Winter Backyard Birding Tips

In many parts of the country, birds need help to survive the cold. Snow and ice cover many natural food sources and the birds either can’Äôt find them or can’Äôt get to them. Insects have either died or are hibernating. Many species of trees and shrubs drop their leaves in the fall, leaving the branches bare. This causes a lack of natural roosting and shelter from the harsh winter weather. Here are a few tips to help the birds survive the winter:

• Try to keep your feeders full. Black oil sunflower is readily eaten by many birds and has a high fat content, important to the birds for energy.
• Put up a few more feeders than you normally would during the warmer months. Many species of birds that don’Äôt frequent feeders during the summer will visit feeders in the winter because of the lack of natural food.
• Keep the baths full of water and free of ice. Consider investing in a heated bird bath or a heating element that can be placed in a non-heated bath. Birds need water for preening and cleaning year-round, not just for drinking. Ice-free water can be hard to find on a cold, winter day!
• With reduced natural roosting and shelter, try to create some places where birds can go to rest at night and get out of inclement weather. Put up a roosting box or consider building a brush pile. I place my old Christmas tree in the crook of a few oak trees in my yard after the holiday. In addition to roosting and shelter, the birds use it to hide when the local sharp-shinned hawk makes an appearance.
• Increased numbers of feeders also means an increase in the amount of shells that will accumulate under and around the feeders. It’Äôs important to keep feeder areas clean to mitigate disease and rodents.
• I’Äôve found that the birds in my yard feed heavily early in the morning after expending energy all night to keep warm. They also feed heavily just before sunset in preparation for the long, cold night. Try to keep the feeders full at these important feeding times.

Here’Äôs a great recipe for suet eating birds. I found it in the wonderful book ’ÄúSongbirds In Your Garden" by John K. Terres:

¬ÝMarvel Meal

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup Crisco or other shortening

4 cups cornmeal (white or yellow)

1 cup flour

Mix all the ingredients together until it’Äôs a dough-like consistency. Use plastic containers, such as those used to store leftovers, as a mold to give the mixture a shape that will fit into a suet basket. Pop the mix out of the mold, wrap it in plastic wrap and store in a cool place or the refrigerator. It’Äôs very easy to unwrap and place in the feeder when needed. Most birds, whether they normally eat suet or not, will love it!