Six Free (or Almost Free) Ways to Attract Backyard Birds to Your Yard in Winter

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the five things that wildlife needs are food, cover, shelter, places to raise young, and water. If you provide at least some of these this winter, you can attract birds and other wild creatures to your back yard. If you provide all five consistently, your yard can be certified as a Backyard Habitat.

Making your back yard wildlife friendly doesn't have to cost much. In fact, there are a lot of things you can do that are free.

One: don't put leaves on the curb

In my suburb, most of my neighbors bag their leaves in special yard waste bags and pay the city to haul them away. But leaf mulch nourishes the soil and provides valuable shelter for insects, small animals, and their young. And it won't spoil your lawn-honest!

If you have a mulching mower, run it over your lawn with the mower blades set high, like my husband does. This will chop up the leaves. If you don't want to leave the mulched leaves on your lawn, use the bag to catch them and dump them on your flower beds.

Two: cut down perennials in the spring

Many homeowners strip their flower beds of dead plant material before Thanksgiving. If you leave your perennials standing until spring, they will shelter the birds, insects, and other small creatures that live in your neighborhood. If your plants have seeds or berries, they will provide food.

Some perennial plants, such as grasses and native wildflowers, look especially nice if left standing, providing visual interest and contrasting with the snow. In fact, advocates of natural gardening, such as Piet Oudolf, prefer that dead or dying perennials remain standing through the fall and winter.

Three: feed the birds

Once snow covers the ground, food can become more difficult to find. You can supplement what birds get from your perennials by putting out bird feeders.

Haven't got a bird feeder? Try collecting pine cones from your yard. Tie a string around each pine cone. Generously spread peanut butter on it, and roll it in bird seed. Hang the pine cones from a tree branch. The birds will come.

Four: put out water

Birds and other animals still need water in the winter. You can buy a heated bird bath, such as this one from Amazon.com; they typically retail for about $70. You can also regularly set out shallow containers of warm water. The water will freeze, but if you keep replacing it, it will be available at least some of the time.

Five: build a brush pile

Brush piles offer shelter to birds and other small animals and cost nothing. All you need to do is make a large (at least 3-4 feet tall and as many feet across) pile of sticks and branches. You can even use your Christmas tree when you are done with it. The birds will welcome its shelter. If you have space, consider a larger pile, 6-10 feet across and tall.

Six: consider a roosting box
Roosting boxes, wooden boxes with perches inside, provide shelter for birds in very cold weather. On very cold nice, birds can huddle together inside the box to stay warm. You can buy a roosting box online for about $40. Or you can build one. Mount the box on a post or your garage, about 6 to 10 feet of the ground.