Your Wild Bird Feeders Are Making a Difference
Most gardeners install bird feeders for the sheer pleasure of having wild birds enjoy their gardens. We plant bird-friendly plants, keep cats and other nuisance pets locked up and even make the effort to keep trees in our gardens for them to keep out of harms way.
Yet it appears that by installing wild bird feeders in our yards is having an even greater impact than we first assumed. It is, in fact, giving them a greater chance of survival.
Sure, this may seem an elementary observation. Of course feeding birds is going to help their chances of survival! Duh! However, for reasons that we may not initially contemplate, feeding wild birds is helping them breed better as well.
This article reporting on research from the University of Exeter clearly demonstrated that birds that are fed throughout the winter months are more likely to lay earlier - and lay more. It also showed that the parent birds were more robust and able to deal with their fledgling chicks.
However, calls from the other side of the equation remind us that this could be a problematic practice. Fears are held that migratory birds will face increasing competition from winter-fed wild birds. But this very argument seems more like the 'playing of God' than real concern for either bird camp. Which one should have the upper-hand? The migratory birds who've just enjoyed their sojourn in warmer climes feeding their faces on plentiful food supplies or those who stuck around scavenging for a morsel to remain alive?
Needless to say, while many have argued that bird feeders are ruining wild birds from their normal hunting, it now appears that we are helping them survive. And this is a good thing.
Yet it appears that by installing wild bird feeders in our yards is having an even greater impact than we first assumed. It is, in fact, giving them a greater chance of survival.
Sure, this may seem an elementary observation. Of course feeding birds is going to help their chances of survival! Duh! However, for reasons that we may not initially contemplate, feeding wild birds is helping them breed better as well.
This article reporting on research from the University of Exeter clearly demonstrated that birds that are fed throughout the winter months are more likely to lay earlier - and lay more. It also showed that the parent birds were more robust and able to deal with their fledgling chicks.
However, calls from the other side of the equation remind us that this could be a problematic practice. Fears are held that migratory birds will face increasing competition from winter-fed wild birds. But this very argument seems more like the 'playing of God' than real concern for either bird camp. Which one should have the upper-hand? The migratory birds who've just enjoyed their sojourn in warmer climes feeding their faces on plentiful food supplies or those who stuck around scavenging for a morsel to remain alive?
Needless to say, while many have argued that bird feeders are ruining wild birds from their normal hunting, it now appears that we are helping them survive. And this is a good thing.
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