Tips worth keeping in mind

[benj1]

A little late in the season, but never too late to keep these things in mind:

Creating a bird-friendly Habitat to attract winter visitors Evansville Courier & Press

To see these birds in your yard, your habitat must offer food, water and shelter from winter's cruelties. In other words, you'll need to winterize your yard.

There are some good tips that follow, which we've seen before but, like winter driving advice, it doesn't hurt to repeat.

I've been thinking that I need to consolidate my small brush piles (created for my convenience) into one or two large ones, for better shelter.

I still question the heated water idea. So, before the country was electrified, did people keep little piles of hot coals under bird baths? Haven't the birds survived winters for practically eons without warm water? Is that really just an anthropomorphism?

The bird food fat analysis and filler reminders are good. I've been using a bird seed mix which they seem to like, but it does contain a fair amount of cracked corn. I think the blue jays are cleaning that up.