There are a million options. Dogwood is good. Alleghany Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) comes highly recommended...it is one of the few serviceberries that is a tree rather then a shrub. Crabapple work well and are longer lived then most similar options. Remember, though, birds mostly like the crabapple varieties with very small fruit...the bigger fruit often rot uneaten. American Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana) is an option. Viburnums are more of a shrub and I hear some disease is wiping them out in some areas. Holly has tiny but fragrant flowers and fruits birds don't like, but they eat it when they get desperate in the winter, and the evergreen leaves provide winter shelter.

Yellowood (Cladrastis kentukea) is supposed to have fragrant flowers, but no berries and is bigger then you like.

Sassafras albidum has fragrant leaves and berries birds like, but no flowers to speak of and is bigger then you want.

Really the big concern is disease. Most small flowering trees are subject to disease in various parts of the continent. Is your area afflicted with cedar-apple-rust, verticulum wilt, fire blight, Japanese beetles? Would they be growing near cedar/juniper or black walnut? Would they get road salt? That would help decide what tree is likely to be trouble free where you are.

Oh, and there are VERY few, if any, trees that stop growing at 10 feet. There are some shrubs.

10 ft. tall is a shrub, in most instances. Maybe Amelanchier alnifolia is the kind of thing you are looking for. Or Ribes sanguineum.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm now interested in serviceberry shrubs/trees and am currently reading all about them. Still like dogwoods, but serviceberry is definitely a contender. Going to read about your other suggestions too @edlincoln.

Perhaps I should have said "tree form" rather than tree. If a shrub will tolerate being trained into tree form that's fine with me. Conversely if a "too large" tree will tolerate being basically bonsai'd that works too.

edit: I have also learned that viburnum would need a mate in order to make berries. I only have space for one tree/shrub, so I guess viburnum is out :(

Zone 8, crepe myrtle? What color buildings are around it? The brilliant red fall color of most dogwoods might be hidden in front of brick buildings.

I thought of another one...hawthorn. There is a very attractive small one growing near me...although that's another one that birds only eat when they get desperate in the winter?

What trees are growing in your area? Do you have Japanese beetles? A lot of these options are prone to insects or disease...knowing these answers would rule some out.

Rose family things like Amelanchier and Prunus are more or less all favorites. Also if you stick with local native species like those I suggested you get a higher level of response from native birds than is usual with non-natives - with certain exceptions, such as various cotoneasters, English holly and common hawthorn, which have become weeds as a result.

sorbus - especially the smaller Asian types such as cashmeriensis, hupehensis, vilmorinii - very beautiful in all seasons.

aronia prunifolia

amelanchier canadensis

cotoneasters - various

viburnums - not exactly trees but many are lovely, bird-friendly and have fragrant blossom and good berries - v.lantana or v.nudum

prunus dulcis...or any of the almonds (tenella, mume)

and finally - how about an apple? What's not to love - fruit, blossom, great architecture...or cherries come to that - many great cherries hybridised in Canada...or damsons, bullaces, gages. You can control the size by selecting appropriate rootstock too.

Sargent's crab-and its many offshoots-is a mini crabapple that might work for your purposes. Check it out.

As far as a good bird tree, pagoda dogwood is a great one and I find them really ornamental in the garden. The pollinators love the flowers, watching the berries slowly shade from green through red to deep purple is pretty, and the red pedicels are nice for a while after the berries are gone. For a couple weeks (in late August here) the tree will be hopping with berry-loving birds, and the fall color is peachy in tone. Here they grow to about 15', and the only drawback are a few volunteers each year and the fact that my voles eventually kill them by eating all the roots, an issue for me with any dogwood I plant. It wants to be a multistemmed tree so will want some pruning to make it single trunk.

Check out disease resistance in whatever you choose. Many fruiting small trees here, especially those in the rose family, including hawthorn, apples, crabapples, cherries, plums, and serviceberries all have some potential to have foliage and/or twig defacing disease/insect issues here and so you would want to check both the variety you are looking at as well as the potential pests in your area. I am not saying that you should avoid them, but choose carefully so that you don't have issues. I've driven by some pretty ugly summer trees defoliated by webworms, Japanese beetles or foliar diseases and wouldn't want one of those in my yard. At a previous home we had a small crabapple that was lovely - no issues, pretty spring flowers, and watching the cedar waxwings and grouse gobble the fruit at this time of year was lots of fun in addition to its ornamental value in fall and early winter.

Another option is holly which is a great winter food for birds and some types can be grown as trees, though since I can't grow most of them here I don't know about sizes or types.

Pagoda dogwood is good -- I find the ripe fruits are completely harvested by birds in 2 weeks or so. Red-osier dogwood along my stream -- same thing. Below is a small volunteer pagoda dogwood w/unripe fruit:

And red-osier dogwood fruit:

Both fruit at very early ages and tolerate shade. Click the pics to enlarge.

As noted previously, using native species is going to attract and retain the greatest number of local birds. I'd consider the amelanchier, elderberry, Crataegus douglasii (native hawthorn), Malus fusca (western crabapple), Bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata) or our native dogwood, Cornus nuttallii (however that is difficult to grow in a cultivated setting and has some serious disease issues, so maybe not the best choice).

Gardening for birds in the PNW.

@toronado3800: No brick buildings in sight; the backdrop would be evergreens and lawn.

@edlincoln: I haven't heard/read much about Japanese beetles here, and have never seen one. As far as I know, people's gardens around here get eaten by slugs, squirrels, and raccoons.

Here are a couple flowering trees in the forest near my house. I believe they're in the remnants of a landscaped yard, as the forest contains some old house foundations and driveways.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions everyone! I'm hoping harder than ever that I'll someday own enough property to plant more than one small tree. Looking forward to getting out to the nurseries in the coming weekends to check out my options.

I mentioned because Japanese beetles devour members of the genus Rosacea. Juniper/cedar spread cedar-apple-rust to them. These things would limit your options. Squirrels are pretty equal opportunity destroyers.

gardengal48 seems pretty determined on the native issue. Native trees ARE more Earth friendly. All the trees I suggested except crab apple were native to North America or came in Native varieties. When I said holly I was thinking of the native North American Ilex Opaca that grows on the East coast...but I forgot English Holly is considered an invasive species in the Pacific Northwest. Kind of moot since you don't sound like you are going in a different direction.

The white flowering thicket is cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera). This is frequently planted here as a root-stock for purple-leaved plums and other kinds, tends to spread from plantings on its own. Sweet cherry (P. avium) is another much cultivated stone fruit that is actually a nuisance species in local woods. It has even insinuated itself genetically by crossing with the native P. emarginata to produce P. x pugetensis. Luckily the hybrid does not seem to be able to generate seed crops.

While I'm back I'd like to reiterate that larger-growing cotoneasters in particular can be problem re-seeders here (dozens of species - of all statures - have been seen growing wild in Seattle). Also point out that Prunus mume is an apricot - it even crosses with P. armenica, to produce what are called bungo* apricots in Japan - and not an almond, that there is no 'e' in hawthorn (unless you are talking about Nathaniel and not the tree), and that Rosaceae is a family and not a genus.

I suppose some Eastern North American native tree and shrub species may be as foreign to local native birds as those from overseas.

*Stock that has been offered locally under the silly name P. mume 'Bongo' is presumably an example of this combination

There were/are actually native crabapples too, although few of those seen in landscapes are these.

As for Japanese beetle, has that thing even made it out west yet? I'm not arguing, just wondering out loud.

No Japanese beetles here.........yet :-)) But no doubt they will eventually show up. All the problem species seem to sooner or later.

"I suppose some Eastern North American native tree and shrub species may
be as foreign to local native birds as those from overseas."

This is very true. In order to attract the greatest number of native bird species, you really need to focus on locally native plant material as well. This is not to sat that other, more eastern-oriented US natives couldn't well appeal to local fauna also but likely not as readily as our more regionally based natives might. I guess it all depends on what the OP prefers - a pretty flowering ornamental (and many natives are very attractive plants) or to attract birds and other wildlife.

Many years ago I saw what was surely a gang of Japanese beetles on a tree in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver BC. Since then - thankfully - I haven't seen any of them here or there.

If they weren't Japanese beetles, they were something close.

They also have wild living mynah birds up there, that have never spread out from the Vancouver area after maintaining a viable population for a long time.

The practical question with Native Plants is...how close counts as Native? Same Province? Same coast? Same continent? Technically the OP doesn't live in the same state as any of us.

> wild living mynah birds

haha, I thought "WHAT?!" and had to google that. Sad news: http://birding.bc.ca/regions/vancouver/crested-myna-exterpated.php

Yeah, I wondered if the mynahs were still around. Don't remember hearing they weren't, but maybe I did.

"Native" - as it applies to this matter - is same ecosystem with same birds. So you'd plant something that grows natively on the Pacific Slope from coastal BC to north of where the redwood belt starts.

Emboth, I see Sweet cherry (P. avium) occasionally here -- not common at all, but in a wide variety of areas, even as a canopy tree in the forest (easy to ID, as the trunk bark is very distinct). But not a real invasive concern, and I'd bet birds/mammals enjoy the fruit.