Perhaps it’s just me, but I haven’t seen a lot of birds around lately. In fact, our neighbors who diligently fill their bird feeders are suffering a stunning lack of birds. It has attracted more squirrels than our winged friends. Why?

Partly because it’s winter and partly because natural food sources may be scarce, so they move on to other areas where food may be more abundant. With that being said, you can still be a source of good, nutritious food in hopes of welcoming them back. In fact, some believe it’s not necessary to feed birds in winter because there are no birds. This is simply not true. Winter birds are around, but in order to entice them into our yards, we must provide a little nosh – a little seed, perhaps some suet. Suet, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the hard fat about the kidneys and loins in beef and mutton that yields tallow”.  And tallow being the white, tasteless rendered fat used in soaps, lubricants, etc. Yum! As you may know, birds love suet. Even vegetarian birds love suet, as long as the fat source comes from vegetables (i.e. vegetable oil). I recently learned that feeding birds scraps of bread, crackers, stale pop tarts, etc. is a no-no. Sure, every once in a while it’s ok but should not be a routine meal. It’s simply not good for them, especially the heavily processed stuff. We seem to have more in common with birds than I thought.

So gather your neighbors and roll out the red carpet for our feathered friends by providing some much-needed food.

Drum roll, please! My Paper Whites are in full bloom! I smile every time I see them and take pause to appreciate their very existence, in winter, in my home. How cool is that?

Best wishes,

Kim Sweeney