Other birds, like the European kestrel, will catch prey and hide it near their roost to be eaten when their hunting day is over and when they are returning to the nest. This evening meal helps keep them warm through the night. While feeding birds can help save them, particularly when the normal sources of food are covered with snow or ice, it s important not to stop feeding during the winter, once your feeders have begun attracting a steady clientele. It is also important for birds to have water during the winter months. Consider a bird bath, possibly a heated one, if both days and nights dip below freezing.
Many people decorate the outdoors for the holidays.
Be careful that materials used, such as foil and colored paper are not nibbled by birds or small animals, as they can be toxic even in minute quantities. Better to use old-fashioned strung popcorn and berries, such as cranberries. Suet cakes and pine cones with a peanut butter-seed mixture also provide special treats, more favorable to some birds than others. Millet branches can be purchased and hung outdoors with apple slices hanging from them, for a pleasant, natural decoration that will also appeal to the feathered creatures that brighten our winter days. Locate your feeders in sheltered areas out of prevailing winds and a few feet from protective cover like shrubbery.