For some Cook County residents, winter’s arrival is signaled as much by the flutter of songbirds landing at the feeder as by the rumble of the snowplow. While we might think we’re helping the birds survive the long winter months when we fill our feeders, really, it’s the other way around.

“We do feed birds for our benefit,” said Grand Marais birder Molly Hoffman. “We’re human beings. We like to have that activity around us. But the birds really don’t need us.”

While feeding birds can have negative effects, such as concentrating the birds and making them more susceptible to disease and predation, for the most part, feeding birds is a harmless and simple winter pastime, she said.

Downy and hairy woodpeckers perch on Molly Hoffman’s fat box, a specially designed feeder containing a lard, oat and peanut butter mixture. This high-energy food can be shared by birds and other backyard critters and the feeder’s design makes it difficult for pine martens or fishers to steal.

Attracting favorite bird species such as chickadees, juncos, nuthatches, red polls, grosbeaks and jays to your yard this winter just requires a feeder or two and a lot of black-oil sunflower seeds.

“We don’t feed any thistle,” said Hoffman. “You don’t have to. Goldfinches, redpolls and other species who like thistle will also come to sunflower seeds. And we don’t feed any bigger sunflower seeds.”

Gunflint Trail birder Kate Kelnberger agrees that black-oil sunflower seeds should be your first choice for birdseed, but she does also set out thistle (also called niger) seeds with hopes of attracting boreal chickadees. She added that commercial bird seed mixes, which often contain large amounts of millet and cracked corn, may attract less desirable species like house sparrows and pigeons, especially if you’re in town.

Suet is another winter bird food staple, attracting woodpeckers and other species. In lieu of hanging a suet feeder, Hoffman renders lard and mixes in oats for the grey jays, and occasionally some peanut butter. The fatty mixture is then packed into a special wooden feeder called “the fat box.” This method ensures all critters, large and small, can enjoy equal access to the fat, she said.

When it comes to placing your feeders, they will attract more birds if they’re placed near cover, said Kelnberger. Hoffman stressed that feeders must be placed either within 12 feet of your home or much farther out from the house to prevent birds from fatally flying into the windows.

Chickadees, nuthatches and other prevalent species will come to just about any type of feeder, while “certain birds will come more readily to tray feeders because they’re ground feeders,” said Kelnberger.

“Of course the problem with the tray feeder is squirrels,” she said.

But when you invite birds into your yard, you should expect that squirrels, pine martens, even fishers, will want in on the invitation as well. While there are bird feeders specifically designed to keep squirrels away, Kelnberger said she’s had no luck with spring loaded feeders because the red squirrels are too light for the mechanism to operate properly.

A piece of flashing around Hoffman’s platform feeder base keeps squirrels out of the feeder itself, but they do eat the seeds birds throw to the ground. When it comes to controlling squirrels in your feeder area, the best option may be providing squirrels their own source of sunflower seeds to keep them out of the feeders.

Feeders should be cleaned at least once a year, said Hoffman, and once the temperatures drop there’s little risk of the feeders acting as disease breeding grounds. However, feeders should never be allowed to grow “gunky.” The Cornell Lab of Ornithology recommends cleaning feeders with warm, soapy water and drying completely before refilling. If you’ve noticed sick birds, you can sterilize the feeder with a rinse that is one part bleach to nine parts water.

Whether or not feeding birds is a good thing when it comes to the laws of nature, Hoffman said it’s hard for her to imagine not having the flitting birds outside during the winter.

“Winter can be pretty bleak if you don’t have that activity in your yard,” she said.