| Monday, April 7, 2008 |
| Time for bird feeders |
 Attractive feeders can become ecological traps, encouraging birds to settle in an area that cannot support them once supplemental feeding has stopped.
You know I never thought of it that way but it does make sense.
Some people have said bird feeders not only cause birds to flock, but also cats which would be a bad thing for the birds obviously. But research has shown the presence of feeders has been associated with lower levels of predation by domestic cats.
Another issue is the misconception of bird feeders always being helpful to the birds. You think you're doing a good thing feeding your fine feather friends, but studies show it can cause a decrease in healthy bird breeding. This is based on the act that birds are less likely to rear children next to a popular bird feeder and it also means they are eating more food which would be unnatural for baby birds.
Most of the results were not very fruitful however. Robb and Bearhop say that the wide variety of outcomes they discovered in their work point to a real need for more comprehensive research on the topic. This is mostly based on the need to study cases in urban and suburban yards which apparently doesn't go over too well with neighborhood associations. (Just guessing).
I suppose the best thing you can do would be to space your feeders out and make sure they are located close to a treeline. I'm not sure, but it's seed for thought. ha.
SOURCELabels: birds, wildlife |
posted by Christy @ 10:15 AM 
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