5 Ways to Help Your Backyard Birds in February

For a lot of gardeners, February is an ungainly hole the place spring is on the horizon however hasn’t arrived in full simply but. And for those who’re feeling gloomy about it, you could be certain the birds in your backyard are too.  

In February, pure meals sources are depleted after months of birds foraging via fall and early winter, and freezing temperatures in lots of areas make discovering water tough. Birds that stayed via winter as a substitute of migrating want a bit of assist from us to get via this lean interval.

A number of easy actions make a measurable distinction in these powerful weeks earlier than early spring vegetation begin producing new development and bugs turn out to be lively once more. Assist your yard birds in February, and they’re going to reward you with pest and pollination assist later within the 12 months.

Clear Hen Baths

Should you’ve seen how birds use hen baths, you’ll know they accumulate algae, dust, and particles over time. Yard birds nonetheless want clear water in February, however it’s additionally the interval when many gardeners have stopped sustaining hen baths due to chilly climate.

Outdated leaves, hen droppings, and different natural matter contaminate water and might unfold illness between birds that share the bathtub. Scrub the basin with a brush and rinse totally each few weeks, or extra typically for those who discover seen particles.

Refill with recent water after cleansing relatively than simply topping off what’s there. Stale water develops bacterial development even in chilly climate, and fully changing the water prevents this buildup. Your entire course of takes perhaps 10 minutes and makes an enormous distinction to the birds.

Use a Water Heater

In chilly areas, soiled water may not be your downside. Frozen water might be. Frozen hen baths are ineffective to yard birds in February that have to drink and bathe in winter. Discovering liquid water turns into a major problem for birds when temperatures keep under freezing for prolonged durations.

Small electrical heaters designed for hen baths forestall freezing with out heating water to uncomfortable temperatures. These units sit within the basin and maintain water simply heat sufficient to remain liquid. Most use minimal electrical energy, so that you don’t want to fret about working prices.

Battery-operated or solar-powered choices exist for those who don’t have out of doors electrical entry close to your hen bathtub. These aren’t as dependable in extended chilly or cloudy climate, however they work moderately properly in milder climates the place freezing is intermittent relatively than fixed.

Keep away from utilizing antifreeze or different chemical substances to stop freezing. These substances are poisonous to birds and different wildlife. Follow purpose-made hen bathtub heaters that maintain water accessible safely.

Fill Hen Feeders

Pure meals provides hit their lowest level round February after yard birds have been foraging on the identical restricted assets for months. Seeds from fall vegetation are largely gone, and new development hasn’t began but. There doubtless aren’t many bugs round both. Feeders present important supplemental vitamin when wild meals sources are scarce.

Sunflower seeds entice all kinds of species and supply good dietary worth. These include sufficient fats and protein to assist birds preserve physique weight in chilly climate. Suet desserts give birds the high-calorie fats they want for power and heat. Hold suet feeders in spots shielded from direct solar to stop the fats from melting.

Preserve feeders persistently crammed if you need populations to stay round your backyard. Birds be taught the place dependable meals sources are and return to them frequently. Empty feeders power birds to waste power looking elsewhere as a substitute of utilizing that power to remain heat.

Don’t Prune The whole lot

Lifeless flower heads and seed pods from final 12 months’s vegetation present meals for birds via winter. Slicing every thing again in fall or early winter removes these assets when birds want them most. Go away some vegetation standing till after winter finishes, notably these with persistent seed heads.

Coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and sunflowers all maintain seeds that birds feed on properly into winter. The dried stems may not look as tidy as a cleanly reduce mattress, however they’re actively feeding birds throughout winter when pure meals is in any other case scarce. And naked branches present resting and viewing spots through the day.

Should you’re planning future plantings, selecting native species advantages birds greater than purely ornamental varieties that drop their seeds rapidly or don’t produce a lot seed to start with.

Present Some Cowl

Birds want dense cowl for roosting at evening and escaping predators through the day. Evergreen shrubs and timber present this cowl year-round, however deciduous vegetation lose their leaves and cease providing safety as soon as winter arrives.

In case your yard lacks evergreens, contemplate including just a few. Holly, juniper, and arborvitae all work properly, relying in your local weather and accessible house. These don’t must be massive ones. Even small evergreen shrubs create usable shelter for yard birds in February.

Brush piles made out of pruned branches supply momentary cowl for those who don’t have established evergreen plantings. Stack branches loosely to create gaps and areas the place birds can shelter. These piles additionally harbor bugs that birds can forage on when temperatures heat barely.

Keep away from putting hen feeders in fully open areas with no close by cowl. Birds are weak to different predators whereas feeding, they usually received’t use feeders positioned removed from protecting vegetation.