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You can't serve hot cocoa to your birds, but you can do the next best thing: Give them high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods that will quickly refuel their calorie-burning bodies and supply the store of energy they need to survive through long, cold nights. Add nuts and suet—even doughnuts— to your usual feeder fare during extremely cold spells.

Make sure your feeders are covered and fully stocked before snow and ice storms. Lots of items will do the trick as a temporary lean-to that will protect your feeders from winter weather. I keep a few scraps of plywood and a prized section of corrugated metal siding on my porch, ready to grab in case the need arises. I've even pressed empty pizza boxes into service during unexpected snow storms. Any piece of stiff, flat material will work. Use two or three sturdy sticks or 2 X 4s to prop up the protective shelter. Make sure the supports are strong and evenly spaced, so that the weight of snow doesn't cause a collapse of your impromptu shelter.

If you have a multitude of customers, you can serve seed and other foods directly on the ground. Clear the loose snow, scatter the food, and before you get back in the house, the birds will be eating. If snow keeps falling, sweep aside the new snow as often as you have time and patience to do so.

FAVORITE FOODS FOR YOUR FAVORITE BIRDS
Birds	Happy Meals
Gulf Coast
Rufous and black-chinned hummingbirds	Sugar water "nectar" from special hummingbird feeders and real nectar from flowers such as red salvias, penstemons and trumpet vine.
South
Chipping and fox sparrows	Cereal, cracked corn, bread crumbs, grapes, birdseed mix
Red-breasted nuthatches	Peanuts and peanut butter, sunflower seeds, suet, cracked corn
House wrens	Chopped apples, bread crumbs, peanut butter, suet, mealworms
Catbirds	Raisins, peanuts (shelled), cereal, grapes, blueberries, raspberries
Robins	Holly, crumbled crackers and bread crumbs, chopped suet, grapes, apples
Brown thrashers	Suet, holly, cooked pasta, cactus fruits, apples,
Bullock's and Baltimore orioles	Apples, berries and other soft fruits, cracked or whole corn, peas (fresh, dried or frozen)
West
Western and mountain bluebirds	Peanut butter, mealworms, berries, suet, raisins
Varied thrush	Rosehips, grapes, millet, suet
North
Cardinals	Apples, corn, hulled sunflower seed, shelled and chopped peanuts
Finches	Crushed eggshells, sunflower seeds, fruit, millet, salt
Sparrows	Cereal, cracked corn, bread crumbs, grapes, birdseed mix
Grosbeaks	Acorns, cherries, sunflower seeds, crackers, cracked corn
Juncos	Millet, bread and cracker crumbs, peanut butter, weed seeds
Flickers	Peanut butter, bread, watermelon, suet
Downy woodpeckers	Corn, mealworms, suet, walnuts, almonds, holly

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