Backyard Preparations: Winter Bird Checklist

The first sleet of the season hit us just a couple of days ago, and let me tell you, it caught me completely by surprise. One minute I was enjoying the last brilliant gasp of fall color, the next, Mother Nature was sending a chilly reminder that winter is knocking. And not just knocking, but practically leaning on the doorbell.

It was in that frosty moment I realized: I need to get my act together and make sure I have a safe haven prepared for my feathered friends. I really need to tempt the birds back into our yard. The  birds have been incredibly sparse this fall—so much so that the only “wildlife photos” I’ve managed to snap were of chipmunks! (The photo to your right was taken this fall and is available at our AzarÉl Greetings booth. It’s high time to roll up my sleeves and do the research to ensure I’m prepared. Like any good project, it boils down to three essentials: fresh food, clean water, and safe shelter.

💧 Slurp! Water (not ice)

First up is water, and it’s arguably the most crucial item on the list. Birds need an ice-free source for drinking and preening, and while a heated bird bath might seem like the perfect solution, it comes with a slightly chilling caveat.

Before the deep freeze, give your bird bath a proper scrub using a gentle solution of 9 parts water and 1 part vinegar. While you’re at it, assess its location. Make sure the bird bath is easily accessible for you. You’ll be replenishing it frequently, and nobody wants to slip-slide their way across a sheet of ice while carrying a pitcher of water.

Now, about that scary caveat I found during my research. One testimonial described picking up six frozen Cardinals—unable to fly because their feathers were iced up! The solution? Placing boards across the bird bath during winter, leaving only the edges accessible for drinking. While I (Donna) have never encountered this, it sounds like a sensible precaution to prevent a fully dunked cardinal.

Donna’s “Do” List: Water

Buy a new, easily cleaned, and level bird bath. My current bowl-shaped, deck-clamping one is hard to level and a nightmare to scrub!

The bird bath I want is #3 in 15 Thoughtful Gifts for Backyard Bird Watchers

🥜 Chomp! High Calorie Fuel

My own eating habits shift dramatically when the temperatures drop. In the fall, it’s all about warm apple cider, savory butternut squash soup, warm pumpkin bread fresh from the oven. (Is your mouth watering?) But winter calls for heartier fare: hot cocoa, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and homemade stew.

What does my winter comfort food have to do with the birds? Everything! Winter means the magnificent smorgasbord of natural food sources—berries, seeds, and insects—has either disappeared or is buried under a blanket of snow. Keeping warm takes a tremendous amount of extra calories, so the birds need a maximized nutrition plan.

Think high-calorie powerhouses. That means focusing on foods like black-oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet. Remember: no bread! It offers little nutritional value and can even be harmful. I also toss in a handful of cracked corn for the ground feeders like the Mourning Doves and Cardinals.

Donna’s “Do” List: Food

Stock up on a half-dozen blocks of high-quality suet from Good’s Feed Mill. For a blog about this special place that I’ve known since childhood, click here.

❄️ Scrub-a-dub-dub: Tidy up the Birdie BnB

Now that they’re fed and watered, it’s time to talk property management. Using that same 9-to-1 water-and-vinegar solution, sanitize the bird baths and feeders.

In a delightful surprise this morning, I realized how important winter shelter is! As many of you know, we have a bluebird next box camera. At this time of year, I rarely fire it up. On a whim, I decided to turn it on this morning. I was thrilled to find someone had spent the night—like a tiny, adorable AirBnB guest. I even woke up Brian around 6:45 am to help me do some recording. When the camera came on, my tiny guest was busily tidying up his feathers. The little guy would check the entrance, curl up in a ball, and repeat the process several times. Kind of like many of us! LOL!

By the way, birds are highly aware of potential nesting spots for the spring, and Bluebirds are famously early arrivals. (Think late February and March for southeast Pennsylvania.) We need to make sure those shelters are clean and ready. I don’t like prepping outside in the cold—brrr!—so this is a job for now.

Donna’s “Do” List: Shelter

Scrub the wooden feeding platform. (Why? Because a night-visiting possum likes to leave a little “ickiness” on top, marking his territory for all to see. Like kitchen cutting boards, wood collects germs. A good scrub is essential.)

Clean the other main nest box and check all the secondary boxes scattered around the property.

The incredible payoff—seeing these tiny creatures thrive in the cold—is the beautiful reason I take such care preparing for my feathered friends. Remember that wooden feeding platform I mentioned? Well, when the snow falls, I get busy creating welcoming winter scenes for the birds (and the occasional critter) to visit. The birds know they’ll find their secret snacks there! I then spend a leisurely two to two-and-a-half hours watching them and taking photos. My setup allows me to enjoy all the creature comforts of the indoors, like a cozy glider rocker and a hot cup of coffee, while the camera does the cold work outside (brrr!). It typically takes anywhere from 100 to 200 shots just to capture a single image I’d consider publishing—though on a really good day, I might snag several perfect photos! If you’d like to see more of my visitors, you can check out my photography at AzarElGreetings.com. This link takes you to the free shipping section.

Ready for Winter Watch

So remember…being ready is about more than just filling the feeders—it’s about providing a reliable, safe, and nutritious ecosystem to help our birds survive the cold. It’s a little bit of work now to ensure a lot of winter viewing pleasure later. Hopefully, all this preparation will encourage the winter birds to finally make an appearance at my newly sanitized and well-stocked feeding platform. I’m especially eager to see the winter birds this year! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a new bird bath to buy and some possum-gunk to scrub.