Feeding birds through the winter has been a family activity for over 25 years. It started as a homeschool project where we could observe wildlife first-hand.
We learned about bird identification, social behavior (pecking order on and around the feeder), and which physical characteristics of birds dictated food choices (sunflower seeds, thistle, millet, nuts, berries etc.).
Not to mention, this was a great opportunity to photograph wildlife in our back yard!
After Christmas, we would take our Christmas tree out to the back porch then decorated it again except this time we decorated the tree with homemade suet feeders and grapefruit feeders for the birds.
Using the Christmas Tree to feed our feathered friends brought new life to the tree as well as the backporch. 😉
We even reached a point where our children were able to hand-feed birds!
Below is a photo of our son waiting patiently for the curious tufted titmouse to take some birdseed out of his hand.
And now we enjoy this winter activity with our grandson. 🥰
Pick up a bird feeder or two, bird seed and, of course, your camera and enjoy!
Below are a few resources to get you started:
- The Nurture Store: Creative Kids Learning “How To Make A Bird Feeder”
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- The Bird Book by Neil and Karen Dawe (published in 1998 and assume it is out of print; not endorsing Amazon)
- From RaisingLittleShoots.com: Winter Bird Study Week: Exploring Nature with Children
- Top 16 Bird Seeds of 2023 But you be the judge 😉
Back Porch Studio 
This post is so “tweet”!! Thank you for sharing a “bird’s eye view” of your winter activity. Love it! 🤍
I’m glad you enjoyed my post. You made my day!