Avian Winter Warriors

—Emily Embick, Environmental Educator

Often in winter, when we look out our windows, the day can appear gloomy, cold, and leave us wishing we could hibernate until nature awakes in spring. However, perhaps to your surprise, many animals are still scurrying and fluttering about right outside your door! A great example of this is birds. By creating a backyard habitat and winter feeding stations, you can bring the songs, colors, and endless entertainment of winter bird-watching right to your window!

Birds do not migrate solely because it is cold outside, most of them could adapt to the cold over time. It is the lack of food that triggers migration for most species. Many of the birds that do not migrate are truly remarkable in their fight to survive the cold months and this is where you can help these avian warriors.

Before you can begin to build a habitat or prepare your bird feeder for winter birds, it is helpful to know what birds you are trying to attract and what they eat. The most common backyard birds in our area during the winter are the black-capped chickadee, red cardinal, blue jay, dark-eyed junco, mourning dove, white-breasted nuthatch, house finch, American goldfinch, tufted titmouse, and downy woodpecker. Each of these species has a preferred diet, feeder type and its location, and even habitat elements surrounding the feeder. When you first decide to start feeding winter birds, the task may seem overwhelming, but don't stress, you do not need to buy every type of feeder or every type of food. Just keep in mind that the more variety you supply, the more species you will attract.

Feeders are great for the short-term; they help the birds immediately and do not require as much labor on your end. Eventually you may want to build a backyard habitat that better supports winter birds. Consider planting shrubs and trees that offer fruits or seeds in the winter, provide a small bird bath, or a spot for nesting and shelter. Evergreens are great for birds as they provide shelter all year round!

Feeding winter birds will help the birds, but it will help you get through those long winter months, too! Over time, you will recognize your daily visitors and may even have the delight of attracting some rare migratory birds.

Common Feeder Types:

1. Tube
   

Photo Credit: Wild Birds Unlimited

2. Tray

Photo credit: birdsforever.com

3. Suet

Photo credit: Lowes

Quick Feed Guide:

• Black-oil sunflower: Attracts the most variety of species-half of our common birds will feed on sunflower seeds.

• White proso millet and safflower: Inexpensive options that will attract many different species.

• Suet: Downy woodpecker, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.

• Niger or thistle: more expensive, but a favorite to finches.

• Peanuts: Bigger winter birds like blue jays and cardinals, but also attracts woodpeckers, chickadees, and titmice.