The off-season on Martha’s Vineyard arrives through subtle cues. For me, by the time November slips into December, I am marking the change by noting that most of the Vineyard’s fair-weather feathered residents have vacated their island home and made their way south. The black-and-white warblers that haunted the oak trunks, the scarlet tanagers that glowed like embers in the canopy, even the towhees that noisily ruffled through the leaf litter have all left their resident kindred behind.
Meanwhile, the wild birds that stay through winter, or arrive specifically because of it, like the demure dark-eyed juncos with their flashy white-bordered tails, and white-throated sparrows that continue singing their lonesome song through the shortest days of the year, begin their annual scramble for dependable food, open water, and safe shelter. But as any Islander knows, the quiet season has its own kind of beauty, and that includes the cast of hardy birds that choose to overwinter here. For them, this is when the real work begins. If you’re inclined to lend a hand (and many of us do), now is the time to prepare your yard for the cold months ahead.
Start with habitat
Many people in our Natural Neighbors Program already know that “tidy” yards are overrated, especially from a bird’s perspective. On the Vineyard, wintering birds depend on places like the Menemsha Hills in Chilmark or the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest hold on to valuable food sources in the form of berries and seeds in their shrubby thickets. You can mimic these natural habitats in your yard by leaving seedheads on your goldenrods, grasses, and asters or by leaving little drifts of leaves beneath shrubs, which mean extra calories and extra shelter when the nights turn bitterly cold.
Winterberry, which can be seen in its bountiful glory around the Edgartown Great Pond edges—keeps its bright red fruit deep into the season. Bluebirds often congregate in Katama and along open meadows out toward Long Point, and you can bet they’ll take note of any winterberry cluster you left untended for them. Bayberry, and arrowwood viburnum also offer long-lasting meals for Robins, lingering Catbirds, and Yellow-rumped Warblers overwintering in scrub oak country. And more than one hungry Hermit Thrush has been grateful for an untouched shrub in February.
Feeders help, too, if you’re thoughtful
Black oil sunflower seed will bring in the Island’s reliable trio: black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, and tufted titmice along with northern cardinals and blue jays, which bring a flash of bright color to any winter feeding station they are invited to. Meanwhile, downy, hairy, and ever-boisterous red-bellied woodpeckers will find suet within hours of you putting it out. Feed plain suet, or suet that has peanuts and insects, and avoid suet that uses fillers like corn. Corn is not digested easily, and is low in nutrition at a time when birds need the valuable fats suet should be providing them. If you’re hoping to entice goldfinches, which have changed from their bright yellow breeding plumage to a much more modestly muted gray-olive winter coat, a sock of nyjer seed may be all you need.
Just remember: clean feeders are healthy feeders. Every couple of weeks, give them a scrub. A bit of bleach in warm water does the trick, followed by a good rinse and drying. The birds won’t thank you, exactly, but they’ll be much better off for it.
Water is the most important resource
Once the frost hits, much of the natural fresh water around the Island locks up. Shallow bog pools in Cranberry Acres may freeze solid overnight, and even the quieter edges of Seth’s Pond or Duarte’s Pond skim over before dawn. A heated birdbath in your yard or on your deck becomes a minor miracle. You may even spot species you didn’t know were nearby: a yellow-bellied sapsucker grabbing a quick sip, or a hermit thrush materializing from a stand of eastern red cedar.
And speaking of shelter, cedar thickets on the Vineyard — especially around Aquinnah and the north shore — are prime winter refuges. In your yard, dense evergreens, brush piles, and even a wind-sheltered corner near a shed can mimic that protective structure. Old stone walls and even unused nest boxes become nighttime safe havens. If you have a roosting box — or if you’re willing to convert a nest box by plugging the ventilation holes — chickadees or bluebirds may crowd in on the coldest nights, little bodies pooling their warmth in the dark.
Predators are part of the winter story
Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks are as much a part of the off-season flock as the songbirds, and sometimes they take advantage of a busy feeder. Please keep in mind that these beautiful hunters need to eat, too. If activity starts to slow down around your feeding station, your local flock has probably gotten wise to the danger in the neighborhood. Give your feeders a short rest; the flock will disperse to find food elsewhere, the hawk will move on, and balance will return, as will your flock in due time after you resume feeding.
Wandering cats are another matter. Keeping them indoors protects both island wildlife and the cats themselves, especially when temperatures drop.
Winter birding is its own reward
There’s quiet magic in watching a bright male cardinal settling into a snow-covered pitch pine in Oak Bluffs, or a flock of hardy snow buntings passing through the dunes along Moshup Trail. The off-season is long here, but a lively yard reminds you that nature does not go dormant; it simply rearranges itself for winter.
Preparing your space now won’t just help the birds — it will bring you into the rhythm of the Vineyard’s cold season. And on an island that becomes softer, quieter, and more contemplative in winter, that small companionship feels like a gift.
If you would like to learn more about ways to make your yard more bird-friendly, Natural Neighbors can help you. Find out more about our program by clicking HERE, and while you are there, sign up for a visit, and we will come by to help get you started on your journey! We will share our knowledge and resources at no cost to you and find many other ways for you to support biodiversity in your yard.
