Winter Bird Feeding Guide: Best Foods & Tips for Cold Weather

Winter birds are a combination of year-round residents and migrants from farther north, for whom your region, no matter how chilly, is “the south.” You can learn more about which species migrate, and why, in our article on bird migration.

In much of the United States, winter feeders draw cardinals, woodpeckers, jays, finches, nuthatches and chickadees, with the specific species varying by region. Doves often join sparrows on the ground to take advantage of seeds spilled by other visitors, while blackbirds and grackles tend to descend in large flocks before disappearing as dramatically as they arrived. In the Southwest, nectar feeders attract a mix of resident and migrant hummingbirds.

Then there are the unusual winter birds, showing up where they shouldn’t be. Some took a wrong turn during migration, while others simply stayed put instead of flying to their normal wintering grounds. Because they aren’t adapted to the winter environment, these birds often visit feeders.

Suet, often sold in cakes that may include seeds, nuts, fruits or even insects, attracts a wide variety of birds, including woodpeckers and beloved feeder visitors like chickadees. In its pure form, suet is almost entirely fat. Commercial cakes sometimes include fillers like corn and wheat, chosen because they’re cheap, not because they’re nutritious. Read labels and choose varieties with higher fat content.

Black oil sunflower seeds are different from the familiar stripe-shelled seeds you may have snacked on yourself. They’re smaller, making them easier for small birds to eat, and their fat content is higher. The thinner shells mean less mess around your feeder, but they are still messy. For that reason, many backyard bird enthusiasts buy hulled seeds. They cost more per pound, but there’s no waste.

Nyjer seed comes from a daisy native to East Africa and is a nutritional powerhouse, with a fat content almost as high as that of peanuts. These tiny seeds are ideal for finches and siskins, birds that eat thistle seeds in the wild. In fact, nyjer seed was marketed as thistle seed for many years, and the two names are still used interchangeably.

Fruits like raisins and dried, unsweetened cranberries, apricots and apples lend variety to your backyard buffet and may attract additional birds. Raisins and cranberries can be used whole. Larger fruits should be cut into pieces and, if very leathery, soaked. Fruit can be placed along with seeds on a platform feeder, or mixed with suet. Because of the risk of mold, it’s best to offer it in small amounts and clear away any that’s not eaten.

If you’re a bird feeding novice and this list of super-foods seems daunting, don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with buying seed blends, particularly those formulated for winter. Read the labels, and avoid mixes that include filler seeds like milo.

One food not to offer is bread. Scattering breadcrumbs in your yard is certainly easy and may evoke fond childhood memories, but birds that fill up on bread aren’t getting the nutrients they need to fuel themselves through the winter.

A feeding station doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it does need to be located thoughtfully and maintained carefully to avoid harming the birds you’re feeding.

One platform or cylinder seed feeder and a suet cage will get you started – you can find some great options in the Bird Collective feeder collection. If you want to attract small finches with nyjer/thistle seed, you’ll need a special feeder with extra-small holes. Adding a dome or other cover will protect your feeder and its contents from the elements. Make sure any hooks are secure and rugged enough to withstand windstorms.

Place your feeder near bushes or other shelter, so that birds have someplace to fly if threatened and to perch between visits. Don’t put it directly under a tree, though, unless you want to convert your bird feeder to a squirrel feeder. Windows pose a similar balancing act. You want to be able to watch birds from the comfort of your home, but any expanse of glass risks window strikes. Counterintuitively, a feeder that’s right up against your window is safer than one that’s a few feet away, since birds will be slowing down to take off and land. The danger zone to avoid is between 3-30 feet. Window decals offer additional safety, and are a good idea in general.

Birds are quick to learn the locations of feeders. If you want them to patronize yours, keep it stocked consistently, including during storms.

Feeders need to be cleaned on a regular basis, at least every two weeks. That means taking them down, emptying them of leftover seed and debris, and washing them thoroughly with warm water and dish soap. In wet weather, or during heavy use, they should be cleaned even more often.

In addition to locating feeders appropriately, cleaning them regularly, and applying decals to your windows, monitor your yard for predators. In most of the country, outdoor cats are the biggest threat.

Winters in the Adirondacks are serious business, with lots of snow, fierce winds and temperatures that routinely dip into single digits. What better place to seek tips on winter bird feeding? Joan Collins, a professional bird guide in the region, has been feeding birds for more than two decades. Her location means she draws more birds than most backyard birders can dream of (imagine 200 Evening Grosbeaks converging on your house!), but her set-up isn’t so different. Most years, Collins relies on a couple of roofed platform feeders stocked with hulled black oil sunflower seeds, one with suet cages attached. If it’s a good year for redpolls, she brings out her nyjer/thistle seed feeders.

“The more feeders you put up, the more birds you get,” Collins advises, adding that in one irruption year she set out 20 nyjer/thistle feeders and scattered additional seed on her porch.

For a more urban experience, we turned to Peter Dorosh, a past president of the Brooklyn Bird Club who has maintained a winter feeding station for many years. Like Collins, he relies on black oil sunflower seeds and suet, occasionally adding nyjer/thistle feeders. Keeping squirrels at bay is a constant challenge. Dorosh uses a combination of location (10-15 feet from any overhanging branches), deterrence (a custom baffle made by a friend with metalworking skills) and, when all else fails, diversion in the form of dried corn on the cob. While Dorosh’s feeders have never drawn hundreds of Evening Grosbeaks, they routinely attract scores of more typical feeder birds, like chickadees and titmice, as well as the occasional overwintering Pine Warbler or Gray Catbird. His all-time favorite visitor? A Northern Goshawk, drawn not by the feeders, but by the feeder birds.

Feeding birds in the winter can’t make up for the various ways humans threaten avian survival, from habitat destruction to climate change to the introduction of invasive species. Collins, despite her long experience with feeding, admits to mixed feelings about the practice. “There’s a lot we don’t know,” she says, explaining that the complicated relationship between winter feeding and bird survival hasn’t been studied sufficiently.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, there are both benefits and risks. Done responsibly—by keeping feeders clean, providing appropriate foods, being mindful of disease transmission, and placing feeders appropriately to minimize predation and window strikes—feeding is unlikely to hurt. And in the winter, when natural foods are scarcer and potentially covered by snow, the supplemental food may help. An analysis of 30 years of data from Project FeederWatch suggests that the native species that most frequently use feeders were doing better over time.

But ultimately, the main reason to feed birds is the joy they bring. As ambassadors for the natural world, the birds at our winter feeders connect us to nature and remind us of the importance of conservation.