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Where do the plant recommendations come from?

USDA PLANTS for native ranges, Doug Tallamy's research and the National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder for ecological value, plus Audubon's Plants for Birds database and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for regional fit.

Are these all native plants?

Yes. Every recommendation is genuinely native to the area associated with your ZIP code.

Why is this bird-driven instead of plant-driven?

Most planners start with your climate zone and give you a generic native plant list. This one starts with the birds you actually want to attract, then filters plants to the ones that support those species.

Plants for Birds in Arkansas

Native Arkansas plants that genuinely support the birds you want in your yard.

Arkansas threads from the Ozark and Ouachita mountains down to the Mississippi Delta. Northern Mockingbirds — the state bird — hold every yard. Painted Buntings flash through the Delta in summer. And the Cache River and Big Woods still hold some of the densest bottomland hardwood forests in the country, with breeding warblers most other states have lost.

Native Arkansas plants do work that lawn grass and big-box ornamentals can't. They host the caterpillars and insects that 96% of Arkansas songbirds rely on to feed their chicks. White oaks, hickories, bald cypresses, dogwoods, and the wildflowers of the Ozarks and Mississippi River bottoms built the state's bird communities.

Enter your Arkansas ZIP code in the tool below. The planner will filter every plant in our database to the ones genuinely native to your part of Arkansas — Ozarks, Ouachitas, Arkansas River Valley, or Delta — and useful for the birds you actually want. Pick the species — Mockingbirds, Painted Buntings, hummingbirds, or all of them — and we'll give you a plant list that does the work.

Native Arkansas plants that genuinely support birds

A few of the most useful native Arkansas plants for birds:

White Oak (Quercus alba) — Hosts hundreds of caterpillar species; acorns for many birds.
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) — Hosts dozens of caterpillars; bark shelters roosting birds.
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) — Arkansas's state tree. Fall berries for waxwings, robins, thrushes.
Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) — Early-spring blooms for hummingbirds and orioles.
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) — Delta wetland tree. Cavity habitat for Wood Ducks and Prothonotary Warblers.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) — Bright purple fall berries for mockingbirds, thrashers, finches.
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) — Bright winter berries for waxwings, robins, bluebirds.
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) — Red autumn berries for migrating Wood Thrushes.
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) — Host for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) — A hummingbird favorite along streams.
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) — Summer nectar for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) — A favorite native hummingbird vine.

This is a state-wide overview. For a list tailored to your garden:

Enter your Arkansas ZIP and pick the birds you actually want. The planner filters every plant in our database down to the ones native to your part of Arkansas and genuinely useful for your birds.

What's your ZIP code?

We'll show you native plants that are genuinely native to your area and rank them by which birds they support.

US ZIP code

Free. No email. We'll filter every plant in the database to those actually native to your state and suited to your USDA zone.

Better With Birds

Shop the birds you love

If you're already this excited about Arkansas birds, you're going to like the apparel, prints, and stickers we've designed around them.

Northern Mockingbirds, Painted Buntings, Northern Cardinals, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds — all illustrated and designed by Jaymi at Better With Birds. Made-to-order, never mass-printed.