So this year, as I focused more seriously on my pottery, those birds kept appearing—first on plant bowls, then on birdhouses and then bird baths. As I researched what our feathered friends truly need, I kept coming back to the same answer: it's not just about the houses or the baths. The most critical thing is native plants—also known as wildflowers, or to some, weeds. Native plants are species that occur naturally in a particular region without human introduction.