Feeding Wildlife in Winter: How To do It Right!

I will be the first person to tell you that helping wildlife is a good thing. However, there is a right way to go about helping your wild neighbors.

Wildlife has a harder time finding food in winter and dealing with the cold and snow. In addition, humans have often destroyed habitat and resources that allow them to forage throughout the year.

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Pros for Feeding Wildlife

• Helps animals survive through winter and extreme weather events

• Replaces some of those “natural resources”

• Let’s us enjoy and appreciate nature

• Teaches us about the intricate relationships between all animals

Cons Against Feeding Wildlife

• Habituation - the animal becomes too friendly and expects food from humans (this is dangerous)

• Humans feed junk food/treats and actually cause health to decline in animal

• Humans draw in animals with food and then have a resulting conflict

Feeding Birds in Winter

Birds are easy to feed and a lot of fun to watch. You may be surprised at how many species of birds don’t migrate and stay around all winter.

Or if you live in the southern USA you may be delighted with all the winter visitors.

Birds that are common in backyards in the winter:

• Woodpeckers such as pileated, downy, and hairy

• Bluejays, Ravens, Magpies

• Chickadees and titmice

• Finches

• Ground dwelling birds such as wild turkey, pheasants, and bobwhites

• Cardinals, Juncos

• Morning Doves and Pidgeons

What to Feed Birds

Birds eat a variety of foods according to their species. So a variety of foods and feeders will attract the largest variety of birds in your area.

Energy is important in winter and many birds will enjoy having suet. I like the suet feeders that allow birds such as woodpeckers and chickadees to hang upside down and eat. This also discourages some of the larger bullying birds.

Always feed natural whole foods to birds. Clean, raw seeds and nuts that are unsalted and not roasted.

I am not a fan of the mixes unless they are a high-end product such as Audubon. Many of the cheaper mixes are dusty and contain low-quality seeds that just get wasted.

Cleaning Bird Feeders

Keeping your bird feeders clean is very important. Think of your bird feeder like a busy restaurant. How would you like to be seated at a table that had not been bused or cleaned before you sat down?

Cleaning your bird feeders weekly will help prevent bird diseases. Food can quickly get moldy in wet weather and fungi and bacteria will grow even in cold climates.

Clean with warm water and dish soap. Make sure to take the feeder apart or scrub in all the crevices. A metal bird feeder does have the advantage of being easy to clean.

Remember to clean the ground under your feeders as well. Sweep or rake up any bird food that is laying in the dirt.

Fun Activity:

Watch what birds eat what foods and compare that to their beaks. Bird beaks have evolved to eat certain foods.

Where Should I Place My Birdfeeder?

Where you put your birdfeeder is very important because you want to avoid window strikes. Window strikes are where the bird flies into a window and gets injured or even killed.

This happens because the birds don’t see the glass. Birds see what is reflected in the glass or think they can fly right through. So if a tree is being reflected they will think they can fly right into the tree.

Place your bird feeders either close to the house (3 feet or less) or further away (30 feet or more). This will allow the birds to see the windows.

Feeding Squirrels in Winter

If you are feeding the birds in winter you are feeding the squirrels. Squirrels are very clever and don’t understand why you feel those yummy nuts are not for them!

Squirrels are fun to watch and will provide hours of amusement for your family.

You may think that squirrels hibernate during the winter. Squirrels actually experience torpor which is more like a deep nap.

Read our article Nighty, Night, Sleep Tight to learn about the differences between hibernation, torpor, and brumation.

Squirrels benefit from whole foods and eat nuts, seeds, corn, most vegetables, and can have small amounts of fruit. Too much fruit isn’t healthy. Never give squirrels candy or other sugary treats.

Your backyard squirrels and their bird neighbors will appreciate it if the squirrels have their own dining area. You can purchase a squirrel feeder that is made to hold peanuts or corn cobs both great for the squirrels.

You can also watch my video on making a homemade treat for the birds and squirrels.

Opossums

Opossums are scavengers and another animal you may see scurrying around under the bird feeders. The Virginia Opossum is predominantly nocturnal although they do sometimes come out during the day.

Opossums will clean up the bird food on the ground. They also enjoy root vegetables, pumpkins, apples (not too much fruit!), hard-boiled eggs in the shell, and sweet potatoes. If the ground is frozen they appreciate mealworms and earthworms.

Opossums really appreciate a hiding place during the day. A brush pile works great for this.

Having a neighborhood opossum is a great thing. They eat ticks by the hundreds and will also eat small rodents. Please don’t use poisons to kill rodents as what you often kill are owls, snakes, and opossums.

Fun Activity:

Set up a trail camera near your feeding area. That way you can enjoy the wildlife without disrupting them. You will be able to see what goes on when you are fast asleep.

Rabbits

Rabbits like opossums benefit from having a brush pile or some shrubbery nearby. They are prey animals and need to be able to escape and hide if they feel threatened.

Rabbits appreciate greens and root vegetables. Clean grass hay is also good.

Raccoons

I love raccoons but they can be trouble. I have raised over 200 raccoons as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Raccoons are highly intelligent and are not afraid to fight another animal for food.

I don’t recommend feeding raccoons. Sadly raccoons are easily habituated and will beg for food. If they don't get what they want they can be aggressive.

Never try to lure raccoons up to your porch or around your house. Most likely they will try that at another house and that person will have them killed. Raccoons will travel three miles to find food so they are not just in your yard.

If you have a more remote location away from your house and the neighbor’s house they enjoy wholesome foods such as corn on the cob, hard-boiled eggs, and peanut butter.

Never ever give raccoons sweets such as marshmallows or candy. Two recent studies showed that raccoons in urban environments had an increased incidence of diabetes.

Deer

Fawns are adorable and mom and dad deer are equally majestic. It’s exciting to see them.

However, feeding deer must be done in a remote location. You should not feed deer close to a house or in a suburb. Here’s why…

If a young buck associates food with humans they can grow up and demand to be fed. Bucks are naturally pushy and shovey and can become quite dangerous.

As a wildlife rehabilitator, I would have bruises on my legs after being pawed by week-old fawns. When a buck weighs 200 pounds and has antlers they can do some serious damage.

So if you are out in the country and would like to help the deer great! The best thing you can do is to plant a garden in the backfield. Deer love root crops like carrots, beets, and turnips. Those crops hold well as the weather gets cold and provide an excellent healthy snack.

If you have deep snow in your area during the winter a few flakes of hay would be deeply appreciated.

Never give corn to deer. I know they sell “deer corn” at feed stores but the truth is corn is very bad for wild deer. It can cause bloat which can kill the animal. This compaction in the rumen can cause stretching and rips sending bad bacteria into the abdominal cavity.

Legal Issues With Feeding Wildlife

Many states have laws against feeding wildlife especially game animals such as deer and wild turkey.

Feeding these animals can be considered “baiting” and deliberately habituating an animal so that it is easier to kill.

Some state and national parks have laws against feeding wildlife on their lands. If you feed wildlife it’s best to do it on your own property.

Carnivores - Foxes, Coyotes, Mink, Otters

I don’t recommend feeding carnivores. They may decide that the other wildlife at your feeding station would be a tasty snack.

Furthermore, carnivores who become habituated can be dangerous. After all, they get what they need by attacking. That’s how they survive.

Foxes and coyotes have become much more common in urban areas. They are safest when they have some fear of humans.

Foxes and coyotes are prone to a skin disease called mange. Mange makes it hard for them to hunt and they lose weight.

If you see a canid with mange call a wildlife rehabilitator. In addition, Hotline For Wildlife has an excellent resource for treating mange.

Muskelids, minks, and otters, are very fun to watch at a distance. However, feeding them can lead to conflicts.

Author, Ame Vanorio, is the director of Fox Run EEC, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and a science teacher.