Seasonal Snacking

Watch birds change their eating habits as colder weather rolls in.

- KELSEY ROSETH

In winter, we start to bake spiced cookies, prepare pumpkin pies and eat warm, hearty casseroles made with winter vegetables. Whether we do it consciously or not, we shift what we eat to adapt to the change in seasons. When it comes to what birds munch in winter, the same principles apply, although their quest for survival is far more perilous than ours.

“It comes down to two things: food availability and calorically dense nutrition,” says John Rowden, senior director of bird-friendly communities at the National Audubon Society. “Without the abundance of spring and summer, birds have to work harder to find food and sample more of their environment.”