In Your Backyard
Plant Wax Myrtles
(Myrica cerifera)
Many birds come to enjoy Florida's mild winters and year-round supply of food. One of the most common and abundant winter visitors is the yellow-rumped warbler. When cold temperatures drive the insects away, yellow-rumped warblers love to feast on the small, waxy myrtle berries, the same berries once collected by early settlers and boiled to make wax for candles. The small berries are also eaten by cardinals, mockingbirds, quail, white-eyed vireos, ruby-crowned kinglets and palm warblers, but the yellow-rumped warbler has a longer digestive tract than other warblers and so is uniquely adapted to absorb nutrients from the slow-to-digest waxy substance. Put out a welcome mat for migratory birds this winter and plant fast-growing, evergreen wax myrtle shrubs. Make sure you buy seed-producing female plants and plant them in sunny locations. Wax myrtles are also salt tolerant and make a great hedge plant.
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