As I speculated a few days ago, this is now the time when you will be finding more birds at your feeders – like this Downy Woodpecker. It goes beyond the ground being frozen, ice covering some food sources, or snow blanketing everything. While it is harder to literally feed, it is also much colder now, and the birds need many more calories in order to survive. A lot of people were inquiring about why their feeders were so quiet towards the end of 2015, and I think it was certainly related to the fact that we had some days with temperatures in the 60s and 70s across the region and generally easy survival conditions. Now that things are closer to normal, and that much more difficult on wintering wildlife, hopefully your backyard is looking a little more like it “should” in January as you help our little feathered friends through the tough times.
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
