March is a brutal month for backyard birds. Natural food is nearly gone, insects are still dormant, and migrating species desperately need high-energy fuel. A simple smear of peanut butter on tree bark can mean the difference between survival and starvation.
What Is the March “Famine” for Backyard Birds?
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Check PriceThe March “famine” is a well-documented ecological challenge that affects birds across much of North America. As winter drags on into early spring, last fall’s seed crop has been largely depleted. Berries and nuts that sustained birds through January and February are gone. Meanwhile, insects won’t emerge in significant numbers until consistent warm weather arrives—often not until mid-April or later in northern regions.
This creates a critical gap. Birds need more calories during this period, not fewer. They’re preparing for migration, establishing territories, and beginning the energy-intensive process of courtship and nesting. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and brown creepers face a serious challenge: their natural foods—dormant insects hidden in bark crevices, overwintering larvae, and residual tree seeds—are at their lowest availability of the entire year.
Research from Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows that March and early April represent the highest mortality period for many resident bird species. Cold snaps combined with food scarcity create dangerous conditions. Birds can lose up to 10% of their body weight overnight in freezing temperatures, and they must replace those calories quickly or risk hypothermia.
This is where thoughtful backyard birders can make a real difference. By offering concentrated, high-energy foods exactly when birds need them most, you’re not just supplementing their diet—you’re providing an essential lifeline during the leanest weeks of the year.
Why Peanut Butter and Bark Butter Deliver What Birds Need Right Now
Peanut butter is nearly perfect for March’s nutritional demands. It’s packed with protein (about 25% by weight) and healthy fats (roughly 50%), delivering the dense calories birds desperately need. A single tablespoon contains around 95 calories—significant fuel for a chickadee that weighs less than half an ounce.
More importantly, peanut butter mimics the natural foods that are currently unavailable. In warmer months, woodpeckers and nuthatches hunt protein-rich insects and their larvae. Peanut butter offers a comparable nutritional profile, with fats and proteins that support muscle maintenance, feather health, and energy reserves.
Commercial bark butter—a specialized product designed specifically for wild birds—takes this concept even further. These products blend rendered animal fats with nuts, seeds, and sometimes insects, creating a spreadable mixture that closely resembles suet but adheres to bark. The texture allows birds to feed naturally, clinging to tree trunks just as they would while foraging for beetles or moth pupae.
The fat content is especially crucial. Birds metabolize fats more efficiently than carbohydrates, and fats provide more than twice the calories per gram. During cold March nights when temperatures still drop below freezing, this concentrated energy helps birds maintain body temperature without depleting their reserves.
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Unlike seed feeders that might attract larger, more aggressive species, bark-smeared foods specifically target the birds that need help most: cavity nesters, bark gleaners, and woodland species that might otherwise go unnoticed in your yard.
How to Smear It Right: Simple Steps for Your Trees
Getting started requires just a few minutes and minimal supplies. First, choose your trees wisely. Look for mature trees with textured bark—oaks, maples, and pines work beautifully. Avoid very smooth bark like beech or young saplings, as the peanut butter won’t adhere as well and birds have less natural grip.
Select spots on the trunk or larger branches that are visible from your viewing area but offer some shelter from wind and rain. The underside of horizontal branches works particularly well—it stays drier and feels more protected to cautious birds.
Use smooth, unsalted peanut butter. Chunky varieties can pose choking hazards, and salt is harmful to birds. Spread it generously in the crevices of bark, working it into natural grooves and gaps. A butter knife or small spatula makes this easy. Apply a layer about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick—enough to be substantial but not so much that it becomes messy.
For a more permanent solution, create a simple log feeder. Take a fallen branch about 2-3 inches in diameter and 12-18 inches long. Drill 1-inch holes at various angles, then fill them with peanut butter or bark butter. Hang this vertically from a sturdy branch using wire or rope. Woodpeckers especially love this setup because it mimics their natural feeding posture.
You can also smear peanut butter directly into the spaces of pinecones, then roll them in birdseed for added texture. Hang these near your peanut butter trees to create a feeding zone that accommodates different foraging styles.
Timing matters. Apply fresh peanut butter in the morning when birds are actively foraging. Refresh your smears every 4-7 days, or sooner if rain washes them away or they become depleted.
Which Birds Will Show Up—and Tips to Keep It Going
The bird list for peanut butter feeders reads like a who’s who of charming backyard species. Downy and hairy woodpeckers are usually first to arrive, followed closely by white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. These birds naturally forage on tree bark and immediately recognize the offering as food.
Brown creepers—those delightful, mouse-like birds that spiral up tree trunks—are particularly fond of bark butter. Carolina and black-capped chickadees will hang acrobatically from smeared branches. Tufted titmice, closely related to chickadees, quickly learn to visit regularly.
You might also attract golden-crowned kinglets, tiny migrants passing through in March who need every calorie they can find. Even unexpected visitors like Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers will investigate the offering.
To keep things running smoothly, check your feeding stations every few days. Remove any peanut butter that’s become rancid or moldy—though this is rare in cool March weather. If squirrels become a problem, try placing feeders on thinner branches they can’t easily access, or mix cayenne pepper into your peanut butter (birds can’t taste capsaicin, but mammals definitely can).
Pair your peanut butter trees with other March essentials: fresh water in a heated birdbath, quality suet feeders, and black oil sunflower seeds. This combination creates a complete feeding station that supports birds through the famine and into the abundance of spring.
As temperatures warm and insects emerge in April, you’ll notice visits tapering off naturally. That’s exactly what you want—birds returning to their natural food sources. But for these critical March weeks, your simple gift of peanut butter on bark provides essential support when birds need it most.
Happy birding!