cavan wood
Well-known member
In the past couple of weeks there have been a number of threads about blackbirds, robins, and other garden birds in the UK raising young to have them killed by cats, magpies, crows, and teens with air rifles.
This got me to wondering if feeding birds in city/suburban yards encourages them to nest in otherwise poor nesting sites. If we weren't feeding them, would they seek better habitat where they would be better hidden and less exposed to the opportunist feeders common in developed areas?
Clearly many offspring die in the most natural of habitats, hence the large number of eggs and broods to compensate. Yet, I wonder if despite the obvious benefit to birds from an energy budget point of view, do we inflict an even higher than normal mortality rate on the birds that we attract to our gardens?
I have read absolutely nothing on this topic, so if anyone has any literature or opinions along this theme, I would be quite interested in hearing it.
This got me to wondering if feeding birds in city/suburban yards encourages them to nest in otherwise poor nesting sites. If we weren't feeding them, would they seek better habitat where they would be better hidden and less exposed to the opportunist feeders common in developed areas?
Clearly many offspring die in the most natural of habitats, hence the large number of eggs and broods to compensate. Yet, I wonder if despite the obvious benefit to birds from an energy budget point of view, do we inflict an even higher than normal mortality rate on the birds that we attract to our gardens?
I have read absolutely nothing on this topic, so if anyone has any literature or opinions along this theme, I would be quite interested in hearing it.