Native North American holly, a cultivar of Ilex opaca (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

24 December 2025

In winter, holly (Ilex) shows off its evergreen leaves and bright red berries just in time for Christmas traditions, decorations and songs.

The Holly and the Ivy (Cecil_James_Sharp_1911, embedded from Wikimedia Commons)

Holly is so beautiful that we often use it as landscape plant, but the real purpose behind that beauty is to attract wildlife to eat the berries. Though holly berries are mildly poisonous to humans and dogs, they are readily eaten by deer, squirrels and many birds, especially cedar waxwings and American robins.

Cedar waxwings can strip a holly tree or hedge of all its berries in a matter of minutes. They start at the top and work their way to the bottom, then to fallen fruit on the ground.

Large holly trees, 40-50 feet tall, can take a flock all day. In between feasting forays they wait and watch in nearby bare trees.

Cedar waxwing flocks waits in a bare tree before zooming off for more berries, Feb 2017 (photo by Marcy Cunkelman)

American robins cannot compete with 50 to 100 cedar waxwings so they hope to eat their fill before the waxwings arrive.

American robin eating holly berries (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Have you planted a holly tree but it doesn’t bear fruit? Here are some reasons why.

Fun Fact

Holly leaves are more prickly at the bottom of the tree than at the top. Thorns keep mammals from plundering the low hanging fruit so the birds can get first crack at the berries and spread the seeds far and wide.