do you feed throughout the whole year (1 Viewer)

I like to think in the summer that the birds treat my feeders like McDonalds, not a proper meal but just an easy snack to keep them going whilst they get on with more important things, nudge nudge say no more.

Mick

Mickymouse said:

Blimey what happend there.

Mick

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I guess I threw the system into a wobbly by the sample [----] within my post.
It just carried on with the jinx into your post Mick!
I promise not to do it again, well, not until the next time :h?:
I have not tried double/triple/etc. quoting. Maybe those who have will enlighten us?

Roger

rogerscoth said:

Denis,
I have not witnessed parent birds just feeding themselves from the feeders. Birds such as Goldfinch, House Sparrow and Starling have all fed their noisy, wing-flapping offspring straight from the feeders at times when natural food was available- they just love sunflower hearts!

Roger

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just seeing if this works. I have two massive sunflowers at the moment and i am dying to see who is going to grab the hearts first! i have two feeders up high enough for safety and a patch about a meter from my back door. I have a flower bed there with a fence so the birds first sit on the fence to check out the area then land when they are reassured all is safe and this is a bigger success than any of my feeders. They are getting used to me now although i do try and keep away during their mealtimes but it is great to watch the families come and feed whilst i do the washing up. Even my little blackbird family comes down to feed here, but they enjoy the abundance of worms just at the foot of the porch (cos i pull up the grass there making it easier for me to mow). they fly away with gob fulls
bubobubo

wayhay, it worked, thanks a bunch for the help :clap:

I recall reading somewhere that, even when feeders are fully available, birds get an average only about 11% from feeders and that the rest of their diet from natural sources. I was looking into the issue of whether stopping feeding in middle of winter was dangerous for the birds. This is the flip side of the feeding year round debate. It used to be that we were told that if we start to feed birds in winter the feeding must be continued without interuption all season. Now apparently it doesn't really matter if we stop, the birds will simply increase thir foraging.
It seems to me that feeding year round would be the same, winter or summer the birds would still be getting the bulk of their food from wild sources.
I believe that my source for the information was Cornell's Feeder Watch program but I'm not completely sure of that, I'll have to go back to their site and check.

Here's what Cornell says about feeding:
>Can birds become dependent on bird feeders?

Birds become accustomed to a reliable food source and will visit daily. However, birds search for food in many places, so if your feeder goes empty, most birds will find food elsewhere. During periods of extreme ice, snow, or cold, the sudden disappearance of food might be a hardship. If you are leaving town during freezing weather, consider having someone fill your feeder while you’re away.<
So I guess that it wasn't there I read about the percentages of wild vs feeder food. I'll have to keep looking for the reference.