When you’re all snuggled up inside your home and keeping warm and cosy, spare a thought for your garden birds in Winter. Imagine being outside in the harshest of weathers, having to search for food, shelter, oh yes, and still having to be on the lookout for predators. As regular readers of my garden blogs will know, we try and look after our feathered friends all year round so, with the cold weather fast approaching, here are a few easy tips on caring for backyard birds this Winter.
Caring for Garden Birds in Winter
While some birds migrate to warmer regions during the colder months, many native species remain behind. And their food sources become ever scarcer as the temperatures drop. So, what you put out for them could mean the difference between survival and starvation.
For example, Winter can be fatal for robins. On cold nights they can lose as much as 10% of their body weight, and they need to feed well every day to survive. If you can provide a constant source of easily accessible food, they don’t have to waste energy looking for meals instead of saving energy and staying warm.
Supply Food
When the ground freezes, there aren’t any pests, insects, or worms to eat so, if you want to welcome Winter birds to your yard or garden, the easiest way to do it is to feed them. Tip: don’t feed them chocolate (it’s toxic) or bread (filling but very little nutrition).
What should you feed garden birds in Winter? Birds need plenty of protein, so keep a well-stocked bird feeder* (ideally more than one) in your outside space and make sure it’s positioned well away from predators. You can buy feeders that hang on poles or trees or even ones with suckers to attach to your window* panes (ideal for flat or apartment dwellers).
Fill your feeders with quality wild bird food* and high energy fat balls* to help your birds cope with the cold. Sunflower seeds and peanuts are excellent protein sources and they also attract many different bird species. Tip: you can make your own fat balls for birds, or make your own pine cone bird feeders with some peanut butter – also a fun gardening activity for children.
Tip: ensure your feeders have holes in the bottom, to allow any rain or water to drain away, otherwise you’ll end up with mould. Even so, you’ll need to clean your feeding stations from time to time, to prevent any build up of bacteria from leftover feed. The potential for disease to spread is high at feeding stations and you want to ensure your garden birds are as healthy as possible during Winter.
Tip: your garden birds will come to rely on you feeding them so, if you know you’re going to be away for any length of time, arrange for a neighbour to come over and restock the bird feeders.
What else do birds like to eat in winter? Why not plan a Winter garden to include plants that produce seeds and berries when it’s cold? Think Holly, Yew, Hawthorn, Rowan, Cotoneaster, Pyracantha, Roses (for the hips), and Ivy. Ideally you should choose plants that are native to your region and which birds will recognise as safe to eat. Although that said, Ivy seems to grow anywhere – on fences, walls, posts, trees, and the ground.
Provide Water
Just like us, water is essential for wild birds’ survival and they’ll have a hard time finding drinkable water when the ground is frozen. We have 4 ponds in our garden for our garden birds in Winter to choose from, but you can place water in containers for them too. That way, they can drink or take a bird bath to clean their feathers and maintain their insulating and waterproofing properties.
Tip: you’ll probably need to change the water every day though, particularly when it becomes dirty or freezes. Alternatively, if you’re feeling very generous, you could treat your garden birds to a heated birdbath*. 🙂
Offer Shelter
How do birds keep warm in Winter? They need a place to shelter, particularly as their nests may be showing signs of wear and tear. Consider buying (or building if you’re a DIY hero) some cosy birdhouses and installing them where they’ll be out of the wind and away from predators.
Tip: do some research on the birds in your area so you know what kind of nesting box* to buy. Birds such as house sparrows and blue tits love nesting boxes with small holes. Larger birds such as robins do well in nesting boxes with large openings – or even an old teapot.
Consider Habitat
Native plants attract local bird species, and not just as a source of food such as berries, nuts, and wild fruit. Insects and caterpillars will also thrive here and they too provide excellent protein sources for garden birds in Winter.
Depending on what plants you choose, their foliage can provide excellent cover and shelter from not only the Winter weather but also any predators. Such as birds of prey, who will also be hunting for food at this time of year. Bird feeders attract groups of birds, which in turn attracts attention from these predators. Tip: keep the feeders where the birds have a clear view of the surroundings and with plenty of foliage nearby to provide escape avenues.
Unfortunately, cats are also a major threat to birds, as we learned to our cost last year. Now we keep all our feeders at least five feet above the ground and at the ends of branches that won’t take our well-fed felines’ weights. Tip: clear away any cover below where cats can hide and spring surprise attacks on your garden birds.
Other Benefits of Helping Garden Birds in Winter
Giving your garden birds food, water, and shelter doesn’t only help them survive the Winter, it’s also a great way to encourage more wildlife into your garden. Birds will happily feast on slugs, snails and other garden pests when the weather warms up, reducing the need for pesticides and helping you keep your garden healthier. And of course, the sound of happy, melodious birdsong is the perfect accompaniment for any gardener!
“Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the liquid song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more.” Tasha Tudor
What do you think of these suggestions? Do you help your garden birds in Winter? If so, do you have any other tips and tricks I could add to my list?
* This post contains affiliate links, please see my Disclaimer.
Great suggestions & we already do a couple of these. The only thing I’m wary of is bird feeders, but that’s only because when we first moved into the house there was a rat problem and I’m nervous of them returning. I could always pop some up in our local park perhaps. I think the girls would enjoy that too. Lovely insightful post.
Claire.X
http://www.clairemac.co.uk
Thank you, Claire! I understand about rats but if you had hanging bird feeders that shouldn’t be a problem – that said, your local park is a fab idea 🙂 x
This is brilliant advice! Thank you. I don’t have a garden but do my best with my balcony rail e.g. planters and bird feeders.
Planters and bird feeders are perfect, that’s what we used to do when we lived in a flat too 🙂
This is excellent information and things to do that I never even fully thought of.
Thank you, glad it was helpful.
These are such effective ways to help birds in the garden in the Winter. My Nan has a bird feeder in her garden which we fill up for her as her mobility is bad. I wish I could have a bird feeder in my garden but I have a cat who is very territorial when it comes to birds! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Ah, that’s great you do it for your Nan, but I do understand about your cat, we have a similar problem but we’ve managed to rig things up so our cats can’t reach! x
Lovely post Lisa! I’d definitely like to get a couple of bird feeders for my garden now that I’ve moved, I’d like to think, living in the country now, we might get a few different types of birds!
Thank you, Jenny – and yes, I’m sure you would, you’ve moved to a lovely part of the UK!
Great blog!!! Love all the considerations you include for helping the birds stay healthy and protected!!!
Thank you so much, I’m pleased you found it helpful.
One of the most beautiful things to have birds in the garden and feed them. You shared some great ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, and yes, I agree completely, a garden is only complete with birds 🙂
My favorite part of this post were all of the fabulous photos you shared of the birds in your yard. Birding is always fun, but to have so many in your own yard is a real treat! Thanks for the helpful tips for helping birds flourish in the winter. We get a lot of migrating birds coming through our neighborhood in the winter here in Phoenix.
Thank you, Heidi, although I only wish all these were my photos – they’re library photos (except for the peanut butter pine cones) as I don’t have a long range lens or camera other than my iPhone! But lucky you to see so many migrating birds 🙂
These are helpful suggestions! We don’t have a garden, but my partner’s mother has a garden home, and we should definitely do some of these. I like the idea of making pine cone bird feeders with my daughter!
Thank you, Karalee, that sounds like a great idea – good luck with the pine cones, we had a lot of fun with ours!
This is a very good way to practice kindness. Be kind to all living creature is a must. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Fadima, I agree with you.
I love that there are a number of helpful things to do for birds during the winter. I live in a 3rd floor apartment but there is a tree right outside my bedroom window; it would be great to have a feeder on it!
Oh that sounds perfect, Molly, high up and out of predator range, what a great idea!
I would have given them food, but now I moved, so there is no way to restock the feeder. I do it again once I’m back home.
Your post is really great and it highlights an issue for birds, hopefully it will inspire others to help the birds.
Thank you, Anca, that’s very kind – as you say, hopefully it will encourage others to help too.
The birds still left by me are little fluffed up balls of feathers–they look so cute but so cold! I always feel bad for them, so this is a great guide. I want to help out my local wildlife to keep them around, you know?
That’s lovely to hear, I’m so pleased this was helpful and you want to help your local birds. 🙂
Thanks for sharing, great tips on looking after Birds this winter, I do hope to put a bird feeder or even a nesting box up, been a ground floor flat that might be a bit of a challenge as we get cats coming in from other peoples gardens to visit, so I will have to look at other ideas, my parents do get some birds visiting like Woodpeckers which like ants, so hopefully they will have enough food over the winter 🙂
Thank you, Nic, glad it was helpful – you can get feeders that attach to window panes, which might work for you? How lovely your parents have woodpeckers visiting, what a treat!
Well Lisa you know what I’m like when it comes to this sort of thing 😅. My neighbour however is a prolific gardener and so I’ve been enjoying the fruits of her labour by bird watching. I’m wondering if she reads your blog as she’s done everything here. Though I can’t attest to warm bird baths 😂
Ha, I do think warm bird baths would be the ultimate luxury though!