The outdoor areas in your neighbourhood don’t need to look empty in the winter. You can help fill them with animal life by setting up a winter bird feeder! Although many birds migrate south in the fall, several species live in Canada year-round, toughing it out all winter long. You can help these birds out by accepting the For the Birds Mission and building your own bird feeder!
To find out what birds you might see at your winter feeder check out this list of the top ten bird species that stick around for the winter. Since some species tend to be picky eaters, we have listed them based on their favourite types of seeds and nuts.
Black oil sunflower seeds
10. Black-capped chickadees
9. White-breasted nuthatches
8. Finches (house, purple)
7. Northern cardinals
6. Blue jays (also really like cracked corn)
Nyjer seeds
5. American goldfinches
4. Common redpolls (if you have birch trees nearby common redpolls will eat birch seeds too)
Suet
3. White-breasted nuthatches
2. Brown creepers
Cedar berries
1. Cedar waxwings
*Bird Feeder Tip! Try to avoid using seed mixes that contain millet because some birds won’t eat millet, which means the seeds will geminate as weeds on the ground the next spring. Black oil sunflower seeds (not striped sunflower seeds) and suet will usually attract the largest diversity of birds to your winter feeder.
Have you spotted any birds in your neighbourhood? Comment below to share your bird sightings!
Look for For the Birds in the Mission section in the Earth Rangers App!
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Earth ranger Carly that’s cool it’s mostly ravens where I live…well what I see anyway
Cardinals, robins, sparrows and these weird small birds that are dark blue and fly away when you walk toward them. They’re not blue jays, they’re too small.
I usually see northern cardinals at my house
Yes, birds come to our feeder two or three times a day, the same ones that are here all year round.
I don’t see many birds in the winter. I’m going to start looking harder!
Blue jays are my favourite
I want to accept it, but I live in a condo.
I love birds
Chickadees, mourning doves, dark eyed juncos, blue jays; those are some of the birds I see in the winter at my feeder.
I often see Black-capped chickadees.