Yes. No email, no account, no ads.

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 Louisiana

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

Louisiana sits at the bottom of the Mississippi Flyway, and an outsized share of North America's bird life passes through. The cypress swamps of the Atchafalaya are nesting grounds for Roseate Spoonbills, Anhingas, and Prothonotary Warblers. Brown Pelicans — the state bird — work the Gulf. And Grand Isle catches trans-Gulf migrants in spring and again in fall.

Native Louisiana plants do work that turf grass and big-box ornamentals can't. They host the caterpillars and insects that 96% of Louisiana songbirds rely on to feed their chicks. Bald cypresses, live oaks, magnolias, and the wildflowers of Louisiana's bayous and coastal prairies built the state's bird communities.

Enter your Louisiana ZIP code in the tool below. The planner will filter every plant in our database to the ones genuinely native to your part of Louisiana — north Louisiana hill country, Florida parishes, Atchafalaya, or coastal — and useful for the birds you actually want. Pick the species — Brown Pelicans, Prothonotary Warblers, hummingbirds, or all of them — and we'll give you a plant list that does the work.

Native Louisiana plants that genuinely support birds

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

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) — Louisiana's state tree. Cavity habitat for Wood Ducks, Prothonotary Warblers.
Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) — Hosts hundreds of caterpillar species; iconic coastal tree.
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) — Seeds for towhees and waxwings; cavity habitat as it matures.
Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) — Wetland tree. Fall fruit pulled in by waxwings, mockingbirds, robins.
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) — Bright winter berries for waxwings, robins, bluebirds.
Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera) — Waxy berries feed Yellow-rumped Warblers through winter.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) — Bright purple fall berries for mockingbirds, thrashers, finches.
Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) — Wetland native. Fragrant summer blooms.
Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) — Year-round cover; winter berries for waxwings and bluebirds.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) — A hummingbird favorite along streams and wet meadows.
Spider Lily (Hymenocallis liriosme) — Spring nectar plant for hummingbirds in Louisiana wetlands.
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) — A favorite native hummingbird vine.

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

Enter your Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana birds, you're going to like the apparel, prints, and stickers we've designed around them.

Brown Pelicans, Prothonotary Warblers, Northern Mockingbirds, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds — all illustrated and designed by Jaymi at Better With Birds. Made-to-order, never mass-printed.