The harsh winters on the prairies can make life harder on the animal kingdom, especially on smaller species such as birds.

With the frigid temperatures running a lot of the year in southwestern Saskatchewan, humans can play an integral role in helping birds survive the conditions.

Sarah Ludlow, a conservation science coordinator with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, said there are three keys to winter survival for birds, with food being one of them, and that's something humans can help with.

"Obviously birds that eat insects won't do so well in the prairies in the winter, so they're the ones that usually migrate to southern warmer climates," she said. "The ones that stay are the ones that are able to eat seeds. So people putting out a bird feeder with black oiled sunflower seed is the best one to use because all species will eat that. It's also really high in fat so it provides them lots of fuel for their bodies."

Another one of the keys factors Ludlow noted for the birds is staying warm when the temperatures drop off to -20 or -30 degrees with their feathers acting like a down coat.

And the third major aspect of survival is protection, hence why smaller birds tend to travel in flocks throughout the winter.

All three facets must be present in the right proportions for survival chances to be optimal.

"If they eat too much, then they might have a little less agility and then it makes it harder to get away from a predator," Ludlow explained. "So they have to find a balance between eating enough to stay warm and not eating too much to get picked off [by a predator]."

Ludlow produced an op-ed on this topic and focused it on black-capped chickadee and said one of the more interesting facts is that they possess a great memory. They show off their memories during the fall and winter when they retrieve from many different hiding spots the thousands of seeds they stockpile for the winter months.

Those interested in being a proactive part of supporting the survival of birds in southwest Saskatchewan might be interested in the Project Feedwatch program.