Carol Reese Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District University of Tennessee Extension Service 605 Airways Blvd. Jackson TN 38301 731 425 4721 email jreese5@xxxxxxx Barry, yes, goodness, it is important to know tree species, in fact it's important to know proper Latin names. For example our "red cedar" is actually a juniper - Juniperus virginiana to be exact. Cedars are actually Cupressus, but the plant commonly called western cedar is Thuja plicata, actually an arborvitae. So, if you wanted more species of juniper in your yard for birds and ordered some sort of cedar, what would you get? ...though I realize you are just wanting to know this for birding, not planting. Oaks are not all the same for the wildlife that feeds on them. Large sweet acorns are produced by white oak and swamp chestnut oak, and are preferred mast of deer and squirrel. Though birds may like them, they are not easily carried by small birds, who may wish to stash them, or may need to be pecked open or crushed to be available to these birds. Willow oak acorns are small and jaybirds may carry several of them at a time...inadvertantly helping to plant more oaks... I have both black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) in the area, and noticed that the birds prefer the sylvatica...at least the bluebirds, woodpeckers and such, but I have not deduced yet whether the aquatica may be used by ducks...anyone know? I just ordered a book called "American Wildlife and Plants" which is said to be old, but very thorough and composed so that you may either look up the critter and see what plants it may eat, or look up the plant and see what critters will use it. The table of contents is available if you look it up online and seems to list a lot of birds, as well as other fauna. It's also cheap! Five or six dollars plus shipping... Hope this is helpful... (almost all my hummers have departed!) Carol Reese Chester County =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================