Three Acre Tablea garden, a kitchen, a good excuse to gather
Chapter three

Backyard birds.

New Jersey sits on the Atlantic Flyway — 492 bird species have been recorded here, 150 of them songbirds, more than 130 species breed here. Meet the ones most likely to visit your yard, and the native plants that keep them coming back.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird — NJ’s only breeding hummingbird and the sole bird pollinator native to the eastern US — lives in the Pollinators chapter.

01 · Year-round residents

Year-round residents.

Birds that live in New Jersey all twelve months — chickadees, cardinals, jays, robins, bluebirds, waxwings. What they eat in July and what they eat in January are often two different diets.

02 · Summer breeders

Summer breeders.

Birds that arrive in April or May, breed in NJ, and migrate south for the winter. Includes Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, and the warblers of the eastern forest.

03 · Migrants

Migrants.

Birds that pass through NJ each spring and fall, sometimes lingering at Cape May or the Kittatinny Ridge for weeks. A few — like the Yellow-rumped Warbler — stay right through the cold months.

04 · Winter visitors

Winter visitors.

Birds that arrive in October or November from northern breeding grounds and spend the winter in NJ. Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes, and the occasional irruption of pine siskins and crossbills.

05 · Non-native · Invasive

Non-native · Invasive.

European Starlings and House Sparrows are not native to North America. Both were introduced in the 1800s, both aggressively displace native cavity-nesting birds, and both are excluded from Migratory Bird Treaty Act protection.

06 · Non-native · Present

Non-native · Present.

Non-native birds that are established in NJ but not classified as invasive — mostly former cage birds or introduced game species that persist in the landscape.