Planting evergreens on the north side of your property will help protect feeders from the north winds and absorb the low southern sun. This will create a warm mini-habitat for wildlife. If they pose no hazard, dead trees can be left standing to provide safe cavities for wildlife. You can also install winter roosting boxes. Plans for roosting boxes are available from many books such as Woodworking for Wildlife by Carol L. Henderson and can be purchased from your local bird shop or bookstore.
Winter is also a great time to create a brush pile.
By collecting yard debris like branches, twigs, and fallen leaves, you can create cover for birds and small mammals like the eastern cottontail and gray fox, and at the same time, offer a hibernation place for the eastern box turtle and the mourning cloak butterfly. The mourning cloak butterfly overwinters as an adult in woody debris and may use your brush pile. Many butterfly species and other insects will lay their eggs or overwinter as pupae in brush piles. Fallen leaves can also be used as mulch to protect plant roots from freezing temperatures, or composted and used as organic fertilizer next summer. Water can be scarce for wildlife in winter when natural sources are frozen.