Bird-friendly Yards and Communities For The Winter Continued….

Bird-friendly Yards and Communities For The Winter Continued….

Winter is a hard time for birds, especially when it comes to food and shelter. Many birds rely on fruits and seeds for survival, especially from feeders when food is scarce.
Providing bird feeders in winter will attract many birds to your yard. Place feeders in locations near, but not directly next to shelters. This allows birds to see any potential predators—but doesn’t allow the predators to catch birds on the feeders. This also prevents bird collisions.
For a list of Audubon’s birdhouses and feeders visit, www.woodlink.com.
Attract different kinds of birds with different kinds of food. In general,
Suet and peanut butter are attractive to woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, and others.
Sunflower seeds appeal especially to finches, but many other small-to-medium sized birds eat sunflower including chickadees and juncos.
Hulled sunflower seeds can be eaten by smaller birds as well—though more pricey, there’s much less waste and less mess under the feeder.
Nyjer or thistle is attractive to smaller finches like goldfinches, siskins, and redpolls.
Mixed seed will attract most species to some extent; doves and pheasants like the millet content.
Cracked corn on the ground will attract ground-feeding species including doves, pheasants, quail, and turkeys.
On the West and Gulf Coasts and in the desert Southwest, nectar feeders for hummingbirds make a nice addition to the yard in winter (and year-round).
Provide Water. A clean source of water, such as a birdbath, will be of great use to birds, and a dripping water source can be a magnet for birds. In areas with winter freeze-up, it’s best to use a heated birdbath.