Extreme Weather Alert
Three things you can do RIGHT NOW to help your backyard birds survive during dangerously cold weather.
Please share.
1. Provide Best Possible Nutrition
Quality food with high fat seeds, suet and nuts is essential. Food quality directly affects a wild bird’s ability to stay warm and survive.
Check feeder levels more frequently.
No Bread!!! Ever. EVER! Remind everyone you know that bread has ZERO nutrition for wild birds. A small bird will freeze to death overnight with a stomach full of empty-calorie bread crumbs. Empty calories are lost nourishment! Send bread feeders to ‘Why Quality Food Matters’ in our website’s Resources section.
2. Maintain an Ice-free Water Source
Water is critical. We can’t stress this enough. All birds require water for drinking and bathing — especially in winter for preening. Preening keeps feathers working properly to insulate birds from the cold.
If your bird bath is concrete or ceramic, prevent cracking (and protect your investment!). Place a de-icer in your bird bath top or substitute with a winter-proof bath––One that is sturdy plastic, metal or one that has a heater built in.
Even a shallow, planter saucer will work great. Without a heater, you’ll need to check for freezing over often. Be careful not to crack it by whacking it to get the ice out. Just pour hot water over it and let it melt.
Your water source doesn’t need to be fancy, just un-frozen! A consistent, ice-free water source is also an opportunity to attract wild birds you never see at feeders!
3. Check Your Bird Houses
Make sure your bird houses are cleaned out and accessible for overnight roosting. They literally provide shelter from the storm for birds huddling together. Here’s an interesting article from Cornell Lab about how birds help each other through extreme cold.
Visit our ‘Wild Birds, Winter and Water’ page for more info on how to establish and maintain a winter water source. Or, just drop in the store and tell us about your backyard and budget. We’ll help you find the best and most convenient solution for you and your birds.
Thank you for helping your backyard birds through this extreme winter weather! Every effort makes a difference and you will be rewarded with their joyous presence in your life.
Happy Birding, Stay Warm!
Debi & Mike Klein and The Backyard Naturalist Team
