Water is very important for the birds, and in winter's freezing weather it's a lot more difficult.

I had an electric heater in my big birdbath, but it finally failed. Time to search for a new one.

There is a pond and stream across the field from me, we have lots of deer and other critters as well, so they can get water there. Hopefully.
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I am in a "not" phase at the moment. I've fed them heartily off and on over the years, with several bird feeders and dedicated squirrel feeders. Beside watching them both, I kind of view it was "giving back" to nature a little for that which I take.

The first time I stopped feeding them was for rats. They moved into the neighborhood in force. I trapped and killed a lot of them, but cutting off the food supply was key. No bird feeders for a year or so did the trick.

The second most recent stoppage was because of woodpeckers. I suppose suet attracted them in large part one winter. But even stopping that wasn't enough. Not until I stopped feeding all together to we get some relief. They did an amazing amount of damage to several surrounding homes, not just mine. The next door neighbor in particular had horrible amounts of damage done to the cedar siding.

I keep two feeders filled with sunflower seeds, and have a heater in the bird bath.

When financially feasible I will have a
Bird feeder/ bird bath cam web site
Up on the Www.