Help Birds Stay Warm in Cold Weather!

Just as we rely on coats, hats, scarves and gloves to help keep us warm, birds employ a number of methods to survive cold weather.

If you were out filling your feeders early this morning like I was, you would have noticed your bird visitors looking rather chubby. That’s because they puff up their feathers to create air pockets between their feathers and their skin. The more air space, the better the insulation. Our backyard birds aren’t fat; they are simply puffed up to stay warm!

Some small birds conserve energy overnight by decreasing their body temperature. This is called controlled hypothermia. Chickadees drop their body temperature by about 12 to 15 degrees, allowing them to conserve about 25% of their energy every hour!! Birds also roost together at night to stay warm. Cavity nesters like bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches crowd together in tree cavities and nest boxes, sharing their body heat to stay warm. Other birds cuddle together on branches to stay warm.

Birds also shiver to stay warm. Shivering converts muscular energy into heat, but that energy needs to be quickly replenished! While birds can withstand most cold weather, we can make survival easier for them by providing them with high-fat, high-energy foods:

Peanuts. Peanuts in the shell and out of the shell (always salt free of course) are a great source of fat for birds. Birds especially drawn to peanuts include Blue Jays, nuthatches, titmice, chickadees, Carolina Wrens, woodpeckers and even cardinals. Many birds are also drawn to tree nuts such as pecans, almonds, walnuts, and cashews. These tree nuts, as well as peanuts are found in a number of our loose seed blends and seed cylinders.

Suet. Suet is a high-fat super food for birds! Even birds that eat a warm-weather diet of mostly insects and vegetation change their diet to foods high in fat in colder months. Some of the birds you're likely to attract with suet include woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, Carolina Wrens, titmice, and bluebirds. Our SuperSuet® cakes and cylinders provide super nutrition with the highest fat content of any of our suets. You can also offer suet blends with peanuts, fruit and insects to attract nut, fruit and insect-eating birds. Here at the store you will find many ways to offer your birds suet: suet cakes, suet cylinders, suet plugs and...Bark Butter® in a tub, Bark Butter® Bits, and Bugs & Bits™.

Our Winter SuperBlend® is our highest-fat-content food and is a blend of all the best ingredients: sunflower chips, pecans, peanuts, tree nuts, Bark Butter® Bits and safflower. Winter SuperBlend® comes packaged as a seed cylinder or as loose food. All our backyard feeder birds will find something in this blend to make them happy and help keep them warm.

Safflower and Sunflower seeds are also high in fat and provide superior nutrition for birds all year-round. Here at the store you can get these packaged individually or as part of seed blends.

Other considerations to help birds survive winter include an open water source, which at this time of year can mean adding a heater to your birdbath or putting out a heated birdbath. It can be hard for birds to find drinkable water as natural sources freeze in cold weather. But equally important, birds need to keep their feathers clean to help hold in warm air around their bodies. Natural plant cover or a nesting/roosting box that provides protection from the elements and a place to cuddle can also be vitally important!

We know you want to help your bird friends stay warm this winter. Come on into the store and let us help!