How Black Elder Attracts Great Tits to Your Garden

An unobtrusive shrub can transform that situation overnight – provided it is planted properly.

Anyone eagerly awaiting great tits in spring will know the disappointment: expensive bird food, a well-kept lawn and stylish ornamental shrubs, yet the garden remains remarkably quiet. The reason is seldom the feeder itself; it is almost always the garden’s layout and one key question: are there enough insects and dense shrubs for shelter?

Why great tits stay away despite full bird feeders

The great tit is considered one of Europe’s most widespread garden birds. In some areas, more than 300 breeding pairs live per square kilometre. In theory, then, almost every garden could receive a visit from one. If they still do not appear, something is lacking in the immediate surroundings.

“For great tits, a lively area of insect-rich shrubs and hedges matters more than a bowl of food.”

In spring, great tits chiefly need insects. A feeding station stocked with sunflower seeds is more of a snack for the parents at this time, rather than the main meal for their chicks. Gardens containing only manicured lawn, rockeries and exotic shrubs provide few caterpillars, aphids or other small creatures. This is where an often-overlooked native shrub becomes important.

The overlooked star: black elder

Black elder (Sambucus nigra) has fallen out of favour in many gardens. It grows quickly, can seem too “wild” to some people and is therefore often removed. From a bird’s perspective, that is a mistake.

“In a garden, black elder is like an all-inclusive hotel: insects in spring, berries in late summer and shelter throughout the year.”

Here are some key facts about elder:

• Native species: ideally adapted to the climate and native insect life
• Planting season: November to March, when the ground is frost-free
• Mature height: around 3 to 5 metres in just 3 to 4 years
• Position: sun to partial shade; ordinary garden soil is sufficient
• Benefits: food, shelter and nesting habitat for numerous bird species

Its open, multi-stemmed growth creates dense branches where small birds can hide quickly. For great tits, this means genuine security: they can move from a food source into thick cover within seconds.

How black elder becomes an insect buffet for great tits

In spring, black elder is often colonised by the black elder aphid. Gardeners frequently view it as a “pest”. For great tits, however, it is a jackpot.

During the breeding season, a pair of great tits must supply their young with hundreds of insects every day. Estimates put the figure at up to 500 insects daily for a single brood. The birds prefer to hunt where prey is concentrated – precisely on and around an elder shrub.

The result is that the shrub is thoroughly searched, the aphid colony declines, the young birds grow and the gardener avoids using chemical treatments. What appears to be a problem becomes a working natural cycle.

In late summer, elder provides its next food source: black berries. Rich in fats, they help many bird species build up energy reserves for autumn and winter.

Great tits in the garden: needs and common mistakes

Great tits are easy to identify: a black head, white cheeks and yellow underparts marked by a dark lengthways stripe like a tie. They readily use nest boxes and soon appear at bird feeders. Even so, breeding often fails in densely built-up areas.

Their annual cycle explains why:

Stage	Period	Particular need
Territory establishment & pairing	Late winter to spring	Safe hedges and dense shrubs
Egg-laying & incubation	Spring	Quiet nest sites with little disturbance
Raising young	Spring to early summer	Plenty of insects and short journeys to food
Late summer & autumn	From August	Energy-rich berries and protection from predators

Typical problems in urban and suburban gardens include:

• Perfectly trimmed lawns with hardly any wildflowers
• Thuja and cherry laurel hedges, which support few native insects
• Pesticide use against aphids or caterpillars
• Hard pruning of shrubs in late winter, when many insects are still overwintering in the wood

Studies show that in such “tidy” gardens, young birds often starve even when feeders are hanging within sight. The route from the nest box to an insect source is simply too long, or the available food is too scarce.

Planting black elder: step by step to a great tit magnet hedge

An elder shrub can be planted with little effort. Planting it between November and March can give great tits an attractive territory within the next few years.

What to do

1. Choose a position: sunny to partly shaded, not excessively dry and preferably at the garden edge.
2. Dig the planting hole: make it around three times as wide as the root ball.
3. Loosen the soil: use a spade to break up any compacted layers.
4. Improve the soil: mix in 2–3 spadefuls of mature compost.
5. Set the plant in place: position the elder at the same depth as it was in its pot.
6. Backfill and firm: refill with soil and press it down lightly.
7. Water it in: apply around 10 litres of water, even if it is raining – this removes air pockets.

In subsequent years, the shrub requires very little maintenance. A light thinning prune is enough if it becomes too sprawling. Birds will be perfectly happy if it looks slightly “untidy”.

What one gap in a thuja hedge can achieve

Many suburban gardens are bordered by dense rows of thuja or cherry laurel. Although these evergreens provide privacy, they offer food or habitat to very few native insects.

Even a modest alteration can make a substantial difference: removing just two metres of thuja and replacing it with elder noticeably improves the food supply around a nest box. Aphids, caterpillars and spiders – everything great tits need – will establish themselves there.

“An elder in the boundary hedge does not replace expensive specialist food; it replaces missing natural structures.”

Anyone who also puts up a nest box near the shrub, avoids toxic substances and does not over-manage the lawn will often notice far more activity in the garden within a short time.

Further simple steps for a great tit-friendly garden

Elder is an important part of the picture, but it is not the only one. Several additional actions strengthen the effect:

• Provide nest boxes: use a 32 mm entrance hole; do not face the entrance directly south, and choose a sheltered location.
• Avoid pesticides: allow birds to control aphids naturally.
• Limit lawn fertiliser: using less fertiliser encourages wildflowers and, in turn, more insects.
• Leave dead wood in place: do not cut thin dead branches until mid-March, so overwintering insects can emerge.
• Add other native shrubs: blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel or dog rose create further variety.

Why native shrubs offer birds far more than exotic plants

Many popular garden plants originate on other continents. They may look attractive and are often evergreen, but they can function like a green façade with no real purpose. Native insects are specialised to particular plants. When those plants are absent, insects are absent too – and so is food for young birds.

Elder is among the species explicitly recommended by specialists. It links gardens, the wider landscape and birdlife. People initially bothered by its untamed growth usually change their mind when the first group of great tits starts clambering through its branches.

There is another point: elder has an effect not only outdoors, but on the people watching it as well. Children learn that aphids are not a disaster, but part of a cycle. Instead of immediately reaching for sprays, people wait and watch great tits, ladybirds and lacewings do the work.

This is how a “forgotten” shrub becomes a lesson in how little is needed to turn a silent garden into a lively bird gathering place – one turn of the spade, one elder shrub and a little patience. Then, suddenly, a whole flock of yellow-and-black visitors fills the branches in spring.