Are Bird Feeders Cruel

[lord jackel]

This is sort of a rant...I went out to take my daughter to school this morning. It was about 40 degrees and had rained all night so was a really wet cold. As we sat in the car letting it heat up something hit the hood. I looked up and between the hood and windshield sat a small finch (there is no nest in the tree so I assume it had perched the night on a branch). I got out to make sure it wasn't hurt and it was nearly frozen solid. I scooped it up and cupped it in my hand. I drove to her school (we were running late) cupping this small bird who was very cold but still moving a little. When I got home I put it in a small cage with some warm blankets...but unfortunately it was too late, it moved around a little and then died...I guess the cold (and then the fall) was just to much.

This poor bird started me thinking...it has been getting cold for several weeks why hadn't it flown south. I looked around our neighborhood and noticed 4 swans, 20 ducks and hundreds of geese (along with a lot of small birds) and then I saw in the front yard of one of the ladies down the street were 5 ducks and 2 geese along with 10+ small birds all eating and grazing the ground around this lady's 4 bird feeders.

So it makes you wonder in our quest to attract pretty birds to watch have we made it too easy for them to find food that we have changed their habits and they no longer fly south for the winter? What happens when people stop feeding them what are they too do? Are we removing their survival instincts one bird feeder at a time?

Just makes you wonder

[BD1]

I have been feeding birds for years, they adapt, the birds have survived without us for a long time. If you watch them long enough, you'll notice some birds stay throughout the year, some migrate to warmer climates. There have been times when I ran out of seed for a week or so, which, if they were so dependent, would leave me with piles of dead starving birds all over the yard and clinging to empty feeders. It doesn't happen, they get food in the woods, they eat wild seeds, they scavenge, whatever, they do what they need to survive. Feeding them of course makes it easier on them to find food, and helps build up a little fat to ensure they'll make it through some of the colder weather.

[lord jackel]

I have been feeding birds for years, they adapt,

This is my point they are adapting and birds that should be heading south aren't (ducks, geese and swans are all migratory birds). I am in Indiana and it gets really cold and in the past 10 years I continue to see more and more birds each winter.

[Sunny1]

Most birds will migrate whether or not people have bird feeders out. I too may notice a few birds here and there in the winter time, but still not nearly as many as in the spring/summer. I read somewhere once that sometimes birds will have late clutches of eggs and some of the younger birds may not be able to migrate, which may have been the case with the bird that you found. Your bird was probably able to fly around to look for food, but not old enough/strong enough to make a long migratory trip, or could have possibly been sick/injured to begin with..

And as far as the adapting of some of these birds, some of them (the one that comes to mind offhand is the Mallard) are designed to be very weather hardy. Though they also are designed to migrate in search of better food sources, they also have the capabilities to live in some harsher weather should food sources remain available. So the birds, ducks, geese, etc. that stay, do stay because they have reliable food sources from people, but also have the capabilities of being able to live in colder climates. So I would not worry too much about the ducks, geese, etc. that stay and don't migrate. They stay because they are able to.

[littleindiangirl]

Also, we have had unseasonably warm weather this fall... 65 today? In November is pretty warm as it usually snows before halloween. :/

[Sunny1]

I was searching online to see some of the migratory paths of some birds and their winter habitats and found some pages for some popular birds etc. It looks that many of their winter habitats include much of North America and some swans stay where they are at year round. Here are some links:

Robin
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/spe...s/introduction

Mallard
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/spe...s/introduction

Canada Goose
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/spe...s/introduction

Mute Swan
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/spe...s/introduction

If you scroll down on each of these links, it will show maps of their year round habitats.

[tigerlily]

Availablilty of food is not the trigger for bird migration. They get cues from the temperatures and the shorter days. My hummingbirds knew when to leave, even though there was food avaibable. But like Pam said, there are a ton of factors of why some birds hang around. I usually worry more about cats.

[lord jackel]

Thanks Pam....the links were very interesting.

I am glad to see that most people feel that the extra food that birds receive aren't having a negative effect on them.

[BD1]

Availablilty of food is not the trigger for bird migration. They get cues from the temperatures and the shorter days. My hummingbirds knew when to leave, even though there was food avaibable. But like Pam said, there are a ton of factors of why some birds hang around. I usually worry more about cats.

Great point about the cats, tigerlily. By far, outdoor cats are one of the leading cause (if not THE leading causing) for the decimation of songbirds. I remember a documentary that I think was filmed in England about the numbers of rodents, birds, etc that cats were killing and the numbers were astronomical. Too bad the cats don't go south and leave the birds alone.

[fergie]

I come from a family of bird lovers and breeders and we never put are feeders and bird tables out any earlier than November. The birds have no need for feeders and tables any earlier in the year over here in Northern Ireland. By the time November comes all migratory birds have left for warmer clims. In saying that, the migratory instinct in birds will always rule over whether its handier to hang about our back gardens for peanuts and seed.