How to Keep Birds Alive During Bitter Cold Winter Days

Birds can fluff up during the cold and survive – if they get enough to eat and if they can get water to drink.  This weekend brought bitter cold, wind and a foot of snow to southeast Michigan.  It snowed about 8 inches Saturday night.  Sunday morning was quite pleasant with no wind and mid 20s and I went for a walk using the ruts from cars on the road to get through the snow and snapped a few pictures.

Front Yard After Snow Fall

We get chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, juncos, cardinals, sparrows and woodpeckers at the feeder plus blue jays who come for a drink in the bird bath. Today the birdfeeder was covered in snow with the feeding holes for the seed packed with crusty snow.

Bird Feeders After Snow

We had to clear the snow out several times today. It kept getting blocked with blowing snow. The chickadees bravely pecked their way through to get at the sunflower seeds. The birds love suet but it’s frozen solid and hard to break off a piece. The seeds on plants in the field are covered with snow. That means the feeder is all they have.

We use this feeder I got from my Mom. It’s adjustable to keep squirrels out of the seed and even larger birds if you choose. Mom didn’t like the hoards of blackbirds that swarmed her feeder so she set the feeder to close when larger birds land on the perches. (She did put food out for the other birds, but in a separate feeder.) We like blue jays and blackbirds so Dave adjusted the back bar so all the birds can get something to eat.

Adjustable Bird Feeder

The other key is water. If animals eat snow it lowers their core temperature and that can kill them. We have a heated bird bath out front. Can you see it in all the snow? It’s to the right of the big covered fountain, right in front.

Heated Birdbath, Fountain and Tree

Here’s a closer view.

Heated Birdbath, Fountain and Tree

It’s plugged into an outlet out in the garden island in the middle of the driveway. The water stays liquid even in this cold.

Heated Bird Bath

It gets dirty but I don’t think the birds care too much. Last weekend it was nice out (for a Michigan January that is) and we had two blue jays take turns splashing in the water. Today it’s for drinking and no one, not even my polar bear jays will hop in for a bath.

My feeder is several years old and the closest one I found was this one on Amazon, listed as Heritage Farms Absolute II Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder.

Here is the bird bath. It looks like the same one. Farm Innovators BD-601 Heated Birdbath with Pedestal – Terra Cotta, 75-Watt

I especially recommend the bird bath as it’s critical for birds during the winter and you’ll enjoy watching them. Ours is about 10 years old and stays out year around.