What comes to my mind that is not only bird friendly but provides food for them to are beauty berry tree this is an understory tree so it does not get very tall, pigonberry for ground cover. Both of these have berries bird love to eat.
For some color I love the texas columbine both red and the yellow.
You didn't say how big the area is so I don't know what all you can plant.

I have a mostly shady yard, and these are plants that have worked for me:

ferns (obviously)
Turks Cap - right by my bird feeder
Dwarf Barbados Cherry (birds love them - mine gets a few hours of sunlight)
Cast Iron plants
Mona Lavendar
Canna (yes, mine grow and bloom in the shade)
Oak Leaf Hydrangea (make sure it gets excellent drainage)
Red Columbine
Lady in Red salvia (spreads aggressively, but I only had 3 come back up this year)
Caladiums (love them for summer color)

DFW shade friendly plants up to 6 ft!

Here is a link that might be useful: shade plants for DFW area

I was already had the texas columbine and the turk's cap dog-eared in my book! Thanks for the approval ;)
Thanks for the link pjtexgirl. We'll see what happens...with all these suggestions, I think the area just expanded in size! lol

Another good one, if you can provide some early morning or filtered sun is leatherleaf mahonia. They are a spiney shrub so put toward the back and they grow very slowly, but they have late winter yellow flowers and make some great early spring steel blue berries that the mockingbirds and cardinals really go for. Hellebores is another good one - slow to establish but has a tropical look and blooms in late winter. Also the oxalis triangularis, large purple leaves and bluish pink flowers almost continuously from spring to fall.

Barb,

I can't seem to find anything on Pigonberry. Do you know if it goes by another name?

Laurie

runjbells - I just looked up Mona Lavender and it's beautiful! Is it an annual or a perennial? Also, is
it fairly easy to find in most nurseries?

Laurie

Pigeonberry
Botanical Name: Rivina humilis
Plant Type: Groundcover
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7
AHS Heat Zone:
Light Requirements: Partial Shade; Full Shade
Water Usage: Low
Soil Type: Well-Drained
Height: 1 ft.
Spread: 2 ft.
Season of Bloom: April to October
Bloom Color: Pink
Deciduous/Evergreen: Deciduous
Native TX Plant: Native
Wildlife Value: Birds, Butterflies
An excellent groundcover for shady areas. Grows 10 to 12 inches tall. Blooms pink/white flowers and bears red berries at the same time. Blooming/fruiting occurs continuously from spring to fall. Birds love the plant and you will too.

Go to "ground covers" and it's the 3rd plant down on the left! PJ

Here is a link that might be useful: pigeon berry

PJ - Thanks!

Laurie

Is pink polka dot plant hardy up in DFW?

The reason I mention tbis, is so many of the plants that do well in shade are dark in color and don't "show up". I kept buy these pink polka dots at HEB last year.

Now, I've got a pretty pink groundcover. (However, not exactly plants that are for birds)

I ditto the cannas in full shade. Also, agapanthus, and day lillies have bloomed for me in full shade. Another plant is spider lilly. (Hymencallis)

Is the shade under a decidous tree?

My problem is this...my shade is under a pecan. I've got full blazing sun in the winter and spring. This year, it was all the way until late April.

Because of this, I need to plant things that like winter/spring sun.

I've got Chinese Fringe Flower for early spring color. Yaupon and Possomhaw Hollies are also good for birds. I think Fatsia Japonica, which has a tropical look, is hardy in DFW.

I'm also thinking about adding a flowering quince. They supposedly bloom in the winter.

Fatsia japonica are susceptible to sudden death from a hard freeze as far south as Austin or Huntsville. They also tolerate NO direct sun. The leaves scorch.
If they are near a brick, stone or masonry wall they have a better chance since the radiant heat might save them in weather down to maybe 27o or so. But in DFW they will have to be replanted any year there is a hard freeze.

I think the Mona Lavender is an annual in the Dallas area. Anyone know for sure? Mine has done superb even though I ordered it online and planted it in February. I plan on taking some cuttings in the fall to overwinter in a pot inside. It roots VERY easily. I don't remember seeing it around last year, but this year I have seen it at Home Depot and at HEBplus (Austin area).

Here are some pix's of what I grow in shade, Hosta's, ferns, caladium's, geranium's, Elephant ears, Taro this can be purchased at an Asian store it is an edible plant but I don't or haven't learned how to cook it, I think the root is the edible part.
Columbine both yellow and red native to Texas.

Hope this helps give boost on what can be grown in Texas shade, most of the plants are natvie and so easy to grow.

Something that I added to my shade garden is Sedum. Succulents of many just thrive there. All shapes and sizes. Flowers are yellow and red. Very pretty. And hardy.

Well, that answers about Fatsia Japonica.
It's in Greg Grant's Landscaping Book. He lives in Nacogdoches so I assumed it was cold hardy up in DFW.

Barb - in your 3rd pic what is that yellow bloomer to the right of your pelican? That looks perfect for a spot I have - is that a morning sun area? And where did you find your red and yellow columbine - I can't find any. BTW, love that garden - looks so relaxing.....
Debi

Debndal, that is texas columbine, the red and yellow one I found at a garden show.

I hadn't even taken into consideration that the leaves fall off of the oak tree in the winter, pricklypearsatx! That is why I love you guys...
With the plants above mentioned, are there ANY that wouldn't hold up with the sun during the winter/spring months?! As of right now, only a small part of the area gets the afternoon sun but I don't know what will happen during the winter...

Barb - Have you ever had any problems growing hostas? I bought a bag of bulbs one year and they looked beautiful that year, but each year they look scrawnier and scrawnier and have pretty much died out now. I bought a hosta plant at Lowes and it gets bigger and prettier every year. I didn't know if the problem was the bulbs that I bought or the variety of hosta.

Laurie

momofjandj, All of the plant will do great with leaves missing from the trees in the winter. The sun is not as hot or intense like in the summer.

Laurie, I have had some of my hosta's shrink to nothing, ones in the front bed has done best ones in the back I pot up, hosta's do really good in pots.

My first year in Texas I spent quite a bit of money on some stunning Hostas -- they did well for about two weeks and then were munched to nothing by slugs. I tried the saucer of beer thing, etc., nothing helped. I won't use poisons because of the dogs. Anyone have any ideas for keeping slugs/snails off of Hosta? I'd love to grown some again as I have a lot of shade.

My experience with hostas has been they grow much bigger if they get a fair amount of sun. I have had for about 6 years, a walmart hosta albo marginata (or something like that) that gets about 2 feet tall and about 3' wide and it gets about 2 hours of pretty direct afternoon sun and dappled sun for another 2 hours or so. The key is it is by my dripping birdbath so it gets constant moisture. It does suffer in August, but it sure looks good until then. The slugs seemed not to be too bad on that one - maybe because of the sun. All the others that I have tried to grow in more shade did get ravaged by the slugs and seemed to get smaller every year. That one hosta is the only one I have now.

debndal - You just described the location of my one good hosta to a "t". It gets more sun than the others did (aren't hostas shade plants?) and it sits right next to our fountain which probably splashes water on it.

Laurie

Laurie - I think hostas are sun plants - they can handle sun up north, but can't here in Texas, so we try to relegate them to the shade garden and they don't do well here in general. There are some exceptions of course. I think all shade plants need some sun to really thrive. Mostly they just survive. I had a gold dust aucuba languishing in full shade for several years, and when the shade tree that provided most of the shade died, I thought the aucuba would be a goner. With morning sun and dappled sun throughout the day it really took off. Sadly, it died when the sprinkler system sprang a leak we didn't notice drowned it.

One of my favorites for shade is the old-fashioned 'shrimp plant'. It thrives with little sun, doesn't require much water and blooms most of the year. Blue daze also blooms in the shade. Gold Dust acuba grows slowly but is beautiful in the background.

lovek9 try using cotton burr mulch, the rough, sharp hulls keep them from getting to the hosta's.
One hosta that has done best for me here is Honey Bell, others planted in the ground have either withered away or shrunk in size. Others that I have in pots are doing the best of all. One's in pots are in full shade year around but this might be because of root rot, cause the area gets flooded out when it rains. The best thing about having the hosta's in pot's is no pest to eat on them.

I also grow Asian lilies in a pot, this is going on 3 years, they get morning sun. Speaking of them I need to repot them.