Please help someone who knows nothing (1 Viewer)

We live just north of Philadelphia PA.

We have loads of birds that nest around our house. What kind?
Hell if I know!

Small and they sound nice, kind of grey and nondescript to my untrained eyes.

For years I have put out left over bread and other stuff for generations of birds and in time - say an hour or three it's gone.

Recently the food is gone in minutes and the birds swarm! I put out bread for 2 days in a row and bought some wild bird seed at the pet food store.

Questions:

I do not want the birds to become dependent on me, but I do want them to do ok.

How often should I feed? Should I put out as much as they will eat or just a bit?

I also have provided water.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

I don't think you have to worry about the birds becoming dependent on you. If for some reason you stop feeding them, they'll simply revert to whatever natural foods are available locally or will move on to somewhere else. Most people who feed birds go on vacation from time to time, after all, & the birds seem make it through alright.

With regard to quantity, my practice has always been to fill the feeders in the morning soon after getting up & then to leave it at that until the next morning. In many cases, particularly in the depth of winter, the feeders are empty in a couple of hours; in others, particularly if there's a hawk around, there will still be some seed left in the late afternoon. But I always try to keep the water dish filled--& the ice broken in the winter--throughout the day, as birds come in to drink or bath even when there's no food around.

I don't think there's any harm in keeping the feeders filled all day BTW, or in occasionally putting out extra food. It's just that I personally find once-a-day feeding more compatible with my day-to-day routine

Hi Steven and a warm welcome to you from the entire staff here at BirdForum :t:

You never have to worry about over feeding. It's especially helpful to have plenty of nourishing seed around during the summer months when the parents are going crazy trying to feed their nestlings. Cold weather too.

You might find in early spring that the seed isn't going as quick but that's because there is plenty of natural food around and the birds avail themselves to it.

Welcome to the BirdForum, Steven. We are glad to have you aboard.

* I think the birds you mentioned are probably House Sparrows.

I would like to thank fugl, KC Foggin, and Larry Lade for their answers. The House Sparrows likely would add their thanks were they able!