LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — With snow covering much of the ground across west central Ohio, you may be wondering how birds are finding enough to eat during the winter months.
Wildlife experts say birds are more resourceful than many people realize, often scavenging for seeds and nuts that are still available in parks and wooded areas. Some birds that stick around during the winter are actually seasonal visitors. Naturalists say some dark-eyed juncos migrate into Ohio in the fall, spending the colder months here before returning to Canada in the spring.
“The best things to give them are natural foods, and black oil sunflower seed is the best bird food product out there. You can get it from lots of different manufacturers, but it has a very high content of fat in it, which is what is going to provide the most calories for those birds in the winter. The other really great food source for our winter birds is suet, again, another source of fat, and you can get it flavored with nuts, berries, peanuts, and we actually give hot pepper suet here to help make sure those pesky squirrels go find their own food,” said Lindsay Gallagher, a naturalist with the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District.
The parks district says it also puts out old Christmas trees each winter, giving birds extra brush to perch in and stay protected from the cold and wind.
