Winter: 'tis the season for feeding birds all across North America, especially in those regions where it gets mighty cold and snowy. If you are a veteran bird feeder, you've probably gained lots of insight into the foods your backyard birds prefer. If you are just getting started in bird feeding, or if you are frustrated by a lack of success in attracting winter birds to your feeders, try providing one of the following foods popular with backyard birds all across North America.

Black-oil sunflower seed. This seed is the hamburger of the bird world. Almost any bird that will visit a bird feeder will eat black-oil sunflower. Birds that can't crack the seeds themselves will scour the ground under the feeders, picking up bits and pieces. Bird feeding in North America took a major leap forward when black-oil sunflower became widely available in the early 1980s. Why do birds prefer it? The outer shell of a black-oil sunflower seed is thinner and easier to crack. The kernel inside the shell is larger than the kernel inside a white-or gray-striped sunflower seed, so birds get more food per seed from black-oil. This last fact also makes black-oil a better value for you, the seed buyer. Striped sunflower is still fine (evening grosbeaks may even prefer it slightly), but black-oil is better.

Peanuts. Peanuts--de-shelled, dry-roasted, and unsalted--are a fairly recent trend in bird feeding, at least in North America. In Europe, feeding peanuts has been popular for a long time. Peanut manufacturers and processors have now identified the bird-feeding market as a good place to get rid of the peanuts that are broken or otherwise unfit for human consumption. Ask your feed/seed retailer about peanut bits or rejects. Several major feeder manufacturers now produce sturdy, efficient tube-shaped peanut feeders. Woodpeckers, jays, nuthatches, chickadees, and titmice will readily visit a feeder for this high-protein, high-energy food. Even cardinals and finches will eat peanuts.

Suet. Most humans don't want a lot of fat in their diet, but for birds in winter, fat is an excellent source of energy. Ask at your grocery store butcher counter if you don't see packages of suet on display. No suet feeder? No problem--just use an old mesh onion bag. If you want to get fancy with your suet, you can render it. That is, melt it down to liquid, remove the unmeltable bits, and then allow it to harden; this is best accomplished in a microwave oven. Rendered suet lasts longer in hot weather, and while it's melted, you can add other ingredients to it (see "bird treats," #1, below).

Despite the popularity of bird feeding and the satisfaction we derive from it, some challenges can occur. Those who set up bird feeding stations sometimes experience a lack of birds. During spring and summer, the lack of birds can be explained by the abundance of natural food sources. Many of our seed-eating feeder visitors shift their diets to insects, fruits, and other natural food sources when they're available in warmer weather. However, the wintry weather at other times of the year can mean trouble for backyard birds searching for food, especially when seeds and berries are covered in ice, or simply not growing.

Even during the fall and winter bird feeding seasons, birds may not immediately find a feeding station. Take heart and be patient--once the first chickadee, goldfinch, or titmouse "tunes in" to your feeders, other birds will quickly begin to notice the activity around your yard, and more will come in to investigate. As long as you provide the right foods, before long you'll have a thriving feeding station.

Squirrels represent another common winter feeder challenge. Squirrels can wreak havoc on a backyard feeding station, draining or even damaging feeders in their relentless search for food. Numerous "squirrel-proof" feeders are available to help combat these furry fanatics, but squirrels are resourceful and clever. They usually manage to surmount these obstacles. One successful strategy is placing feeders on baffled poles far from any tree, deck railing, or other potential launching pad that a squirrel could use. Alternatively, you can offer these furry menaces some cracked corn (or ears of field corn) far away from feeders. Squirrels love corn, and they love easy meals; they'll take a pile of easy-to-reach corn over seeds suspended in a heavily baffled feeder any day! Find more solutions to common bird feeding problems on our website.

After overcoming such challenges, there are several steps you can take in order to ensure better feeding. Black-oil sunflower seed, for example, is the most widely used birdseed, popular with the greatest number of bird species. Indeed, its thin shell and large nutmeat are ideal for most feeder species. However, you can provide a number of foods in a variety of appropriate feeders to create a backyard bird buffet! Furthermore, in order to make sparrows, towhees, and other shy birds feel more at home, you can construct a brushpile near your feeder, but be sure it is dense enough that it will not harbor roaming cats. Natural features, such as branches to perch on, can also help create a cozier setting for birds.

Good luck with your winter bird feeding station! For more bird feeding advice and innovative bird feeding ideas, visit the Bird Feeding section at birdwatchersdigest.com or subscribe to Bird Watcher's Digest.

Several years ago we came up with an inexpensive way to keep our bird bath ice-free even during our cold northern winter weather. The heat source we chose was a car battery warmer--a plastic-coated heating element available at any auto parts dealer. The warmer, which is similar to those used in electric blankets, runs on 110 volt (regular household) electricity and doesn't use much power. The warmer is placed on the bottom of a wooden box with an insulated bottom and a hole for the electric cord. A plastic food-saver container is suspended over this warmer.

In the accompanying sketch we have detailed the assembly, but the exact box dimensions are determined by the size of your water container. Any size can be used. We chose one approximately 10" x 14" x 4" deep. Because the plastic container is only resting in the wooden frame, it can be removed for easy cleaning. A rock placed in the center of the bath serves as a heat sink and also functions as a handy perch for bathing or drinking birds. The total materials cost of this unit is under $40.