If you are not seeing any birds in your garden in the winter the reason may be that you are not doing anything to encourage them to visit. There are some simple steps you can take to make your garden a haven for wild birds and then you will be able to enjoy their company. I found an article on the Penn State Extension website which has some handy tips on how to care for birds in winter.
Do you enjoy songbirds in your yard? Would you like to have more? Along with the butterflies and pollinators, they just make your garden come alive, and are so enjoyable to watch. While we enjoy the cozy warmth of our homes, the continuous cold weather and the fact that our gardens are pretty barren this time of year, make survival hard for the birds.Many people think all the birds fly south for the winter. They might be very surprised to learn just how many birds live in our area all year round. Some birds even come to us in the winter, then spend warmer months further north. Like all other living creatures, their survival requires food, water and shelter. Even if you live on a small suburban lot, there is still quite a bit you can do to help the birds make it through the winter, and encourage them to stick around your yard.1. Leave leaf litter lie on the floor of your gardens
Most overwintering songbirds spend much of their time foraging through the leaf litter on the floor of your garden looking for the tiny insects and insect eggs that will sustain them throughout the long cold. If you painstakingly clean every leaf off your garden in the fall, you are destroying the birds’ main food source.
2. Provide thick growth
Birds take shelter in the protective boughs of evergreens or within any shrubs that provide thick growth. Juncos and tree sparrows often take shelter on the ground under the warm boughs. They especially appreciate a stand of several evergreens massed together.
See more at Penn State Extension
Image source: Tim Watts
