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Want to support the birds that visit your backyard during winter’s freezing temperatures and tough conditions? It’s clear they could really use a helping hand to make it through until spring arrives!
While many migratory birds fly south to escape the winter chill, there’s a group that sticks around—often known as “resident” birds. Surprisingly, these birds spend their days searching for essentials like food, water, and even shelter, just to get by.
Unlike animals that hibernate or stockpile food for the winter, resident birds don’t snooze through the season or save up reserves. Instead, they tirelessly seek enough to stay warm at night and simply survive.
Cardinals, like other resident birds, must venture out daily in search of sufficient food to sustain themselves and survive.
While many birds can lower their metabolism during winter, staying warm demands energy. Throughout the cold nights, birds predominantly burn calories to stave off freezing temperatures. At the break of dawn, they promptly set out to seek food and water, replenishing their bodies after a night of energy expenditure.
It’s A Hard Life After All – How To Help Birds Survive Winter
Life certainly isn’t a breeze for birds in winter. Food becomes scarce, with insects, a major part of their diet, becoming elusive. Fruits, nuts, and berries also become hard to come by. To compound this, freezing temperatures make finding fresh water nearly impossible.
As if that weren’t enough, overwintering birds become more vulnerable to predators. With much of the foliage gone, there’s significantly less shelter or cover available, making them easier targets.
These challenges take a toll on their survival. While exact figures are unavailable, many bird enthusiasts estimate that up to a quarter or more of overwintering birds may not survive the season. Fewer birds mean less protection for plants and flowers when insects return, affecting the ecosystem’s balance.
Encouraging the survival of Chickadees through winter can be incredibly beneficial. They play a vital role in controlling insects that often trouble gardens, flowers, and even humans. Supporting their well-being during this season can help maintain a favorable balance of insects in your yard.
In essence, birds play a crucial role in sustaining nature’s equilibrium throughout the year, not just in warmer seasons. This underscores the significance of aiding our avian companions in surviving winter.
Supporting birds to endure and flourish during the winter fundamentally revolves around three key elements: offering fresh water, ensuring a consistent supply of nutritious food, and providing some shelter to shield them from predators and the cold.
3 Simple Ways To Help Keep Birds Safe & Alive Through Winter
#1) Keep A Water Source Available
During winter, a critical yet frequently disregarded necessity for birds is access to fresh water. It’s not only vital for quenching their thirst but also essential for maintaining warmth.
Adequate hydration significantly contributes to birds maintaining a robust metabolism. A well-functioning metabolism helps them generate the necessary body heat to stay warm. Moreover, birds utilize fresh water to keep their wings clean and free from debris, crucial for maintaining waterproofing and keeping their bodies dry.
Numerous water sources vanish during winter, rendering this snow-covered bird bath useless for birds seeking water in the colder months.
As temperatures drop, it becomes increasingly challenging for birds to find accessible fresh water. Birdbaths, fountains, puddles, backyard ponds, and even smaller water bodies like creeks or streams freeze over in colder conditions. Even mid-sized rivers can succumb to freezing temperatures if it persists.
When in dire need, birds might attempt to find minuscule amounts of water from melting snow or icicles. However, prolonged and severe cold spells pose a significant threat to their survival.
To ensure a constant supply of fresh water in your backyard, employing an inexpensive bird bath heater can be an excellent solution. This device sits within the water and prevents it from freezing over, providing birds with a vital water source during the winter. Affiliate Product link : Birdbath heater
#2) Feed Them Early & Often
Surviving winter for resident birds hinges on maintaining enough energy to fend off freezing temperatures. They essentially eat to generate warmth during the cold season, requiring daily energy replenishment.
While they scavenge for available food, a consistent supply in bird feeders can significantly impact their well-being. Ensuring feeders are well-stocked, especially in the early morning when birds seek to refuel after enduring a chilly night, can make a substantial difference.
In terms of suitable food, a diet rich in fats and calories proves most beneficial. Options like black oil sunflower seeds, millet seeds, peanuts, or wild bird feeds made for high energy are ideal for winter sustenance. Hanging suet cakes from trees provides an additional excellent food source. Ground-feeding birds benefit from scattered feed on the ground.
Consistency matters most. Offering a dependable and regular supply of food helps birds navigate winter with greater ease, knowing where to find sustenance when they need it.
#3) Provide Birds With Shelter Options
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