Conservation Guardians of Northwest Illinois

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Wildlife in Winter

Winter 2002-2003 Newsletter

Birds and other wildlife survive very nicely in winter without human handouts of seeds, suet cakes, and salt licks. It's really for our viewing pleasure that we put out food -- and spend many dollars -- to bring them in for a closer look.

Weed and prairie seeds provide sustenance for goldfinches, juncos, native sparrows, and a host of other birds. Vining bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy all produce berries for winter snacks.

And the cedar tree's blue berries not only provide food, its thick branches also offer shelter from the wind and cold. Crab apples and other larger fruit often linger on into February and March, ready to be picked clean by returning robins or a flock of nomadic cedar waxwings.

Since we have enticed birds and other wildlife closer with our feeders, we can also do more to make winter easier for them. We can provide nutritious berries by planting elderberry, highbush cranberry, viburnum, and holly bushes.

Leaving the seed heads in your garden may look untidy, but the snacks they provide will be welcome. And instead of cutting down that thicket of weedy plants, construct a simple brush pile.

It's amazing how much use it will get all through the year. Save those old snags, too. Dead standing trees are put to a variety of uses: as nesting sites, for woodpecker drumming, and hawk and owl lookouts.

Providing a more natural setting will also add to your winter enjoyment.