Winter Bird Feeding

Lorraine Julien | Dec 16, 2015

As winter approaches, many birds change some of their eating habits. Birds that usually eat insects may start to eat berries and fruit to supplement their diets. I’ve noticed that worm-loving robins will quickly switch over to berries and fruit to survive. At this time of the year there are still lots of apples, crab apples, mountain ash, and various wild berries, either on the ground or still clinging to fruit trees. I’ve noticed finches gobbling up the seeds from my coneflowers and there are many other grass and weed seeds that the birds love. There is a good supply of this natural food except when we get deep snow and sub-freezing conditions that make finding the food difficult or impossible. This is when the birds can use some help from us in providing food in feeders or even handfuls of seed thrown on the ground.

It’s okay to feed the birds – don’t worry about them becoming dependent on your handouts – they’ll soon revert back to foraging for natural food. It’s just easier for them to congregate at your feeders when there is a ready supply of food. If you usually put out bird seed but can’t do it for the entire winter, the birds will survive. They’ll just be happy to see you when you’re back.

The birds you attract will depend mostly on the type of seeds you offer them.

Black oil sunflower seeds attract cardinals, chickadees, mourning doves, juncos, song sparrows and common grackles. Most of the birds are regular visitors and visit the feeders daily except for birds like the grackles, which tend to congregate in huge flocks of seemingly hundreds of birds. When these guys arrive at the feeders, I know that they’ll probably clean out all the seeds. I’m sure that the grackles do some good – eating insects, etc. – so I don’t mind these invasions from time to time.

Suet and bird peanuts attract blue jays, nuthatches, downy and hairy woodpeckers – even the chickadees seem to like a bit of suet now and then. Be sure, though, to feed only peanuts that are not salted, as salt is apparently a no-no for birds.

Nyjer and black oil sunflower seed attracts various types of finches, common redpoll and pine siskin. A nyjer feeder works great for nyjer seed – it seems expensive but a little goes a long way in a special feeder, which helps to stop these little seeds from going all over the ground.

Fruit attracts robins and cedar waxwings. A flock of cedar waxwings can almost strip the berries off a mountain ash in a single day, especially if the weather turns nasty. Our mulberry tree had a bumper crop of berries this year, which attracted lots of robins and chickadees.

Seeds that do happen to drop on the ground are usually gobbled up by mourning doves and other birds, as well as squirrels, rabbits and even raccoons. I don’t mind letting these fellows clean up some of the ground food but I do not allow them to climb into the actual feeders as they can make a real mess and waste a lot of food for the birds.

We have a great feeder pole that has a large spring-loaded baffle. When an animal tries to climb the pole, they cannot get past the baffle. It works great – even for the wily raccoons! You need to make sure the feeder pole is a good distance from any trees, shrubs, fences or poles, as squirrels can jump a long way. A distance of 10 or 12 feet of clearance works well for our feeders. We did have one determined squirrel that managed to make the leap to the feeders but we simply moved the pole several feet away from any launch pads. The feeder pole has a large screw-type base so it was easy to move. It was fun to foil the furry bandit – he did not need to get into our feeders as there is always lots of food on the ground.

Water is another essential for birds in winter. Unfortunately it is difficult to provide water unless you have a bird bath with a heater, which most of us do not. We used to live near a spring, which provided a natural source of water for all types of wildlife no matter how cold the weather.

Birds also need protection from the weather and from predators. Evergreens provide the best natural protection. We are lucky to have several large spruce and cedar trees only a few yards from our feeders so the birds can huddle with some protection from harsh winds and hide from hawks flying overhead.

There are many ways that birds manage to survive sub-zero temperatures: most birds fluff up their feathers, creating little air pockets which help keep the bird warm. The more air spaces, the better the insulation. Some birds perch on one leg drawing, the other leg to the breast for warmth. The chickadee goes into a type of torpor where the heart slows dramatically in order to conserve energy. The common redpoll can survive temperatures in the minus 50s C. – one of the ways they do this is by tunneling into deep snow. The tunnels may be as deep as 10 cm. and as long as 30 cm.

If you’d like to do more to help wild birds, you should check out the Bird Studies Canada website which gives information on how you can participate in the Christmas Bird Count. You keep track of the birds you see on any day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5 and report the information to the nearest Bird Studies volunteer in your area. I notice there are a number of these contact people in eastern Ontario.

Good luck and have a Merry Christmas!

Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.