Backyard Bird Feeding

Even in winter when your perennials are “sleeping”, you can still enjoy your garden!

Our wild bird friends can be very colorful and are fun to watch from the comfort and warmth of your home. At our house, we have strategically placed several different feeders off our deck so we can watch them from the den while we are sipping coffee by the fire in the morning, from our breakfast room while we are eating, and even from the kitchen. One of the tricks to attracting a variety of birds to your home is to provide a variety of feeders and food choices (great gift ideas!!).

We have several platform feeders for the ground feeding birds such as juncos, mourning doves, and sparrows. Tube feeders filled with black-oil sunflower seeds bring in the titmice, chickadees, cardinals, and both white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. The finches love the thistle seed feeders and our suet feeders attract 4 different species of woodpeckers as well as nuthatches, chickadees, and wrens.

In addition to a variety of feeders, it is very important to provide a source of clean fresh water for the birds throughout the winter. We use a simple birdbath heater to keep our big water trough from freezing. The bluebirds flock to this open water source all winter long!

Once you begin feeding the birds, be sure to keep your feeders full throughout the winter as the birds will come to depend on this source of food.

Plant seed, fruit, and berry producing trees, shrubs, and perennials throughout your home and gardens. These will not only provide a natural source of food for the birds, but will also give them some great “hiding places”.