!
I also have Blanche Sandman, but haven't noticed seeds yet. I planted for the hummers, but am glad to know a lot of wildlife will use it. I planted it in 2006 and it's just meeting itself over the top of the trellis. I look forward to a new year of observation.
I have a mandarin honeysuckle. It bloomed last year for the first time but the blooms fell off after about 4 days. made me sad and I am not sure why they fell off so quick. It looks good so far this year. Big buds are coming out. Spring is here. I just put a Lonicera in last fall and it was tiny. It shows no sign of life yet but I am patient and hope it does well.
Lynnbird, maybe they needed water? Mine is planted on a bed of sand I think. We can pour a five gallon bucket of water on each one and it just disappears. They really perk up after.
Does anyone have "Major Wheeler"??
I just heard of it a few weeks ago and it looks good but I don't know if the bloom time is good.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/122700/
Anyone??
Sorry, I only have Alabama Crimson, not to mention that what is good for my area in terms of bloom time may not be good for yours. My AC has been blooming for a few weeks now, but then spring starts mid Feb here - which only means that summer's sweltering heat starts early, too. Someday I hope to add a yellow one and maybe an orange.
If no one responds to your question, you may want to start a thread with that as the title. Someone who has that cultivar may not be 'watching' this thread.
Thanks scutler. I have Alabama Crimson too and just love it!
Maybe I'll ask over in the Vine forum.
I have Major Wheeler now because I couldn't find Alabama Crimson when we moved to our new house. Both bloom well in our zone 5 gardens. I want to get the yellow flowered one too. Hummingbirds love them too. I never got a lot of berries on mine but we have a ton of birds around so they might be the reason
Thanks Freddie!
Thanks Billy! Sorry i did not answer earlier. I have not been able to be on. I will try to keep water on it since I too have it planted on sand.
Lynnbird, laughing. Not a problem. You'll notice I've been missing off and on too! I hope that is working for you!!
"Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) with orange (instead of the normal yellow) tail bands have appeared in eastern North America in the last 35 years. Biochemical studies have implicated a dietary cause (Hudon and Brush 1989), specifically the fruits of Lonicera morrowii (Brush 1990), for this novel color variant. I show that rectrices replaced while Cedar Waxwings are feeding on L. morrowii fruits develop orange tips. Rectrices replaced subsequent to switching the diet of molting waxwings from L. morrowii fruits to dog chow were yellow, showing close temporal correspondence between dietary input of rhodoxanthin and the coloration of growing feathers."
"Other yellow-plumaged species known to consume the fruits of Morrow’s Honeysuckle have been reported with orange variants. Mulvihill et al. (1992) provide records of nine Yellow-breasted Chats (Icteria virens) and two Kentucky Warblers (Oporornis formosus) with varying amounts of orange plumage.
Brooks (1994) reports eight White-throated Sparrows with orange lores banded in western New York during the fall seasons from 1990-93. Four were hatching-year, two were after-hatching year, and two were aged unknown. They were among over 2700 white-throats banded at three locations between 1985-93.
At Pavillion Twp., Kalamazoo Co., three hatching year White-throated Sparrows with orange lores were banded as part of the Kalamazoo Nature Center's on-going operation (R. and B. Keith, pers. comm.). These were the only orange-lored birds out of 1,043 banded at this location between 1990 and 1998.
Observations of rhodoxanthin-induced color variation in birds are of interest because they coincide with the spread of an exotic Asian species, the Morrow’s Honeysuckle and its hybrids, from their point of introduction in the eastern United States. These bush honeysuckles are considered invasive and are often targeted for management or control (Luken 1996). White-throated Sparrows nest generally north of the 44th parallel in Michigan (Ewert 1991). Some (11.6% of adults and 21.3% of hatching-years) are still completing their prebasic molt when they are captured at RRBO in the fall, although this usually involves the contour feathers of the breast and not the head or lores. While it’s possible the sparrows could be acquiring the rhodoxanthin along their migratory route, it seems more likely it was ingested at or near their nesting areas. However, both RRBO and Kalamazoo Nature Center have banded several Cedar Waxwings, locally nesting species, with orange tail bands. At RRBO, the first was captured in 1994."
There is speculation that color variants caused by birds eating non-native honeysuckle may have a negative impact on breeding success. So, yes, birds eat them and some varieties of honeysuckle are changing their color!
Stelco, that was interesting. I am trying to plant more native on a basic scale, but this is another reason to try and keep it for the birds that belong here.
I have four 'Crimson Cascade' vines, which I believe is a selection of 'Major Wheeler' (you'll have to double-check that).
It looks like we will have our first blooms of the season from three of them this weekend!
(One is a little smaller and slower, for some reason. . . just a late bloomer, I guess)