Helping Birds Survive Winter

• Provide a consistent supply of clean, healthy food-especially suet for the birds to have the energy to combat winter temperatures.

• Use different types of bird food and bird feeders. The more variety of food choices and holders, the more variety of dinner guests.

• Plant berry bushes that ripen at different times of the year.  The regulars and some new, non-feeder birds will love the additional choices.

• Clean those feeders about once a month, whenever seeds clump from damp and mold, and any indication of sick or dying birds.  Non-wooden feeders can be placed in hot soapy water with a capful of chlorine bleach.  Wooden feeders need vinegar and water to prevent fading.  All feeders need to be rinsed thoroughly and completely dried before refilling with birdseed.

• Place mulch (3 inch layer) under bird feeders. Excess seed hulls and bird droppings will sift down, but allow ground feeding birds to scratch for food.  Rake once a month to freshen the area and rake up and re-mulch when necessary.

• Provide covers for over feeders and drainage holes under the food. This offers some protection from snow and ice and from the melting snow and ice. Don't forget to shelter ground feeder trays from snow with an evergreen bush or lean-to.

• Don't stock bird food too far ahead and provide tight covers for the storage containers. Small garbage cans stored in a dry area, such as a garden shed or garage are ideal.

• Clean out birdhouses of their family life debris- some birds seek shelter here from the elements.  Clean sawdust on the bottoms adds some insulation. Huddling in smaller spaces helps conserve body heat.

• Don't remove dead trees and fallen branches, as they may offer some protection from the snow and wind  and provide perches.

• Plant evergreen bushes and trees. The needles can be used to shelter the bird directly from the weather and predators; or shelter some feeders (tray feeders underneath; strings of cranberries or peanuts around the outside; and suet or seed balls and bells or pine cones covered with peanut butter hanging from the branches).

• Regular water sources  may be frozen in cold weather and snow is also not a long term option for hydrating the birds. We can furnish birdbaths with built-in deicers or add a deicer to any water structure  already in the yard.  Bubblers and wigglers keep water moving and may prolong the need for a heat source (They have the added benefit of actually attracting birds who are migrating or who don't visit our backyards for the feeders.)

• Most birds don't bathe on the coldest days of winter. However, clean feathers not only make flight easier, and promote good health by removing mites and other insects, but feathers can be puffed up more easily to insulate body heat, when they are clean and free of stickiness and dirt.