You’ve seen them – happy toddlers throwing crumbs to the birds, sometimes surrounded by waddling ducks or fluttering pigeons. It is a time-honoured tradition and part of childhood for many people. But have you ever noticed that some places welcome feeding while others post signs to the contrary. So what’s the deal?
To start with, it’s fun to feed the birds. Whether you’re an adult or a child, throwing food and persuading ever closer visits can be downright thrilling. A duck beak pecking up bread can be a strangely alarming and entertaining feeling on the palm of a hand. It also offers a rare chance to see animals up close and personal.
But all is not sweetness and light. In some places, bird populations have outgrown the food and habitat offered by their natural environment. People who feed the birds are enabling overpopulation – and when human food is removed, individuals often starve. The other effects of overpopulation include pollution of local water areas from droppings. In fact, officials in Venice have recently banned feeding the pigeons to reduce damage (through droppings) to historic buildings in San Marcos Square.
Under normal conditions, birds disperse to find other food sources, better nesting sites, and reduce competition. When artificial feeding encourages a more dense population, increased aggression is common. In Vancouver, signs prohibit feeding the animals in most parks and along the shore – but nobody seems to pay attention. As a result, the mere sight of a stroller can cause a duck stampede – racing for the expected payoff, amid much pecking and squawking. Entertaining? Maybe. Or maybe not so much, if you knew this was yet another violent moment in an artificially dense population, and not sustainable for that habitat.
That’s not to say that all bird-feeding is detrimental. In fact, birds often rely on consistent stops around established feeding sites Particularly in the winter, when high-quality food is hard to find, and for hummingbirds, household feeding stations are beneficial to bird survival. Don’t stop providing food in the spring, however. Birds are now raising chicks, which requires intensive foraging by both parents – the family will benefit from thoughtful supplementation.
In fact, although scraps of bread are the traditional fare for feeding birds, it offers little nutritional value. While birds will happily peck away at those crusts, they are deriving little actual benefit but still filling up on bulky carbohydrates. Instead, consider offering bird seed and other choices. At a feeding table, a mixture of suitable foods works best. Think about including items such as oats, soft apples, strawberries, bananas, cooked rice, baked potatoes, and even fresh mealworms. Avoid whole peanuts, as these are better for over-wintering adults and not small gluttonous nestlings, while suet goes rancid in warm weather.
With the general decline in natural habitat, maintaining bird populations may require a helping hand. Residential and agricultural pesticides, dwindling forest and meadow areas, and other changes may offer challenges to various populations. People can help, but not with stale bread.
