I Thought My Bird Feeder Was Enough – But These 3 Winter Game-Changers are Bringing More Birds to My Backyard

My friend group in San Francisco has wildly varying opinions on almost every topic. I’m a vegetarian with the world’s greatest shelter dog, while my best friend eats meat at every meal and keeps cats, and other friends are all over the spectrum on these issues (as well as politics, religion, and tattoos). But one thing we all agree on is that we love feeding birds in winter. Who doesn’t love those flashes of color and morning chirpings as wild birds visit the feeder?

Yet winter can be the toughest season for our feathered friends, so it’s important not to get complacent and hope for the best. A few bird feeding essentials can radically ramp up your service and encourage more productive interactions with visiting birds. Here are 3 insider secrets for winter bird feeding that are guaranteed to bring more birds to your backyard during winter, and beyond.

Game-Changers for Bird Feeding in Winter

Feeding birds is not rocket science. Almost every grocery store offers sacks of birdseed you can pour into a tube feeder. Cheap birdseed often has a high percentage of filler seeds like red milo, oats, and wheat, sometimes with a few sunflower seeds tossed in. These may keep common songbirds alive for a bit, but they are not likely to get birds flocking your way over winter.

If you are feeding the birds in winter, you are taking on a serious responsibility. While birds have a wide range of possible meals at other times of year, winter provisions are sparse, and the weather makes life challenging. So nutritious birdfood that appeals to non-migrating species is a must. However, you can’t just grab a bag of pre-prepared bird feed, leave it out, and hope for the best. Birds can be timid and skittish at the best of times, and in order to create a sense of safety and comfort for your winter bird watching, a little bird-friendly thinking goes a long way.

To transform your garden from a quick stop-off into a reliable winter refuge, these 3 game-changers are a must for your local backyard wildlife. These simple winter shifts will help guarantee that you bring more feathered visitors back to your yard – and ensure they are kept happy and well fed through the chilly months.

1. Mix Up Your Bird Food

Yes, birds like birdseed, and sunflower seeds are the gold standard for energy, but not just all sunflower seeds are created equal. While striped sunflower seed is acceptable, black oil sunflower seeds have thinner shells and higher oil content than striped counterparts. When feeding birds in the winter, it’s more important than ever to serve up highly nutritious seeds, as well as other foods that are bird favorites. It’s also crucial to present a range of foods to satisfy a balanced birdie diet.

Winter presents unique challenges for birds, and several species will change their feeding habits. The shortage of certain bugs and worms makes your winter picks even more critical. It’s true that you can keep it simple, but present some variety to attract the broadest range of birds. Remember, not every bird likes every type of food, so knowing your bird species and their preferred meals can transform bird activity at your feeders. It’s important not to randomly leave out leftover scraps, though. Many of our foods contain salt which birds can’t process.

Generally, you’ll want to provide four types of bird food. Give a mix of these options and you’ll provide something for every species out there.

• Small seeds (like canary seed, millet, and nyjer) for wild bird species like buntings, cardinals, doves, finches, juncos quail, sparrows, and titmice.
• Large seeds (like black oil sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, peanuts, and shelled corn) for wild birds including cardinals, chickadees, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. You can buy Desert Valley Shelled Peanuts from Amazon, combined with a quality seed mix for a balanced diet.
• Fats (like suet and peanut butter) for bluebirds, chickadees, goldfinches, jays, mockingbirds, nuthatches, titmice, and woodpeckers. You can buy cakes like Wildlife Sciences Suet Cakes from Amazon, with a range of extra goodies.
• Fruits like cut-up apples and pears. You can even add a few raisins to your winter feeders. Use plain, unsweetened raisins, like Sun Maid California Sun Dried Organic Raisins from Amazon. You can also buy fruit and nut mixes like Kaytee Nut and Fruit Wild Bird Mixes from Amazon, with raisins, cherries, and all kinds of good things.

Look for quality mixes that cover off a range of these essential food groups. You can buy premium blends of seeds and nuts, such as Armstrong’s Bird Food from Amazon, for a full complement of black oil sunflower seed, peanuts, and other core seeds. Just bear in mind that birds also need high-fat foods in winter, not just for hunger, but to maintain their body temperature overnight. A tiny goldcrest or chickadee can lose up to 10% of its body weight in a single freezing night.

2. Use Multiple Feeders

For years, I made the classic mistake of thinking I was doing my part for the birds by putting out my one feeder. But here’s the secret: the more feeders you set out, the more wild birds will come to your garden. Multiple feeders make it easier to offer the birds different types of food, with feeders catering specifically to smaller seeds, nuts, suet, and so on.

Having multiple feeders is a game-changer if your backyard has territorial birds that are prone to ‘bullying’ behavior. If you only have one feeder, a bluejay or starling can guard it and keep smaller birds (like titmice) away. Multiple feeders break up the territory, so the entire bird community gets a chance to feast on the winter bounty.

If you’re just used to the typical tube seed feeder, you’ll hopefully be excited to see how many different types of feeders there are available now. Yes, there are tubular models, but there is a host of variety depending on the foods you are dishing up. Even standard models like Feed Birds Tube Feeders from Amazon provide 6 perches and food ports for multiple birds feasting on mixed seed-based food. If you hope to attract small finches, use a feeder with small holes for nyjer/thistle seed, such as Kingsyard’s Antique Copper Finch Feeder from Amazon.

Alongside these feeders, there are also tray feeders, platform feeders, and window units that attach to glass with suckers. Choose a sturdy, open platform designed to support groups of smaller bird species, like the Kingsyard Platform from Amazon, which can house a healthy bird feast in comfort and safety.

You can also get a range of hanging suet feeders, often in cages, such as the More Birds Double Suet Feeder with Weather Guard from Amazon, plus seed ball feeders and hoppers, and wooden frames with two plexiglass sides that form a reservoir space with a 5-pound seed capacity. You can even get bird feeders with cameras, photo capture, and live streaming capabilities, letting you feast your eyes on your feathered friends while they are chowing down.

Presentation goes a long way when you’re feeding the birds in winter. Since you’ve forked out on food, it’s worth making sure your birds receive it in style. Present a range of options, keep them clean, and count down to the feathered frolics. You can shop the best-selling bird feeders for your backyard on Amazon.

3. Rethink Feeder Placement

Yes, bird lovers, I’m talking location, location, location! Where you put those birdfeeders is just as important as what is in them. That’s because there are more factors to be considered than you might think. Get this wrong, and the chances are your feeders will get pretty quiet, pretty fast.

First and foremost, think about safety. To a wild bird, safety is always important, and predators can come in all shapes and sizes. So site feeders close to bushes, where a bird can shelter if threatened while eating. or other shelter, so that birds have a place to fly if threatened, and also to perch and rest between feeding visits. Placing a feeder on the leeward (sheltered) side of a conifer hedge, for instance, provides a place where birds can fluff their feathers to trap heat while they eat.

Make sure your bird feeders are at least 6 feet (1.8 m) off the ground to deter cats that may also (sad to say) be sourcing their next meal. Also, keep your feeders at a sensible distance from windows, since big glass risks window strikes. Use the 3-30 rule for window strikes. Feeders should be either within 3 feet (90 cm) of a window, so birds don't have enough speed to hurt themselves if they fly into it, or they should be more than 30 feet (9 m) away.

Trees may seem likely sites for feeders, but watch out for squirrel access. Then there’s wind. When feeding birds in the winter, cold winter winds can be a real problem. Make sure your feeding spots are relatively free from draughts, and set up your food stations somewhere they will get protection from prevailing winds. You can buy Privacy Screen Fences from Amazon to help protect feeding birds.

Go the Extra Mile for Birds

Now you’ve upgraded your winter feeding, why stop there? There are a few other essentials to keep them happy and healthy at this time of year. Make time for these extra bird-friendly pointers to encourage more birds to feed and play – and keep them coming back for more:

• If you want to provide for birds in winter, set out water for them too. Water is just as important as food, and one convenient way to provide it is in a bird bath. But it’s not one-and-done. If you live in a particularly cold area, there are plenty of great heated birdbaths available on Amazon. Alternatively, you buy a Bird Bath Heater Deicer from Amazon to put into your bird bath. An inexpensive trick to combat freezes is to add a rubber duck to stop ice from forming. Always keep the water fresh and make sure the bird bath bowl stays clean.
• On the subject of hygiene, winter is prime time for salmonella and trichomonosis to spread at crowded bird feeders. Rain gets into seed and if it is left to go moldy, disease can be a common bird feeder problem. Check for food clumping, bad smells, or odd-color seeds. A quick weekly scrub of your feeders with a 10% bird-safe disinfectant solution or mild dish soap can be a literal lifesaver. Wash perches and ports where birds feed as well, as bacteria can hide anywhere.
• To help out the mama-birds-to-be, try giving them some high-calcium eggshells. When I first heard about this, I laughed, but I've learned that ground-up eggshells are very healthy for birds, especially females that need calcium more to create shells for their eggs. So add some eggshells safely, baking them first to clean them, then crushing them and leaving them somewhere near your feeders.
• Commit to growing more native plants. These provide essential food for birds in winter, but also nectar and pollen for insects, which in turn provide more food for birds. Native plants are also good habitat for nesting and cover. Birds depend on bird-friendly fruiting shrubs and native winter berries such as mulberry, sumac, dogwood, chokeberry, and holly. Buy native berrying shrubs like gorgeous Low Scape Mound Chokeberry from Nature Hills, and after a couple of years, they will help local bird visitors to set up a regular presence in your yard.

Winter Bird Feeding Essentials

Making sure your birds have ready access to the best feeding routine is a bona fide winter winner. Make sure you don’t forget these vital winter essentials to keep birds healthy and happy during the chilly months.

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