These berries will make your garden a magnet for birds

Our feathered friends prefer some berry-bearing trees and shrubs to others when stocking up for the season. Here's what you need to know

A blackcap on holly berries. Picture: Alamy/PA

Growing berry-bearing shrubs and trees is an almost guaranteed way to help birds in the garden stock up for winter.

Yet some berries seem to take their fancy rather than others — or are preferred by certain species of birds, says Adrian Thomas, RSPB wildlife gardening expert. “In particular, birds seem to prefer red berries, but that doesn’t mean that more unusual colours are to be avoided,” he observes.