Frozen Dinners! Photo Ann Cook Imagine trying to eat a frozen pizza while it was still frozen! It wouldn't have that appetizing aroma or soft melted cheese. It would be cold, hard, and tasteless. Now imagine you're a chickadee or a robin spending your winter in the far north. You can't cook your meals. How would you survive? First Course: Fruit In winter, robins eat a lot of frozen fruit. They prefer fruits small enough to swallow whole, such as mountain ash and other berries and small crabapples. Second Course: Insects Whether it's summer or winter, birds appreciate protein. When the upper ground is snow-covered and frozen, it's hard to dig for worms. How might birds get protein in winter? One of the best sources is insects. But how can there possibly be enough bugs to eat in the frozen north in the middle of winter? Where are the insects? Do they hibernate? where do they hide? What would it feel like to be an insect or other cold-blooded creature in coldest winter? Let's find out! Frozen Insects Lesson What to Drink with Dinner? Even in the coldest winter, animals need water to survive. Birds are luckier than mammals, because most birds don't waste as much water as mammals. Mammals lose more water than birds by breathing out lots of steam, sometimes losing water in sweat, and excreting a lot of water in their urine. So birds are better than mammals at conserving water. Birds don't waste a lot of water, but they still need to drink some—even during deep freezes. How do birds get water? Find out five water sources—and one BIG danger?! Winter Water Try This! Journaling Questions Why do you think robins might prefer eating small berries to big chunks of other fruits? Give at least two reasons. If insects can produce enough antifreeze in their tissues to stay alive and even active when the temperature is below freezing, why is it still hard for them to lead normal lives? Where do birds get water to drink in winter? What dangers are connected with birds' water supply? What do you think would be the hardest thing about being a bird in winter? Copyright 2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form