"Wow!  Our birds are really eating a lot!"

Pine Siskins eating Niger seed

We hear this statement quite often during the winter months!  Insects, nuts and seeds are not as plentiful now and cold, hungry birds are flocking to feeders.  If you provide favorite seeds such as Black Oil Sunflower, Sunflower Meats, Niger and White Proso Millet, along with extra proteins such as nuts, suet and mealworms, it may seem like every bird in the neighborhood is at your bird feeding station!
 
Here are a few things you can do to help out winter birds:
 
* Put out extra feeders.  Having more perches will allow larger flocks to feed together.  This is a good time to get your thistle feeder back out if you packed it away during the summer/fall months.

* Use rain guards or hanging baffles over feeders to keep them dry on rainy or snowy days.
 
* Spread White Proso Millet on the ground.  Many of our winter birds such as juncos and sparrows love millet!
 
* Serve up some mealworms - they are not just for summer feeding!  Mealworms, both live and freeze-dried, are great high-protein snacks.  You can also mix Suet Pearls and Suet Kibbles in with your seed for extra protein.
 
* Provide winter roosting boxes or roosting pockets for cold nights.  Bluebird houses will work also!