Winter Bird Feeding & Survival For Wild Birds

Surviving the cold weather and finding food poses many challenges for wild birds. Many species of birds will double their amount of feathers during the winter as a ways to reduce their body heat loss.

Birds can regulate body temperature allowing them to survive in a remarkable range of habitats such as tropical, polar, temperate, and oceans.  Metabolic heat production must be repaid balancing the intake of energy with what has been consumed. Also unique circulatory system of arteries and veins reduce the heat loss through their feed. In many birds, arteries and veins in their legs lie in contact with each other in order to exchange heat and maintain temperature. Arterial blood it is normally at body temperature and it is send to the feed trough a series of conducts that run along with the cold returning venous blood. Other small birds such as sparrows, juncos and other ground foraging birds usually drop down covering their legs and feed as a way to transfer body heat.

Birds produce heat during the winter nights and cold storms by shivering (thermogenesis). During this process all winter birds will produce heat by consuming their fat perseveres.  Shivering allows birds to maintain their body temperature up 8- 10 hours depending on the species and their intake of energy from food during the day.  That’s why it is necessary for winter songbirds to find food early in the morning regardless of weather conditions. If the bird doest not find enough food to produce the necessary energy to make it trough the night or a severe storm, the bird will die.

Other songbirds such as Chickadees will enter a state of unconsciousness or torpor. During the torpor state body temperature may drop between 10 to15 degrees during the night or during days of severe cold weather. Early morning Chickadees will decrease their periods of inactivity and will start shivering again, increasing body heat and becoming active. There is a high metabolic cost incurred by awakening from torpor that demands immediate payback in energy from food intake.

During the winter the thermogenic capabilities of some birds such as Goldfinches, House Finches and Redpolls are impressive, in many cases better than the ability of mammals. The same species will become hypothermic during a cold front in the springtime, due to the lower feather cover and the low fat preserves.

Feeding the birds is a rewarding and enjoyable hobby. If you provide food in the winter, keep the feeder full since many birds will rely on it as a regular place to eat. Keep the following tips in mind for a successful winter bird feeding season.

•    Clean off feeders, platforms and perches after each snowfall so seed is easily accessible.
•    Leave fruit and berries on trees, hedges and bushes to provide a natural source of food throughout the winter.
•    Add a heated birdbath to your backyard or place a safe heating element in a regular birdbath to provide birds with liquid water.
•    Stamp or shovel snow around feeders to provide easier access to spilled seed for ground feeding birds.
•    Leave nesting boxes and birdhouses up all year round to provide winter roosting sites.

To maximize the number of species that visit your feeders, you'll want to offer a variety of food in several feeders. Kaytee recommends Black Oil Sunflower, suet, Golden Safflower which has high oil content (Golden Safflower can be found in Kaytee new regional blends), Peanuts, Thistle (for Goldfinches) and at least two
single seed blends.

(Article found at www.kaytee.com)