Were you perhaps just about to do your "fall cleanup" and snuggle happily into your own "slow down" gardener mode for the winter months? Well, just in case you were, please remember that if you are just a little less meticulous, you may, in fact, give a big boost to the birds that winter with us.

Food. First, allow the flowers that you have in your garden to mature and go to seed. The seeds and seed heads not only add color to the fall and winter garden, but also provide food for the seed-eating birds such as white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, house and goldfinches. Purple coneflower, sunflower seeds, and many grasses also provide nourishing food for birds. Because birds may lose 7-15 per cent of their body weight during cold winter nights, the food you provide may help them to survive. Suet is a sure draw for woodpeckers and nuthatches, and comes in a variety of mixtures that birds love. Bird feeders, if you choose to use them, would also help sustain birds during the winter months. Varying the kind of seed, type of feeder and location of food will allow for a variety of birds and protection from the elements and predators. Some birds are ground feeders; others will only come to hanging feeders. Local bird stores are likely to help with choices for your particular garden needs.

Water. Second, provide a drink and a bath for winter bird visitors. If you do nothing else to attract birds, having a water feature is likely to bring you hours of pleasure as you watch them eagerly stop in your garden. In addition to a bird bath, we have a very simple large plant saucer on the ground in our yard, and watch it get drained daily in winter by the birds who drink and bathe in it. Yes, you will have to run out to remove ice chunks (or get a heater for the water) and keep the dish clean, but, I assure you, it is well worth the effort. So far this season we have already seen flickers, robins, pinyon jays, and sparrows "splish-splashing" away.

Backyard gardeners can and do make a difference for the birds, and, in this case, without a great deal of effort.

References:
Wetherbee, Kris. "Laying out Winter's Welcome Mat", archive.audubonmagazine.org.; National Audubon

Society Wild Birds Unlimited website: www.wbu.com/education.