At night and during snowstorms, they’ll be looking for shelter to roost. Feathers and fluff alone won’t keep them through the coldest Missouri winters, though. The multiple layers of feathers and air keep their body heat efficiently trapped. Birds keep themselves insulated from the cold by fluffing their feathers to add more layers of air between them. This is not necessarily because they’re bulking up or storing extra fat. High Octane Suet CakeĪs you observe your birds this winter, you may notice that they appear larger and fluffier than before. Other cakes are made for different purposes, such as hot pepper suet, which will keep pesky squirrels, raccoons, and deer away from your feeders. Some are formulated to be more attractive to specific birds – insect suet, for example, will draw in more bluebirds. In addition to High-Energy Suet, Pine Tree Farms makes a variety of specialty suet cakes. Suet appeals most to clinging birds like titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers, and bluebirds will all delight in suet cakes, especially if they’re catered to. Pine Tree Farms High Energy Suet is Songbird Station’s best-selling winter food. And the highest-energy, highest-calorie foods that we have are the suet cakes. That means their preferred food sources will change. Missouri’s winter and year-round birds will need many more calories to survive and thrive than they did over the summer. See the article “Winter Birdbaths” for more details. This is a subject important enough to have its own segment in this newsletter. Maintaining a liquid-water bird bath is not as much of a challenge as you might think. One of the biggest and best things you can do for your yard is provide fresh, liquid water – ideally with a De-Icer or in a heated bird bath. Let’s consider some things you can do to make our part of the world more welcoming for birds. As birds are creatures of habit, they will continue returning to your feeders even as the seasons change and other food becomes more plentiful. They will be out and looking for new sources of food. That means that winter is a great time to attract new birds to your backyard. As naturally-appearing nuts and seeds dwindle, and the energy demands of survival increase, your birds will frequent your feeders and birdbaths more often. Birds are not only (usually – there are some exceptions, like male goldfinches, who lose their bright gold coloring) easier to spot against the snowy foliage, but their behavior changes in dramatic fashion. Winter is a special season for birding everywhere.
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