A WILDLIFE charity today urged people in Huddersfield not to forget our feathered friends during the winter weather.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which has an office at Denby Dale, has issued an urgent appeal for people to feed birds during the cold snap.
Snow has covered vital food sources for birds and, with no shelter from the freezing temperatures, many birds could die.
Kirsten Whittaker, RSPB garden bird adviser, said: "The winter months are always a struggle for many of our best-loved birds.
"However, just a little water, food and shelter can turn any garden into a vital haven for birds during the winter."
To help birds in the garden, put out food twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Birds such as blue tits or robins like a bird table, with high-calorie seed mix and scraps of fat, cheese or soaked dried fruit.
Apples and pears are popular with thrushes.
For other birds, put out hanging feeders full of sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts or unsalted peanuts.
Alternatively, you can put food bars and fat into the bark of trees. This will be popular with species like treecreepers and goldcrests.
For ground feeders, such as starlings, put food on the lawn.
Put a fresh supply of water out each day. If temperatures are very cold, use tepid water.
Finally, put up nestboxes to provide roosting sites for smaller birds.
The boxes may even coax the birds to return to your garden at breeding time later in the year.
