How to Identify Bird Feeding Signs in Fresh Snow

A vibrant nuthatch bird perched on snowy ground with scattered seeds around it. | Jürgen

Fresh snow can reveal a surprising amount about the birds living around your yard, garden, or nearby woods. Even when the birds themselves have disappeared into the trees, they often leave evidence of where they’ve been searching for food.

You might discover tiny footprints surrounding a patch of disturbed snow, scattered seed husks beneath a shrub, fresh wood chips at the base of a tree, or unusual wing impressions marking the place where a bird of prey descended toward its next meal.

These signs can tell you much more than which birds have visited. They may also reveal how different species find food, what they’re eating, and which parts of the winter landscape provide important feeding opportunities.

The key to identifying bird feeding signs in snow is looking for several clues together. Footprints, disturbed snow, food remains, habitat, and nearby vegetation can all help explain what happened.

A patch of scattered seeds beneath a feeder, for example, doesn’t necessarily prove that a particular bird was eating there. However, fresh tracks leading into the area, concentrated peck marks, and empty seed shells provide stronger evidence of feeding activity.

Learning to recognize these details is an enjoyable way to explore bird behavior during winter, even when you don’t have binoculars or the birds aren’t immediately visible.

Here’s how to identify the most common bird feeding signs in fresh snow and understand what they reveal about winter birdlife.

❄️ Why Snow Makes Bird Feeding Activity Easier to See

Birds spend much of their day searching for food, but many of their movements go unnoticed. Small songbirds hop beneath shrubs, woodpeckers investigate tree bark, and ground-dwelling birds walk through fallen leaves looking for seeds and other edible material.

Snow changes that by creating a temporary record of their activity.

Every footprint, scratch, and disturbance becomes more noticeable against the white surface. Dark seed shells stand out clearly, while bits of bark, berry fragments, or feathers can provide additional clues.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service explains that snow tracks can reveal information about an animal’s movement, diet, and behavior. Sometimes the arrangement of the evidence tells a story that would otherwise be invisible.

Fresh snow is particularly useful because older tracks can become distorted by wind, melting, refreezing, and additional snowfall.

A light layer of slightly moist snow may preserve individual toes, while deep powder often collapses around the bird’s feet. Frozen crusts can break into irregular shapes that make footprints harder to interpret.

For the best results, explore after a recent snowfall when the surface is relatively undisturbed. Look around feeders, beneath seed-producing plants, near shrubs, and along the edges of wooded areas.

You’ll often find that the most interesting clues are concentrated in places where birds regularly search for food.

🔍 How to Recognize Bird Feeding Signs in Snow

The presence of bird tracks doesn’t automatically mean a bird was feeding. It may have been crossing an open area, moving toward shelter, or simply walking between two locations.

Feeding activity often produces a different arrangement of marks.

Instead of a relatively direct trail, you may notice footprints circling a particular spot, changing direction repeatedly, or clustering around exposed vegetation.

There may also be small depressions where a bird pecked at the surface, disturbed leaves, or scattered snow while searching for seeds.

Food remains can provide valuable evidence. Empty seed shells, broken plant material, berry skins, and small pieces of bark may indicate that something has been eating nearby.

The strongest clues usually occur together.

For example, small paired footprints leading to a patch of exposed leaf litter, combined with visible scratching, suggest that a hopping ground-feeding bird was searching for food.

A larger set of three-toed tracks leading through a disturbed woodland clearing may point toward a turkey or another ground-dwelling bird.

However, snow records activity without identifying every participant. Squirrels, mice, rabbits, and other animals also search for winter food and may leave similar disturbances.

The National Audubon Society recommends examining the overall track pattern and surrounding habitat rather than relying on one footprint.

That approach is especially useful when interpreting feeding signs.

🌻 How to Recognize Seed-Eating Birds in Snow

Seed-eating birds leave some of the easiest feeding signs to recognize, particularly around backyard feeders and winter gardens.

Many songbirds eat seeds throughout the colder months, when insects and other foods may be less available.

Dark-eyed Juncos, sparrows, finches, chickadees, cardinals, and doves are among the familiar birds that may search for seeds near the ground.

Their activity can create clusters of footprints around spilled birdseed, standing flower stems, or patches where snow has been disturbed.

Small birds frequently move in short hops, so their tracks may appear in pairs.

If you find several sets of paired footprints surrounding a patch of seeds, it’s reasonable to suspect that small songbirds have been feeding there.

However, the exact species may be difficult to determine from the tracks alone.

Finches, sparrows, and other small birds have similar foot structures, and snow often obscures the details that would help distinguish them.

The surrounding food source can provide additional information.

For example, Dark-eyed Juncos are primarily seed eaters and commonly forage on the ground beneath feeders. Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes that they hop through leaf litter and low vegetation, searching for seeds and other small foods.

A cluster of delicate hopping tracks beneath a feeder is therefore consistent with junco activity, especially if you’ve already observed these birds visiting.

However, other ground-feeding songbirds may leave much the same evidence.

🌰 What Do Empty Seed Shells in Snow Mean?

Empty seed shells are a particularly useful clue because they may show that a bird has been handling and opening seeds rather than merely passing through the area.

Sunflower seed hulls are especially easy to notice against fresh snow.

Birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and some finches can remove or break open seed coverings to reach the edible material inside.

If you find a concentration of split hulls beneath a perch or near a feeder, birds may have been processing seeds nearby.

However, not every pile of shells comes from the same kind of activity.

Some birds carry seeds away from the feeder before opening them. Others eat at the feeder itself, allowing hulls to fall directly underneath.

Squirrels and other mammals can also leave shells.

And some seed fragments may simply have fallen from a feeder without being eaten.

Look for additional clues such as footprints, nearby perches, and the condition of the shells.

A concentration of opened hulls directly beneath a favorite branch may suggest that a bird repeatedly used the branch while feeding.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes White-breasted Nuthatches wedging nuts and large seeds into bark crevices before hammering them open.

This behavior can leave bits of shell near a tree rather than directly beneath the feeder where the seeds were collected.

The location of the remains may therefore be just as informative as the shells themselves.

🐦 How to Identify Junco and Sparrow Feeding Signs

Juncos and sparrows are particularly interesting winter birds to track because many spend considerable time searching for food on the ground.

Their footprints are usually small, with three forward-pointing toes and one backward-pointing toe.

Because they often hop, their tracks may appear as pairs of delicate impressions.

However, the most distinctive feeding evidence may come from how they disturb the ground.

Dark-eyed Juncos frequently hop through leaf litter, pecking or scratching at the surface as they search for seeds.

White-throated Sparrows have an especially recognizable feeding behavior.

According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they often use both feet together to scratch backward through leaves, then move forward to investigate whatever they’ve uncovered.

This can leave small disturbed patches surrounded by footprints.

After a light snowfall, you may notice dark leaves or bits of soil exposed against the snow, with tiny hopping tracks concentrated around them.

The marks may be irregular rather than forming a neat hole.

Look beneath shrubs, along hedgerows, and around areas where leaf litter remains exposed.

These protected spaces can provide access to seeds and invertebrates while offering nearby cover.

However, don’t assume every scratched patch was made by a sparrow.

Juncos, towhees, and other ground-foraging birds can produce similar disturbances.

If the marks are small and accompanied by paired footprints, you may be able to identify a likely group of birds even when the species remains uncertain.

🦃 How to Recognize Wild Turkey Feeding Signs

Wild Turkeys leave much larger feeding signs than most backyard songbirds.

These substantial ground-dwelling birds spend considerable time walking through fields, woodland edges, and forests in search of food.

Their tracks generally show three long forward-pointing toes spreading outward from a central point.

The smaller backward toe may leave only a faint impression.

Turkey trails usually consist of alternating footprints because these birds walk rather than moving primarily in paired hops.

One of the most useful feeding signs is scratched ground.

Turkeys use their feet to move aside leaves and other loose material, exposing acorns, seeds, and invertebrates.

The National Wild Turkey Federation describes turkey scratching as a characteristic disturbance in leaf litter, sometimes forming a broad V-shaped pattern.

When several birds forage together, the ground can become extensively disturbed.

After snowfall, you may find areas where turkeys have exposed leaves or vegetation beneath the snow, accompanied by large footprints.

A single turkey may leave a wandering trail from one feeding spot to another.

A flock may produce several overlapping trails and numerous scratched patches.

However, deep snow can hide or alter these signs, and other animals also disturb vegetation while feeding.

Large turkey tracks provide much stronger confirmation than scratched leaves alone.

🌲 What Do Grouse Feeding Signs Look Like?

Grouse are another group of ground-dwelling birds that can leave recognizable winter feeding signs.

Their footprints usually show three prominent forward toes, although the exact appearance varies by species.

Ruffed Grouse, for example, are often associated with woodland environments where they feed on buds, twigs, and other available plant material during winter.

Unlike turkeys, which frequently uncover food by scratching through leaf litter, Ruffed Grouse may obtain much of their winter food from woody vegetation.

This means their feeding signs may be subtle.

You might find a trail leading between shrubs or small trees where the bird has been searching for buds.

However, missing buds alone won’t establish that a grouse was responsible, since other wildlife also browses winter vegetation.

Fresh footprints beneath a likely feeding plant can strengthen the identification.

Grouse can also leave evidence of winter sheltering rather than feeding.

Ruffed Grouse sometimes dive into deep, soft snow and use the insulating snowpack as shelter.

A hole surrounded by wing impressions and droppings may indicate a snow-roosting site rather than a place where the bird searched for food.

Distinguishing feeding signs from resting or sheltering signs is an important part of interpreting winter bird activity.

🪵 How to Identify Woodpecker Feeding Signs in Snow

Woodpeckers can leave feeding evidence even when they never walk across the snowy ground.

Instead of searching primarily through snow-covered leaves, many woodpeckers investigate the bark and wood of trees for insects and other food.

Their powerful bills allow them to peck, pry, and excavate woody material.

When a woodpecker removes bark or chips away decaying wood, small fragments may fall onto the snow beneath the tree.

These fresh wood chips can be a valuable clue.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes Pileated Woodpeckers creating large, deep excavations in dead wood while searching for carpenter ants and other insects.

The resulting openings can be rectangular, and significant amounts of wood debris may accumulate below.

Other woodpeckers produce smaller feeding marks.

Black-backed Woodpeckers, for example, frequently remove patches of bark from trees while searching for insects beneath the surface.

If you find fresh wood chips on otherwise undisturbed snow, look upward at the tree.

Are there newly exposed patches of wood, fresh excavations, or areas where bark appears recently disturbed?

These signs may indicate woodpecker feeding.

However, wood chips can also result from cavity excavation, falling damaged branches, or other animal activity.

The presence of wood debris alone isn’t proof that a woodpecker was feeding.

A fresh excavation, suitable habitat, and direct observation or characteristic sounds can provide more convincing evidence.

🌳 What About Small Peck Marks on Trees?

Not all bird feeding activity produces large chips or holes.

Some birds search for insects in narrow bark crevices, along twigs, or beneath loose flakes of bark.

Nuthatches, chickadees, and several woodpecker species regularly inspect these places.

A bird may repeatedly probe a narrow crack without removing a noticeable amount of wood.

Consequently, the absence of large bark chips doesn’t mean a tree hasn’t been used for feeding.

Small fragments beneath a tree could also come from birds handling seeds or nuts.

White-breasted Nuthatches are particularly interesting because they frequently wedge food into bark and hammer it open.

A nuthatch may carry a sunflower seed or nut from a feeder to a nearby trunk, then use the tree as a convenient surface for opening it.

This can leave small seed fragments close to the base of the tree.

It’s also worth distinguishing feeding holes from sap-feeding marks.

Sapsuckers, a group of woodpeckers, drill organized rows of holes in suitable trees to feed on sap and associated insects.

Those holes have a different purpose from the irregular excavations made by woodpeckers searching for insects inside dead wood.

When examining a tree, look at the arrangement of the marks rather than simply counting the holes.

🌲 Can Birds Leave Pinecone and Seed Remains in Snow?

Yes. Trees and seed-producing plants can provide important winter food for birds, and feeding sometimes leaves recognizable remains beneath them.

Conifers are particularly valuable because their cones contain seeds that several bird species can exploit.

Crossbills have specialized bills adapted for opening cone scales and extracting seeds.

Other birds, including some finches and nuthatches, also use conifer seeds when available.

As birds handle cones, seeds or fragments of plant material may fall onto the snow.

However, a pile of cone scales is not automatically evidence of bird feeding.

Squirrels also consume conifer seeds and commonly leave distinctive piles of discarded scales and cone cores.

Wind, falling branches, and natural cone breakdown can scatter plant material too.

If you find cone fragments, examine the surrounding area for footprints and additional feeding evidence.

Small bird tracks around scattered seeds may indicate that birds have been gathering fallen food.

A large concentration of stripped cone scales near a tree may be more consistent with squirrel feeding.

The exact interpretation depends on the type of cone and the feeding marks it shows.

When the evidence is incomplete, record what you found without assigning it confidently to a particular animal.

🍒 How to Recognize Berry-Eating Birds in Snow

Winter berries are important food for many birds, including American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Bluebirds, and Northern Mockingbirds, depending on the region.

Fruit-bearing trees and shrubs may retain berries long after their leaves have fallen.

These remaining fruits can attract birds during cold weather when other foods are less available.

Feeding activity sometimes leaves visible evidence on snow beneath the plants.

You may find fallen berry skins, partially eaten fruit, small stems, or pieces of pulp.

Bird droppings can also reflect the foods birds have eaten, although their appearance varies with diet and other factors.

A concentration of fruit remains beneath a berry-producing shrub suggests that animals have been using the plant as a food source.

However, fallen fruit isn’t proof of bird feeding.

Berries may drop naturally because of ripeness, freezing temperatures, wind, or the movement of branches.

Squirrels and other mammals may also eat them.

To strengthen the identification, look for tracks leading to the shrub or watch which birds visit it.

If several robins are repeatedly feeding in a crabapple tree, fresh fruit remains beneath the branches become easier to interpret.

🦉 How to Recognize Signs of Birds Hunting in Snow

Some of the most dramatic feeding signs in fresh snow are left by birds of prey.

Owls and hawks may capture small mammals or other birds, sometimes leaving marks that reveal the encounter.

A hunting owl descending toward a mouse or vole beneath the snow may create a deep central depression surrounded by impressions from its wings.

These marks can resemble a bird-shaped snow angel.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlights this kind of evidence as an example of how snow can reveal wildlife activity that would otherwise go unnoticed.

However, not every wing impression marks a successful hunt.

A bird may have landed, taken off, or spread its wings for balance without capturing prey.

Look for additional signs.

Small mammal tracks leading toward the impression may suggest that an owl or hawk was responding to prey.

A trail that ends abruptly at the center of the mark can be consistent with a hunting encounter, but it doesn’t prove that the predator caught the animal.

Disturbed snow, talon impressions, or other nearby marks may provide additional context.

The most reliable interpretation comes from the entire pattern rather than the wing print alone.

🪶 What Do Scattered Feathers in Snow Mean?

A cluster of feathers can sometimes indicate that a bird has been captured or eaten by a predator.

Birds of prey such as hawks may pluck feathers from captured birds before or during feeding.

The resulting feathers can accumulate in a relatively small area.

Snow makes these remains particularly noticeable, especially when the feathers are dark or brightly colored.

However, a few feathers scattered on snow don’t necessarily indicate predation.

Birds naturally lose feathers, and loose feathers may be carried by wind.

A larger, concentrated group of feathers, particularly one associated with disturbed snow or other remains, may be more suggestive of a feeding event.

Even then, identifying the predator can be difficult.

Different raptors and mammalian predators can leave overlapping evidence.

If you discover a feather pile, photograph it without disturbing the area.

Avoid handling feathers or animal remains, especially when their origin is uncertain.

The location and pattern of the remains may help you interpret the scene without needing to touch anything.

🦴 Can Owl Pellets Reveal Winter Feeding Activity?

Owl pellets are another interesting sign of bird feeding, although they aren’t always associated with a visible hunting site.

Owls often swallow small prey whole or in large pieces.

Their digestive systems separate the material they can digest from tougher remains such as bones, teeth, and fur.

The indigestible material is compacted into a pellet and later regurgitated.

These pellets may accumulate beneath frequently used resting places.

According to the National Audubon Society, owl pellets can provide detailed information about the kinds of animals an owl has eaten.

Some contain identifiable bones or other prey remains.

In winter, a dark pellet may stand out against clean snow beneath a tree or other suitable perch.

However, pellets aren’t unique to owls. Hawks and several other bird groups also regurgitate indigestible food remains.

A pellet found beneath a tree therefore isn’t enough to identify an owl with certainty.

Its presence suggests that a bird may have used the location as a resting or feeding perch, but the prey could have been captured somewhere else.

For ordinary birdwatching, photographs and careful observation are usually sufficient. There’s no need to collect or handle pellets or other animal remains.

🏡 How to Identify Feeding Activity Beneath a Bird Feeder

The area beneath a bird feeder is one of the easiest places to examine winter feeding signs.

During snowy weather, birds frequently search for seeds that have fallen from the feeder above.

The white surface makes individual footprints and scattered food particularly easy to see.

However, a mixture of seed and tracks doesn’t automatically reveal which birds were eating.

Some birds may have visited the hanging feeder and dropped seeds accidentally. Others may have landed on the ground specifically to collect the fallen food.

Small paired footprints often suggest hopping birds such as juncos, finches, or sparrows.

Larger alternating tracks could belong to doves, pigeons, crows, or other walking birds.

You may also find squirrel footprints or other mammal tracks.

If several trail patterns overlap, the location may have been visited by different animals.

To understand what’s happening, observe the feeder from a window after fresh snowfall.

Watch which birds collect seeds on the ground and compare their movements with the footprints they leave.

This is one of the best ways to learn how a known bird’s behavior translates into snow tracks.

However, keep the feeding area clean.

Spilled food that becomes wet, moldy, or contaminated with droppings can create health risks for birds.

Regularly remove spoiled seed and follow recommended feeder hygiene practices rather than allowing old food to accumulate in the snow.

🐾 How to Tell Bird Feeding Signs From Mammal Activity

Birds aren’t the only animals that search for food beneath snow-covered vegetation.

Squirrels, mice, voles, rabbits, and other mammals can leave tracks and feeding remains in the same areas.

This makes it important to recognize the difference between bird footprints and mammal tracks.

Bird footprints usually show long, narrow toes arranged around a central point.

Many familiar songbirds have three forward-pointing toes and one backward-pointing toe, although the hind toe may not always appear clearly.

Mammal tracks often have a different structure, with more compact foot impressions and recognizable toe pads.

Squirrels frequently move by bounding, leaving repeating groups of front and hind footprints.

Mice may produce small track patterns accompanied by a narrow tail drag mark.

Voles sometimes leave visible runways beneath the snow, particularly when the surface begins melting.

The feeding evidence can also differ.

Squirrels often leave nut shells and cone scales. Rabbits may clip twigs or strip bark, while voles can damage vegetation near the base of plants.

However, some signs overlap considerably.

A pile of sunflower seed hulls might come from birds or squirrels. Disturbed leaves could have been scratched by birds or moved by another animal.

This is why footprints and surrounding context are so important.

📸 How to Photograph Bird Feeding Signs in Snow

Photographs can help you identify feeding evidence more accurately, particularly when you’re trying to distinguish several possible species.

Begin by photographing the entire area.

Include the footprints, disturbed snow, food remains, and nearby vegetation.

A photograph showing how the evidence is arranged can be more useful than a close-up of one footprint.

Next, photograph a particularly clear track or feeding mark.

Place a small ruler beside it to provide scale.

If you find seed shells, wood chips, or berry remains, photograph those separately while also recording where they occurred in relation to the tracks.

Try to avoid disturbing the scene until you’ve finished taking pictures.

When possible, note the time of the last snowfall.

This helps establish whether the evidence appeared during a relatively short period.

However, fresh-looking snow marks aren’t necessarily proof of activity within a precise number of hours.

Wind, temperature, and snow texture all affect how quickly tracks change.

A simple record of the location, habitat, snow conditions, and nearby bird species can make your photographs much more informative.

Over time, you’ll begin recognizing familiar feeding patterns without needing to consult a guide for every discovery.

🔎 A Simple Checklist for Identifying Bird Feeding Signs

When you discover an unusual patch of snow, examine the evidence systematically.

Footprints: Are the tracks small or large? Do they appear in paired hops or alternating walking steps?
Disturbed snow: Has the bird scratched, pecked, or pushed snow away from a particular area?
Food remains: Are there seed shells, berries, cone fragments, or other recognizable materials?
Nearby vegetation: Are there seed-producing plants, fruiting shrubs, or trees with fresh bark damage?
Wing impressions: Could a bird have landed, taken off, or struck at prey?
Additional signs: Are there feathers, pellets, droppings, or other evidence?
Habitat: Does the location suit the likely bird, and is that species common in the area?

No single clue will identify every feeding event.

However, several matching observations can help you distinguish a ground-foraging sparrow from a turkey, a woodpecker, or a bird of prey.

The goal is to make the most reasonable interpretation supported by the evidence.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How Can You Tell if Birds Were Feeding in Snow?

Look for clusters of footprints around a particular area, disturbed snow, small peck marks, seed shells, or exposed vegetation.

Several clues together provide stronger evidence than footprints alone.

What Birds Scratch Through Snow Looking for Food?

Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Wild Turkeys, and other ground-foraging birds may scratch through loose vegetation or shallow snow while searching for food.

The size of the disturbance and accompanying footprints can help narrow down the possibilities.

Why Are There Little Holes in the Snow Beneath My Bird Feeder?

Small depressions may form when birds peck at fallen seeds or move their feet through soft snow.

However, melting ice, falling objects, and other animals can produce similar marks.

Look for footprints and food remains before attributing the holes to birds.

What Bird Leaves Seed Shells in Snow?

Many seed-eating birds can leave discarded shells, including chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, and some finches.

Squirrels and other mammals also open seeds, so shells alone rarely identify the animal responsible.

Why Are There Wood Chips on the Snow Beneath a Tree?

Fresh wood chips may indicate that a woodpecker has been excavating bark or wood while searching for insects.

However, chips can also result from nest or roost cavity excavation, falling damaged wood, or other causes.

Examine the tree for fresh openings and other evidence.

Can Bird Tracks Tell You What a Bird Was Eating?

Sometimes. Tracks leading to spilled seeds, exposed vegetation, or fruit remains can provide clues about the available food.

However, footprints alone generally don’t reveal exactly what the bird consumed.

What Do Owl Feeding Signs Look Like in Snow?

A hunting owl may leave a central impact depression surrounded by wing impressions.

Pellets beneath a perch can also indicate that an owl or another pellet-producing bird has used the area.

However, neither sign automatically proves an owl was responsible.

Do Birds Eat Snow to Find Food?

Birds don’t generally eat snow as a food source, but some species search through shallow snow to reach seeds, vegetation, or other edible material beneath it.

Birds may also consume snow for moisture under some conditions, although that is separate from feeding on food.

Can You Identify Bird Species From Feeding Signs Alone?

Sometimes the combination of track shape, food remains, habitat, and characteristic behavior can strongly suggest a species.

However, many birds feed in similar ways, and mammals may leave overlapping signs.

When evidence is limited, identifying a broader bird group is often more accurate.

Where Is the Best Place to Look for Bird Feeding Signs in Winter?

Backyard feeders, seed-producing flower beds, shrub borders, woodland edges, and areas beneath mature trees are particularly promising.

Fresh snow is most useful before wind, melting, or additional snowfall changes the marks.

🌿 Final Thoughts

Fresh snow can reveal an extraordinary amount about how birds find food during winter.

Small songbirds may leave delicate hopping tracks around scattered seeds, while sparrows and juncos can uncover food by scratching through leaves and shallow snow.

Wild Turkeys create much larger disturbances as they forage across fields and woodland floors.

Woodpeckers may leave bark and wood chips beneath trees, while nuthatches can scatter bits of seed shell near the places where they open or store food.

Birds of prey sometimes leave dramatic wing impressions during hunting attempts, and pellets or scattered feathers may provide additional evidence of feeding.

However, the most interesting discoveries often require looking beyond a single mark.

A footprint tells you where a bird stepped, but surrounding food remains, vegetation, and other tracks can help explain what it was doing.

Not every sign will lead to an exact identification, and that’s part of the enjoyment of bird tracking.

Learning to recognize the different ways birds feed makes a winter garden or woodland trail feel much more alive.

The next time fresh snow covers your yard, look beneath the feeders, around seed-bearing plants, and at the bases of trees.

You may discover tiny clues to a busy world of winter feeding activity that continues even when the birds themselves are nowhere in sight.