Brighten Your Winter Scene With Wild Birds

When the ground freezes, Nature no longer supplies the food she has been providing for birds.

With snow on the ground, it is more difficult for them to find sufficient food. At such times they rely on us for help.

January is the severest month and they will appreciate suet, peanut butter, seeds, and other substitutes for their natural food.

Suet gives birds the extra nourishment needed to withstand the cold. It may be placed in any mesh-type bag such as grapefruit, onion, crocheted bags, or ones made from large meshed dishcloths.

Holding Suet With a Cord

It is also possible to hold suet by winding a strong cord firmly around it; then, it may be fastened to a tree, wire, or post.

I have seen a downy woodpecker cling upside down to a piece of fat like this and pick at it for a surprisingly long time. While he ate his meal, I enjoyed his colorful antics. 

Enameled wire suet holders may be suspended or fastened to a tree limb where birds can pick at it.

A good method for serving grease from a frying pan or broiler is to put it in an empty grapefruit half. This should be fastened to a tree or some object so it swings.

Feeding Birds With Fats

Peanut butter is highly relished. This, and other fats, may be pressed into the rough hark crevices or holes made in wood for birds to pick at.

Any of these high-fat-containing foods appeal to chickadees, nuthatches, tufted titmice, juncos, and downy and hairy woodpeckers. 

They soon learn to come directly to the place where it is set out. Several feeders supplying fat, or fat and seed mixtures, are on the market, and many supplies refill.

When leftover grains, berries, weeds, and grass seeds are scarce, birds will be grateful for the wild bird seed you put out. This is generally a mixture of millet, sunflower, hemp, and other seeds.

Packages are sold in many garden marts, and supermarkets, as well as pet shops, seed stores, nurseries, and mail-order firms.

Type of Feeders For Wild Birds

You can buy almost any type of feeder for wild bird seed. Some are enclosed on three sides and open on one to allow birds to enter and eat.

Some consist mainly of a shelf and a roof, while others have roofed hoppers with perching space. 

Window sill feeders with protective covers permit a ready supply source at all times. Plastic and aluminum fenders that hang or sit on a metal post have slanting roofs or wide overhangs to keep seed dry. 

Tips For Homemade Feeders

Homemade feeders answer the same purpose and are frequently less expensive. All feeding stations and shelves should have a roof of some kind to protect the seed from rain and snow. A piece of molding around the shelf edge keeps the seed from scattering.

When feeders are on wires or metal or wooden posts, birds are usually safe from prowling cats. If you do not wish to feed the squirrels, suspend the feeder on a wire between two trees or posts.

Keep it far enough away from posts or branches so it will be difficult for a squirrel to leap from there to the feeder. If this is impossible, a feeder with a sloping hood that tilts is effective.

We have found that a curved or cone-shaped piece of aluminum placed directly beneath feeders discourages raiding squirrels.

A feeder made of one wooden bowl inverted over a smaller one allows only clinging birds to reach the seed and precludes raiding bluejays or squirrels.

Bird Variety at Feeding Stations

Feeders that hold wild bird seed attract several varieties of birds, including chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, juncos, cardinals, purple finches, goldfinches, and others, including the spritely song sparrows. 

Evening grosbeaks and other birds will come to be fed, depending on the area in which you live.

Here in Rockland County, mourning doves also come around for seed in the winter and, once in a while, a chewink (towhee). 

Other Foods For Wild Birds

Bread, crackers, and cake crumbs are welcome, and many birds enjoy breakfast foods and table leftovers like raisins and fruit.

Bread attracts blue jays and starlings, so I do not put it out when they are around. The birds that come to the feeders, though, enjoy pieces of bread as a change in diet. 

The winter scene is brightened with flashes of red as cardinals or redbirds make frequent visits to the spot, having a constant supply of their favorite sunflower seeds.

They will remain year-round and bring their young to be fed and taught how to crack seeds for themselves. 

Chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, finches, grosbeaks, and the little downy woodpecker prefer the sunflower seeds, too.

They will pick these out of the mixed seed, and the white-breasted nuthatch scatters seed in all directions to find the sunflower seeds he seeks.

Regular winter birds become accustomed to eating at a feeder, and less common visitors often lose their fear and follow suit.

The amount of food consumed varies with the weather and the number of birds. Rather than throw food out on the snow, place it on a board or where the snow is trampled down.

Importance of Water For Birds

Birds need water. If you set a dish of water where it can be easily replenished, you will be doing the birds an immense kindness.

Plastic dishes are good to use. Birds will tolerate a drop or two of glycerin in the water, preventing it from freezing too quickly. Electrically controlled bird baths also prevent water from freezing.

Shrubs For Bird Sheltering

Shrubs which supply food, cover, or roosting places are necessary for birds. Fruiting trees, shrubs, and vines are usually picked clean by the end of fall, but they still prove useful as places for birds to roost. Rhododendrons, laurels, firs, spruces, yews, and pines provide excellent shelter.

Enjoyment of Watching Birds

Watching the various antics of the birds at a feeding station in winter can be an absorbing pastime.

Later, they will repay you with their delightful spring calls and songs. Their varied colors, graceful habits, joyful songs, and often comical ways will provide you with a great deal of pleasure. 

44659 by Veronica M. Quist