It’s wonderful to watch wild birds in your backyard any time of the year, but if your goal is attracting birds to your yard in winter, there are a few things you’ll need to do to make sure this happens.
Thankfully, it’s easy to attract birds to your garden when it’s cold outside! All you need are a few creative landscaping ideas, nutritious food sources that birds love, and places for them to take shelter.
Keep reading to learn how to implement these tips to ensure that your yard is a welcoming place for your feathered friends all year long.
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Attracting birds to your yard in winter with appealing shelters
Even though birds grow extra down feathers in the winter, they still have a hard time in colder weather. Attract backyard birds this winter by offering them a place to take shelter.
Types of winter bird shelters
You’ll be able to attract more birds to your yard if they have a place that makes them feel secure and comfortable even in the worst weather. This is where having a winter shelter for birds comes into play.
Invest in a good quality bird house, a roost box, or other form of bird shelter to help protect the visiting birds from the coldest winds.
Cavity nesting birds particularly like roost boxes. More than a dozen birds will often sit in a single box to conserve heat!
A good birdhouse should have several features:
- Natural wood construction
- Sloped roof to let the rain run off
- Recessed floor
- Ventilation holes
- Drainage system
- A predator guard
- Good-sized entrance holes
Be sure to keep the birdhouse clean to prevent mold and other types of bacteria from forming.
Use your Christmas tree as a shelter
Wait to dispose of your Christmas tree until springtime, especially if you don’t have many trees in your yard. The thick branches will become a shelter for sparrows during the cold months.
You could also make a brush pile in an unused area of your yard where birds can find shelter.
Landscaping ideas for attracting birds to your garden
You can make your yard a haven for birds by doing a few simple things with your landscaping. The tips below will ensure that the birds can find food in your yard all winter long.
Leave seed heads for birds to feed on in winter
A simple way to attract birds to your garden this winter is to delay garden cleanup until spring. Humans like a tidy garden, but birds don’t mind a mess.
Be sure to leave seed heads attached to the plants to make them handy for birds to eat.
Any fallen seeds, nuts, and berries make excellent natural food sources that will feed winter birds in the colder months to come.
Some popular garden plants with seed heads that birds love are:
- Coneflower plants
- Black-eyed Susans
- Chinese lantern plants
- Poppies
- Cosmos
- Echinacea
- Sedum
Grow trees that produce berries in the winter months
Fruit-bearing trees are very popular with birds. Many trees will hold onto their fruit well into winter and do a great job of attracting birds.
Some of my favorites are:
- Holly
- Bayberry
- Chokeberry
- Winterberry
- Crabapple
- Mountain Hawthorne
Plant trees and shrubs of varying heights
Many gardeners only plant shrubs and flowers that attract birds during the spring and summer. However, landscaping to provide shelter for them in the winter months is just as important.
When choosing winter plants, make sure to select a variety of sizes. Birds seek food and shelter at both low and tall heights, so planting this way will attract a variety of winter birds to your yard.
Grow native grasses for winter birds
Attracting birds in winter is easy if you grow native grass plants in your yard. Native grasses have a long growing season and many send out flower or seed heads in late fall.
These make a wonderful source of wintertime food for birds.
Some examples of native grasses that attract birds in winter are:
- Japanese silver grass
- Tufted hair grass
- Big bluestem
- Rocky Mountain fescue
Providing food and water is the best way to attract birds
One of the best ways of attracting birds to your garden is to make sure they have a reliable source of food and water. Use the ideas below for successful winter bird feeding.
Leave out nuts and seeds for winter birds
Winter birds have food preferences during the cooler months. They do best if you have a hearty supply of their favorite foods on hand.
Providing suet is the best way to attract birds to a feeder in winter. Suet is a high-calorie food that helps to keep birds warm in the winter.
You can’t have too many suet feeders hanging in your yard if your aim is attracting birds in winter.
There are also many other nutritious bird foods that you can use. Some examples are sunflower seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, peanut butter, and retail bird food.
When attracting birds to your garden, if using feeders, position them near large shrubs and trees. This gives the birds shelter from high winds and protection from predators that may be lurking around while they’re eating.
Make a home for the insects winter birds like to eat
In addition to nuts and seeds, many birds also eat live insects in the winter. You can provide food for these birds by mulching to add shelter for the beneficial insects they like to eat.
To do this, add a layer of leaf mulch over the top of your vegetable garden beds. This allows you to maintain your vegetable gardens properly and also to attract birds to your yard in winter.
Provide winter birds with a water source
Water is very scarce during the winter months, so it is important to provide birds with a clean water source and to keep it filled.
You can buy heated bird baths, or use a de-icer in your existing birdbath.
Keep the bird bath fresh and clean so you don’t spread disease. If using a de-icer, be sure to keep the bird bath full so the heater does not malfunction.
Birds can use their body heat to melt ice and snow to give themselves something to drink in winter. However, this causes the birds to use a lot of energy.
The National Wildlife Federation tells us to remember that water is as important for birds in the cold months as it is in summer.
Share these tips on attracting winter birds on Twitter
If you enjoyed learning how to attract birds in the cold months, why not share this post with a friend? Here is a tweet to get you started:
Want to bring more feathered friends to your yard this winter? ❄️🐦⬛🐥🦅 Head to The Gardening Cook for tips on creating a cozy, bird-friendly environment with food, water, shelter and more! #Birdwatching #WinterBirds #BackyardBirds… Share on XPin this post about attracting birds to your yard in winter
Would you like a reminder of this post showing how to attract birds in the winter? Just pin this image to one of your gardening boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
You can also watch our video on YouTube!
Admin note: this post about attracting winter birds first appeared on the blog in January 2018. I have updated the post to add all new photos, more tips for attracting birds, and a video for you to enjoy.
Attracting Wild Birds in Winter - How To Attract Birds to Your Backyard When it is Cold
Having winter birds in your backyard when snow is on the ground is a real delight.
These tips will ensure that your yard is a welcome place for your feathered friends all year.
Print these tips for the best way to attract birds in winter and keep them in your garden journal.
Materials
- Bird feeders
- Bird houses
- Native grasses
- Seed heads
- Bird food
- Trees with berries
- Old Christmas tree
- Heated bird bath
Instructions
- Invest in birdhouses or a winter shelter for birds.
- Leave seed heads on plants for winter interest.
- Don't throw away nuts, seeds, and other natural food sources.
- Grow trees that will produce berries for the birds to feed on.
- Place a brush pile where birds can find shelter.
- Plant varying heights of shrubs so the birds will have diverse options of food and shelter.
- Keep the old Christmas tree in your yard until spring. This will give extra shelter for birds.
- Plant native grasses.
- Make sure to leave out a source of water for the birds, like a heated bird bath.
- Mulch your vegetable garden to give a home to the insects birds like to eat in the winter.
- Provide nutritious foods. Some good ideas are:
- Peanuts
- Suet
- Peanut Butter
- Commercial Bird Food
- Sunflower seeds
- Cracked Corn
- Millet
- Fruit
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