My Backyard: Feeding Tips for your Birds this Winter Season

Winter is a crucial time for the birds that remain in our area. They spend their time facing the elements of bitter cold and snowstorms. There are no insects to eat and the natural seeds are covered with snow; the berries and crab apples are gone.

Many species of birds will double their amount of feathers during the winter as a ways to reduce their body heat loss. Birds can regulate body temperature allowing them to survive in a remarkable range of habitats. Also unique circulatory system of arteries and veins reduce the heat loss. In many birds, arteries and veins in their legs lie in contact with each other in order to exchange heat and maintain temperature

Birds produce heat during the winter nights and cold storms by shivering (thermo genesis). During this process all winter birds will produce heat by consuming their fat reserves. Shivering allows birds to maintain their body temperature for up to 8- 10 hours depending on the species and their intake of energy from food during the day.

That’s why it is necessary for winter songbirds to find food early in the morning regardless of weather conditions. If the bird doest not find enough food to produce the necessary energy to maintain their body temperatures and make it through the night or a severe storm, the bird will die

Birds must search for food from sun up to dusk. Fortunately, for the birds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 41 million Americans spend $2 billion annually filling their wild bird feeders with bird feed and the numbers are increasing yearly.

Bird Food tips

FATTY FOODS are important for our winter birds. Fat is metabolized into energy much quicker and more efficiently than seeds to help them maintain their 108° body temperature necessary for survival. Suet, Peanut butter, & kitchen fat

SEEDS are very important. Seeds contain high levels of carbohydrates that are turned into glucose to help with the bird's high energy demands. They also are a good source for vitamins and some protein. Sunflower Seeds, Millet, Cracked Corn, & Niger Thistle offer the most for your birds.

NUT MEATS are highly nutritious and provide necessary amino acids and protein the bird's body cannot produce. They also have oil and is energy producing.
Offer a variety of seeds and food in a variety of appropriate feeders
Save some money and create your own mix: 50% oil sunflower seeds (unhulled); 35% white proso millet; and 15% finely cracked corn.
More info on bird seed preferences
Preferred Bird food by bird

If you do not want to create your own, consider the following when shopping: Quality mixes will consist primarily of sunflower seeds or hearts, peanut bits, safflower, and millet. Lesser quality seed mixes contain “filler seed” (milo, wheat, barley, cracked corn) and often inedible items such as empty hulls and sticks. Many birds won’t eat filler seed and they’ll flick it onto the ground. Premium seed may cost a little more, but quality seed actually has more edible seed per pound than other inexpensive seed mixes and in the long run you will save money on all that wasted “filler’ seed
Fill your feeders every day but put out only the necessary quantity that birds will eat before sundown.
When wet. Limit the amount seed on platform feeders to just a handful to avoid soggy clumps
It is important to remember that all birdseed is perishable. Properly store seed, it should be kept in a cool, dry place that is protected from bugs and rodents. Choose a storage bin that will be easy to access all winter, and one that can be easily manipulated while wearing gloves and bulky coats.

It is best to stock up on birdseed in the fall when many lawn and garden centers are discounting seed to make way for winter merchandise. Stored properly, seed can easily last for months, particularly seed mixes and sunflower seeds.
Be consistent. Do not stop feeding in the middle of winter because birds become accustomed to using your feeders as a food source, especially in very severe weather when your feeders may aid their survival.
Birds especially need to chow down at the end of the day to stock up on calories for the night, and in the early morning to refuel after a cold night.
The birds visiting your feeders in summer may be very different than those in winter. Provide the feeders and food best suited to your seasonal suite of birds.

Alternatives to Seed:

There are many recipes for making suet much cheaper than the blocks bought in stores. You can also save bacon drippings into a small container such as a yogurt cup and place in a closed bottom tray feeder. Often, butchers will sell you their pieces of fat trimmings for just pennies - or perhaps give them to you
Half eaten fruit that we normally throw away can be given to the birds. Apple cores are a favorite.
Left overs such as muffins, cake, donuts, pizza crust, potato skins,scraps of pastry, grated cheese, & rice can be placed in a tray feeder. Avoid white bread because they are empty calories. However peanut butter covered bread is great. Use the cheapest peanut butter you can find because the birds don't care. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, cornmeal or plain oatmeal.

It's surprising how many birds enjoy cooked pasta. If you have left over pasta (without seasoning of course) place some in an open tray feeder and watch the birds devour it.

Important to clean up these foods regularly.
Your feathered friends digest their food with a special organ called a gizzard. Birds tend to look for pebbles or other types of grit to help their digestion work properly. The stones remain in the gizzard and help grind the food. During prolonged periods of ice or snow cover, provide grit (coarse sand or ground shells) along with the seed. Do not mix the grit into the feed itself. Try placing it in a small dish near the feeding station
If possible, consider leaving leaves on the ground. Instead of raking them up, leave them or pile them up in an area. Many insect foraging birds will find tasty morsels hidden underneath this shelter from the cold and snow.
Birds may be wary of new foods. If you add something new to your bird-feeding station, offer it in a familiar place.

Feeder Tips

Winter wild bird feeders should be placed in sheltered locations out of the most severe winds. Strong winds are uncomfortable for birds and may scatter your bird seed . The east or south side of your house will probably offer the most protection from cold, northerly winds.

If you have no sheltered areas, consider putting up a fence or hedgerow. Surrounding your feeders with trees and shrubs can help buffer your birds and offer a milder micro climate.
Add natural features to your feeding station, such as branches to perch on, to make birds feel more at ease.
Most successful feeding stations have different styles of feeders placed at varying heights
Place your bird feeders in places where you can readily and frequently see the birds you are feeding.

Make sure you put up your feeders in a location that's convenient for you to attend to.
Put your feeder a few feet away from protective cover-Birds use dense tangles of shrubbery or trees as places to hide from predators. If your yard has no cover, create some by planting shrubs or small trees. If you live where the ground is already frozen, make a brush pile of old tree limbs.
If cats roam in or near your yard, be sure your feeders are several feet away from any potential cat hiding places.
Feeders will be most useful in the winter if they have a wide cover over feeding ports, perches and dispensing trays so seed is not buried during snowfalls or storms.
Clean off feeders, platforms and perches after each storm so seed is easily accessible.

Stamp or shovel snow around feeders to provide easier access to spilled seed for ground feeding birds.
Do not fill the bird feeders every day. Less seed in the feeder will make the birds find the seed that they spilled on the ground. They do not go hungry, and you do not waste seed.
Platform feeders should be emptied and refilled daily to prevent mildew and spoilage
Clean your feeders regularly with hot water, and let them air dry completely. Also keep areas under and around the feeders clean. Always keep the bird feeders clean and free of bacteria