By Sahana Senthilkumar
You step outside, pause to soak in the radiant beauty of nature, and decide that you want to somehow contribute to the environment in order to ensure that its health is everlasting. A wonderful idea strikes you. You rush inside, forage in your pantry, and一 aha! The sunflower seeds are still there! You can feed the birds with them! Sure, feeding the birds may seem like a generous and selfless act, but have you ever considered its widespread impact on bird populations and overall health? The truth is, no one really thinks twice about it.
Feeding and photographing birds was a fun hobby that allowed me to connect with nature and explore a part of life that I feel is often ignored because of our structured, technology-reliant lifestyles. But I never really stepped outside my bubble of personal benefits to consider the underlying environmental impacts of my actions. For example, if I failed to clean or replace my feeder, a life-threatening disease might have transferred among all the birds who come in contact with it. Or, if a ravenous hawk happened to notice that multiple small animals had congregated near my feeder, an unfortunate tragedy might have occurred right in my backyard. All of this is not to say that you shouldn’t feed birds一 in fact, there are plenty of benefits to doing so as well. Migrating birds often stop at certain places to rest and find food, offering much needed fuel for their long flights across vast lands and seas. Bird feeders add to their list of potential places to go for food. And in areas with colder temperatures, fewer birds are likely to survive due to the lack of guaranteed food sources. Once more, bird feeders come to the rescue by making the sometimes laborious task of searching for food much easier.
As with anything, there are plenty of ways that bird-feeding can either go wrong or be advantageous to bird health. Still, you are certainly encouraged to continue to assist birds in their forage for food by leaving it out in plain sight, but you just need to keep in mind that the following actions will result in unfavorable outcomes:
Keeping Your Feeder Close to the Window
According to the American Bird Conservancy, hundreds of millions birds die every year from crashing into glass. The glass is, much of the time, from windows. Birds are unaware that glass is a clear, impenetrable surface, and as a result, they will likely fly right into them. To prevent this, make sure your feeder is as far away as possible from the window.
Using Pesticides that Contain “Neonics”
“Neonics” are insecticides used in many lawns and gardens to keep insects from coming near plants. However, many birds end up unintentionally dying from these toxic products as well. A songbird could die from consuming a single seed that was treated with a “neonic” pesticide. If you plan to keep a bird feeder in your garden (or even if you don’t since birds may still visit your backyard for whatever reason), refrain from using these products. There are plenty of organic alternatives in the market that could be used instead.
Dirty Feeders
As previously mentioned, failing to clean your bird feeder could lead to the transfer of potentially deadly diseases. This can be easily prevented if you just take the time to clean your bird feeder about once every two weeks. To clean your feeder, run it under hot water and scrub it with soap or a small amount of bleach. To ensure that your bird feeding site is entirely free of bird droppings and other waste, clean underneath the feeder as well.
Unhealthy Foods
Just like us, birds need the right types of nutrients going into their bodies in order to ensure that they remain strong and healthy for the rest of their lives. The foods that we buy, no matter how harmless they may seem, may not always be ideal for birds. For example, stores often carry roasted and salted sunflower seeds, which may seem like bird food to you, but they are really only meant for human consumption. The more processed that the seeds are, the worse they are for birds’ health. The best type of bird seed will specifically be labeled as being meant for birds.
Pet Cats Near the Feeder
The American Bird Conservatory has another unfortunate statistic to share: cats are the cause of about 2.4 billion bird deaths per year. Again, this is easily preventable一 all cat owners need to do is keep their cats in an enclosed area or on a leash when they are outside. The point is to keep the cat a safe distance away from areas that birds may land on, so obviously, be sure to place your bird feeder far away from where your cat roams.
If you manage to take the proper precautions before feeding your backyard birds, it can end up being a truly rewarding experience一 both for you and the birds.
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