Spring migration is about to bring millions of birds north along the Atlantic Flyway, a welcome sight for Virginia bird-lovers emerging from a season of persistent cold and stubborn snowbanks. With these birds, concern is also returning about a bird flu outbreak that has been active in the U.S. since early 2022.

How do our feathered friends survive winter? They have two options: migrate south to warmer temperatures or adapt to the winter weather. 

It’s a beautiful plant - evergreen, red berries, soft foliage - but evil lurks in its heart. Nandina, a.k.a. Heavenly Bamboo or Nandina domestica, is a woody shrub native to Asia. It is not a true bamboo but, just like its namesake, it is a real problem in the landscape. 

Now is the time to clean and fill the feeders to help birds make a living when other food sources are scarce. It’s also time to think about providing next year’s winter bird food by planting more native plants, including native grasses, wildflowers, and woody plants, such as shrubs, vines and trees, that provide sustenance all winter long.

When it’s a snowy, icy and cold winter, there’s little gardening you can or want to do in the yard. But there are a few steps you can take to supplement the work you have already done by providing natural food sources and shelter.

Although many people make charitable donations during the holidays instead of giving presents to adult friends and family, some of us still like to exchange physical presents. So, how about making some gift selections that will help the birds!

Fall-fruiting native shrubs and trees not only provide nutritious, fatty berries for birds, but also display beautiful fall color. That’s not for our benefit: what’s called foliar fruit flagging is the way the plants signal to birds that fruits are ripe and ready for plucking—just in time for migration.

The July 2023 Statement from the international Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds includes some alarming information about the effect of the current avian influenza or “bird flu,” H5N1, but it also includes some helpful recommendations on steps we can take to keep from exacerbating the spread of this deadly disease.

It’s February, which often has the most severe winter weather. For this reason, back in February 1994, Illinois Congressman John Porter read a resolution into the Congressional Record naming February National Wild Bird Feeding Month, now generally known as National Bird Feeding Month.

On August 19, the DWR issued new guidance on feeding birds in light of the outbreak of avian disease this summer. Read on for the entire press release.

Recently, there have been several local reports of birders finding sick and dead Pine Siskins. The likely culprit is a bacterium called Salmonellosis, which is fatal to many feeder birds.