In winter our feathered friends especially need our help more than ever.

Feeding Birds During a Missouri Winter - They Need Our Help!

What birds can you expect at a bird feeder during a Missouri winter?  Quite a few, if you keep your feeders well supplied with quality bird seeds and suet.  But our feathered friends especially need our help now more than ever.  The low temperatures and snow in central Missouri has made many food sources scarce and created a critical situation for wild birds.  In addition to current low temperatures, the possibility for more snow over the next month increases the risk of birds not being able to reach food sources.

According to Deborah Irving, manager of Songbird Station in Columbia, Missouri, in normal winter conditions most birds have ways of coping with the cold.  Irving states, "To help survive cold nights, chickadees can lower their normal 108 degree Fahrenheit body temperature by 12 to 15 degrees to conserve energy.  By dawn, like many birds, they will quickly dart to a food source to fill their empty stomachs.  That's why in early morning and in late evening there are some of the largest crowds at bird feeders."

Most natural food sources are now ice encrusted, so birds need and greatly benefit by central Missouri residents feeding them during these times.  Irving recommends, "Feed hi-energy foods such as the Songbird Essentials Premium Blend Black Oil Sunflower Seed, whole shell peanuts, tree nut pieces and suet.  All of these options give birds more energy per ounce consumed."  While something is better than nothing, cheap seed mixes which are full of oats and wheat or other things such as bread and cereal that consumers sometimes throw on the snow are low in energy and often are favorites of nuisance, non-native birds like starlings and English Sparrows.  Though suet is a favorite hi-energy treat, it is also favored by starlings and can be challenging to feed. Irving recommends, "Feed suet in upside-down suet feeders and hang them high as starlings have a hard time hanging upside-down, while woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and other clinging songbirds can easily hang upside-down for feeding."

Starlings and English Sparrows also compete for available nesting cavities that many native birds utilize in winter to stay warm.  Several central Missouri songbirds like bluebirds and chickadees often sleep in groups on extremely cold nights in cavities, roosting pockets or nest boxes, transferring heat from one body to the next.  It's not uncommon for 6-9 bluebirds to emerge from one nesting box.  Offering a warm nesting source will protect songbirds from the cold, blowing wind, freezing rain and falling snow.  Grant Toellner of Gold Crest Distributing in Mexico, Missouri and son of Mel Toellner, owner of Songbird Station in Columbia, says that, "Providing nesting boxes or roosting pockets can help support your year-round residents like chickadees, bluebirds and owls, but it also can attract and keep around your spring and summer visitors like martins, swallows and wrens."  Toellner also states, "Open areas or places without many trees are also perfect spots to put up housing to help our feathered friends escape the elements.  Be sure to place the nest box away from the direction which the wind is blowing to help keep the nest cavity warmer."

One need of wild birds often overlooked by consumers in cold weather is the need for an open water source.  Irving states, "The main reason water is needed is that to keep warm, birds fluff out their feathers so they can better capture a layer of air that acts as heated insulation.  Matted, dirty feathers can't be fluffed out, making a bird feel much like how a human feels that wears a down-insulated jacket that's all matted up and not very warm."  Irving continues, "Songbird Station offers a top quality bird bath heater and versatile heated bird bath.  Both help keep water available for wild birds, and they cost just pennies per day in electricity to run."

Irving concludes, "Feeding the birds in winter can be a challenge for many.  Can't get to your feeders?  Just fling a spray of black oil seeds or a good quality wild bird mix out of a bucket or trash can and let it fly out across the top of the ice.  Dozens of your feathered friends will soon add brilliant flashes of red and blue, and gray and white across the snow and you'll hear their melodious songs as they sing 'thanks' to you for helping them survive."

The Caldwell County News

101 South Davis
P.O. Box 218
Hamilton, MO 64644
Phone: 816-583-2116
news@mycaldwellcounty.com

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