Bird Feeders

[Jazzy]

Do you hang bird feeders in your yard?

How many do you have and do you feed birds year long?

 

[Messy]

My parents had them. It attracted mice. I used to have the rabbits on the balcony with rabbit food with corn etc. in it. Mice everywhere. They bothered the neighbours too. So no, no bird food on my balcony. Sometimes a dove comes. I don't mind if he walks here once in a while for a minute, but I'm not gonna attract him and clean up his mess.

 

[Josiah]

In my Boy Scout days, it was STRESSED that NEVER should anyone feed wild animals.... it makes them dependent on humans (who are not so dependable), sometimes they teach their young to depend on such handouts instead of teaching them how to get food for themselves, it encourages human/animal interaction that isn't always good for either, and sometimes what they are fed isn't good for them, especially if that's all they eat. The most caring thing to do with wild animals? Leave them alone. Let them be wild.

That's what we were told...



.

 

[Romanos]

There is one in my back yard but I do not use it.

 

[tango]

In my Boy Scout days, it was STRESSED that NEVER should anyone feed wild animals.... it makes them dependent on humans (who are not so dependable), sometimes they teach their young to depend on such handouts instead of teaching them how to get food for themselves, it encourages human/animal interaction that isn't always good for either, and sometimes what they are fed isn't good for them, especially if that's all they eat. The most caring thing to do with wild animals? Leave them alone. Let them be wild.

That's what we were told...



.

I've heard that if you're going to feed birds to help them through the winter it's critically important that you feed them reliably and consistently. Apparently if a bird is struggling to stay alive because it's so cold and expends the energy to fly to the feeder expecting a meal only to find nothing it can make the difference between it surviving and dying.

I personally don't feed birds - I like to see garden birds but don't want to feed the less desirable species of birds and certainly don't want to encourage squirrels (and potentially rabbits, depending on how much seed is dropped on the ground).

At some point I might put hummingbird feeders out, but might look to plant flowers that will draw hummingbirds and bumblebees.