Feeding birds during the winter increases their odds of survival by allowing them to raise their young and restore their populations. Plus, it's a fantastic way to brighten up the gray days of winter.

When attracting birds to your yard, it is important to create a healthy habitat for them by avoiding chemicals in your lawns and gardens. Mimic natural habitats by planting native plants in a way that they appeal to birds, providing food, cover, nesting places, and water throughout the seasons.

Woodpecker Feeding System
This stainless-steel feeder combo offers peanuts up top and suet down below.

Birds That Use the Peanut Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, kinglets, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, starlings, titmice, towhees, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Birds That Use the Suet
Bluebirds, chickadees, flickers, grackles, jays, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, orioles, starlings, tanagers, titmice, towhees, warblers, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Big-Top Squirrel-Resistant Bird Feeder
This unique feeder protects from weather and keeps squirrels away.

Birds That Use This Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, starlings, titmice, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Seed Options
Sunflower or mixed seed.

Hummingbird Feeder
Fill this feeder with simple table sugar and water to attract hummingbirds to your yard.

Multi-Purpose Feeder
This is the "everything but the kitchen sink" feeder; it offers fruit, mealworms, mixed seed or suet.

Birds That Use This Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, starlings, titmice, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Clever Clean Removable-Base Sunflower Feeder
The Onyx clever clean is the newest innovation in bird feeders. The base of the feeder easily twists off so that it can be cleaned with a brush to prevent gunk and mold toxin build up.

Birds That Use This Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, starlings, titmice.

Seed Options
Sunflower or mixed seed.

Sunflower Domed Cage Feeder
This wonderful feeder keeps unwanted big birds and squirrels away, giving the little birds a safe place to feed.

Birds That Use This Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, goldfinches, juncos, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, titmice, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Seed Options
Sunflower or mixed seed.

Yankee Flipper Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder
This is the most entertaining bird feeder on the market; it feeds birds and keeps squirrels by spinning them around and away from the feeder.

Birds That Use This Feeder
Cardinals, chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, redpolls, siskins, sparrows, starlings, titmice, woodpeckers, and wrens.

Seed Options
Sunflower or mixed seed.

Tips for Squirrel-Proofing
1. Keep feeders away from trees and buildings where squirrels can leap onto feeders.

2. Use feeders with protection from above or below (if using a pole mount).

3. Use feeders with a cage or other mechanism to repel squirrels, like the flipper feeder.

The Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a four-day bird count from February 13 to16, 2009, cosponsored by Audubon and the Cornell Lab. An annual event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are across the continent, the bird count is open to anyone from beginning bird watchers to experts.

Birds are incredibly sensitive barometers of environmental health. In fact, they are one of the best ways to monitor how our environment is doing, and because birds are so easy to watch and to count, everyone can help do this. The most common birds are the most important. How are their populations doing? Where are they migrating to? What habitats are they using? We can answer hundreds of important questions by engaging citizens distributed across the landscape simply in counting and reporting their birds.

In 2008, bird-count participants reported more than 9.8 million birds of 635 species. They submitted more than 85,000 checklists, an all-time record for the count.

The Project Puffin
The Project Puffin is an Audubon program, founded by Stephen Kress, that has brought puffins back to Maine after they were hunted for feathers and meat in the 1800s and had nearly disappeared from the state. Currently in its 36th year, there are now nearly 1,000 pairs nesting on four Maine islands.

Tips for Bird Watching
1. Watch birds in the morning.

2. Bird watch with others to share the fun.

3. Point out locations using a clock method.

4. Participate in a science project such as the Great Backyard Bird Watch.

The Wingscapes Birdcam
The Wingscapes Birdcam is a digital camera that takes photos and videos of your birds while you're away. Easy to use, the birdcam operates just like any digital camera, and records content that can be viewed on a computer or TV. An educational tool that is wonderful for children, this weather-proof birdcam is a great way to learn what birds use your yard.

Resources
Special thanks to Stephen Kress, vice president for bird conservation for the Audubon Society, for sharing this information. Special thanks to Cornell University Press for giving copies of his book, "The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds," to our studio audience.

Special thanks to Droll Yankees for providing the bird feeders seen on the show, and giving the Clever Clean Removable-Base Sunflower Feeder to our studio audience.

For more information on the Great Backyard Bird Count, visit birdsource.org/gbbc. For more information on the Project Puffin, visit projectpuffin.org.

Special thanks to Wingscapes for giving the BirdCam to our studio audience. To learn more about the BirdCam, visit wingscapes.com. To celebrate the appearance on "The Martha Stewart Show," Wingscapes is offering discounts of up to $100 and free shipping on BirdCam kits; offer expires March 31, 2009.