Keeping bird feeders filled often wanes when cold temperatures drive us indoors.

But Eric Brown, store manager at Wild Birds Unlimited in Hixson, said it’s even more important to keep our feathered friends well fed in the winter when natural food sources are not as abundant.

“Chattanooga is an interesting area because we’re a natural highway for migrating birds,” he said. “It’s important to have food sources out for those who come to winter here, such as black-eyed juncos, pine warblers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.

“A lot of birds are insect eaters, and in winter, insects aren’t around, so providing food for them helps supplement their diets,” he said. “The more they eat, the warmer they stay at night.”

Feeding resident birds during the winter will keep them closer to you when it comes to nesting in the spring, bringing color and activity to your yard and garden.

Here are five recipes to make as a special treat for avian visitors. Get the kids involved and make it a family project.

1 Nutty Suet: Melt 2 cups lard (or beef fat from the butcher) with 1 cup peanut butter. Add 2 cups cornmeal and mix thoroughly. Serve in a suet feeder.

2 Potluck Suet: Keep any leftover grease from cooking in a jar. Melt grease along with desired amount of peanut butter. Add oats, flour, birdseed and old cereal. Mix well, then place in a small cardboard box and freeze. When frozen, tear cardboard away and slice into cakes. Serve in a suet feeder.

3 Sunflower Fall Bonanza: This recipe works great applied to an old sunflower head. Boil 1 cup water, then add 1⁄2 cup yellow cornmeal. Remove from heat and add 1⁄2 cup oats, 1⁄2 cup peanut butter and desired amount of quality birdseed (avoid blends with red milo). Spread on sunflower head.

4 Orange-tastic Peanut Butter Feeder: Scoop fruit out of an orange half, fill with peanut butter and dip in quality birdseed. Impale on broken tree limb.

5 Pine Cone Feeding Station: Coat a pine cone with suet mixture or peanut butter. Roll in sunflower chips. Tie jute string around base of pine cone and hang from tree.