The Art of Attracting Birds: February is National Bird Feeding Month
Published February 1, 2026 by Nicole Webb
Did you know that February is National Bird Feeding Month?
Birds in North America have a hard time finding food and other resources in the winter, especially in places like Michigan, where snow often covers the ground and trees. Most insects are dormant or dead, seeds are beginning to rot, and worms are too deep in the frozen ground to extract. Finding shelter and warmth is hard enough, so wild birds can use an extra caring hand to help them with food.
But National Bird Feeding Month isn’t just for the birds- it also gives humans some backyard entertainment during the cold winter months as well! Bird feeding can be traced to ancient civilizations, where people would leave offerings to the birds as a gesture of goodwill or spirituality. Studying the diversity of birds became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, as did the invention of different types of bird feeders.
In 1994, Congressman John Porter established National Bird Feeding Month to raise awareness for birds during the winter months. Both the Wild Bird Feeding Institute (WBFI) and the National Bird Feeding Month websites offer resources on the best types of food, feeders, and bird houses for helping wild birds over winter.
Next time you look out your window and things look a little bleak and boring, consider adding a birdfeeder to your backyard and help feed the birds!
The GVSU Art Museum collection has a wide range of birds represented in the collection. Some can be found in your own Michigan backyard….others not so much!
Learning Resources
Birds at GVSU
Birds of GVSU- Health and City Campuses
Birds of GVSU- Valley Campus
Want to learn more? Check out these resources available at the GVSU Libraries!
eBook: Learning the Birds: A Midlife Adventure
by Susan Fox Rogers
When the birds first called, Rogers was in a slack season of her life. The woods and rivers that enthralled her younger self had lost some of their luster. It was the song of a thrush that reawakened Rogers, sparking a long-held desire to know the birds that accompanied her as she rock-climbed and paddled, to know the world around her with greater depth.
Book: Turning to the Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing
by Lili Taylor
Most people don’t really know birds—or rather, they aren’t aware of them. Lili Taylor used to be one of those people. She knew birds existed. She thought about them, maybe even more than the average person. But she didn’t know them. And then something happened.
Matt Maniscanco, Paper Plover, oil on canvas, 2009, 2009.104.1.
Artist Unknown, Untitled (Bird on Bird Feeder and Building), snapshot, ca 1900-1970, L11.2022.129 (183).
Robert Koropp, Dove, photograph, ca. 1960, 2010.54.30.
Tim Nowakowski, Bird and Flowers, oil on canvas, 1995, 1998.300.1.
Stephen Rosselet, Blue Grosbeak, print, circa 2011, 2011.105.3.
Ladislav R. Hanka, Bobolink, etching, 2001, 2002.450.1.