Many people in northerly states and provinces don't start feeding birds until severe weather arrives, but they may be missing out. Fall is the season to begin, even though natural foods are plentiful and the birds like the Black-capped Chickadee above may not spend much time at your feeder at that time. They are out in the fields and woods, feasting on seeds and berries and well-fed insects. The challenge of winter Birds do visit feeders occasionally even in the abundance of autumn. It's not that they need the food yet, but they're scouting their winter territories.
Winter is a double-edged sword for the birds.
Cold weather increases their calorie requirements, while at the same time food becomes harder to get. Insects stop flying and wiggling, snow covers up the seeds that have fallen from flowering plants, and ice storms seal away the tree buds and wild fruits that birds eat. Yet somehow a tiny bird, such as a downy woodpecker in a snowstorm, must eat a third to three quarters of its weight each day. And it has to find every bite that it eats, out of doors, every single day, no matter how ferocious the weather. They study their resources in advance.