How to Help Backyard Birds During The Fall

Offering supplemental food to our backyard birds is a win-win situation: the birds benefit from having a stable and steady supply of food while their human admirers get to enjoy their presence.

Birds, like all wildlife, require four habitat components to survive: space within which they can find food, water and shelter.

SPACE: The spatial and territorial requirements of summer shift in the fall when breeding pairs break up and winter flocks and territories are established. Winter bird territory sizes vary depending on the species, but boundaries blur near feeding stations when all birds seek out a food source. Many birds will adjust their winter territories to include well-stocked feeding stations.

FOOD: Birds are adept at finding their own winter food, but supplemental food makes life easier for them and will even increase survival rates. Avoid cheap hardware-store brand birdseed because it contains filler items that the birds ignore and even throw onto the ground. Instead, choose Mother Nature’s brands which contain high-quality seeds and seed blends. Sunflower seeds are the main staple, with fine- or medium-sized sunflower chips being popular with all winter birds. Seed blends are also excellent (e.g., Finch Blend for finches). Nuts, especially shelled or unshelled peanuts, will also be dined on by a variety of overwintering prairie species. Seeds and nuts can be dispensed in a variety of ways, from simply scattering on the ground to being served from tray, hopper or tube feeders. Feeder designs continue to improve, and a wide variety of styles are available at Early’s. Suet (the fat found around the hearts of cattle and sheep) can be served raw or rendered and mixed with seeds, cornmeal and other ingredients, and is relished by most insect-eating birds (e.g., woodpeckers, kinglets, chickadees, and nuthatches). Lard (pig fat) can also be used instead of pure suet. Early’s carry pre-packaged suet cakes that can be dispensed from special plastic-coated cages, a combination that minimizes fuss and mess.

WATER: Overwintering birds are adept at eating snow, but they will come to heated bird baths to drink and (when the weather is agreeable) bathe. A heated bird bath is an easy way to provide water for the birds all winter long. There are many styles of heated bird baths on the market.

SHELTER: Birds, especially the species that remain year-round, are adept at finding their own shelter. During inclement weather and through the long winter nights, they will seek protected locations to get out of the wind and the cold. Spruce or other coniferous trees offer excellent protection, as does dense shrubbery. On extreme cold winter nights, some birds hunker down inside old tree cavities or even under the snowpack. Place your feeders close to dense shrubs or coniferous trees so the birds, especially the smallest ones, can seek shelter from predators while they dine.