Steinbach Online, written by Darci Wilkinson, December 14, 2025
https://steinbachonline.com/articles/tips-for-feeding-and-protecting-manitobas-overwintering-birds-
The next Adventures with Nature Norm session will focus on overwintering birds in the tall-grass prairie and how residents can support them through the colder months.
Helping overwintering birds
Norm Gregoire from Shared Legacy says these non-migrating birds are well adapted to harsh prairie winters, but there are still ways people can help.
“If you’re a nature lover why not feed the birds by providing a nice fat-rich diet to them when they’re sort of struggling. A lot of times they can be in a calorie deficit, we can really help these birds survive. Without this food source maybe some of them wouldn’t make it.”
Feeding guidelines
Gregoire encourages bird lovers to follow a few simple rules when feeding birds. The first is to provide quality, nutrient-dense food.
“A lot of times we’ve seen the movies and that sort of thing where folks are throwing out things like pieces of bread and scraps out for the birds. That’s not recommended. Bread especially is really bad for birds. It’s just high sugar. It fills them up and gives them no nutritional value.”
He adds, “If you’re going to feed them, invest in something like black oil sunflower seeds is very common in our area. We can pick them up in all sorts of different stores. That’s a really good one.”
His second rule is to keep feeding them consistently throughout the winter.
“If all of a sudden you stop, let’s say in a month’s time, your, your bag of bird seed runs out. Well, those birds, those local birds you have in your area are going to be so conditioned they’re coming to get their food source from your feeder, all of a sudden we get a cold snap of negative 40 in February, and they have no food to rely on. And that can be really damaging to the birds.”
The final rule is to keep feeders clean, especially closer to spring.
“There’s a lot of different diseases that can be spread and a lot of things like mold build up when you’re starting to go freeze thaw, freeze thaw, and that can be harmful to the birds as well. So, a nice little cleaning every once in a while will help keep your bird friends safe.”
How overwintering birds survive
Gregoire says overwintering birds use several strategies to cope with extreme cold, such as growing a thicker layer of feathers and increasing their body fat.
“They’re going to be trying to get a higher body fat percentage. That’s why I say fatty foods are important for them. But then they also do simple things like huddling together in trees.”
He notes that some songbirds enter a short hibernation-like state called torpor.
“Even a bird like a chickadee can go into torpor for a day, two days to sort of get them through a really cold spell in the winter. So they’ll find a nice warm place and they’ll go into this sort of like hibernation.”
Birds to watch for
Manitobans may spot several notable species during the winter months, including the province’s own great grey owl.
“It’s just a stunning bird, and huge wingspan. You see them in the snow-covered trees out hunting for different rodents, that sort of thing.”
Snowy owls also make appearances.
“Which is a little bit more rare. It depends what part of Manitoba you go to. Some areas, it doesn’t take you long to find snowy owls. But in the tall-grass prairie, we see them sporadically. They are around. They’re always a treat to see, though.”
Event details
Residents can learn more at Gregoire’s upcoming event at the Weston Family Tall Grass Prairie Interpretive Centre on Saturday, December 20.
“We’re going to be going out about 10 o’clock, going for a little walk, and I’ll provide binoculars for folks, and we’re going to be taking our time going down the trail here, seeing what we can see.”
With files from Carly Koop