Feed the Birds
Posted on February 7, 2008 by
Feeding the birds in winter does so much more than fill their bellies and give you something pretty to look at.
According to an article in Nature, feeding the birds has a significant positive effect on the bird population.
“Birds with ready access to peanut-stocked bird-feeders from November until early March began laying eggs roughly 2.5 days earlier than birds without access to supplemental feeding, even though their breeding season does not begin until April. What’s more, the researchers also found that birds that had been fed had, on average, almost one extra chick that reached maturity.”
So, set up a bird feeder in your yard. Don’t have a yard? You can still feed the birds using a small window mounted feeder.
But is this a good thing? I’ve always considered feeding wild animals an intrusion on the natural order. But then, I used to be a park ranger so that was part of my mantra.
I know — I’m with you on that, except that bird populations have been hurting lately, so maybe a boost isn’t such a bad thing.
I guess birds don’t get habituated in the same way that a dog or a bear does, so it probably doesn’t hurt. And it’s nice to have birds around, as long as they stay away from your car.
Hahaha. Our neighbors feed the birds big time — there’s like a compound of feeders in their back yard. And then they fly over our house. Gotta love it.
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