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Feeding Wild Birds: Pros and Cons

Should we or shouldn’t we feed wild birds? This is still being debated. By scientists, conservation organizations, and bird lovers everywhere.

Episode:
60
Date:
September 15, 2022

Listen to the Episode

Feeding Wild Birds: Pros and Cons

Summary

This episode—which is Number 60—is about Feeding Wild Birds. As in, humans providing supplemental food for wild birds.

This typically involves a contraption called a birdfeeder. I imagine many of you listening have one or more of these things in your yard right now. I’ve got a few myself. When you or I hang up a birdfeeder, we’re feeding wild birds intentionally. This intentional feeding is what today’s episode is about.

Millions and millions of people all around the world feed wild birds intentionally. At such a massive scale, you have to imagine this would affect birds significantly, and in many ways. And it absolutely does.

Which brings us to the big question: should we or shouldn’t we feed wild birds? This is still being debated. By scientists, conservation organizations, and bird lovers everywhere.

Today, I’ll do my best to give you objective, scientific information about feeding birds. We’ll look at the pros and cons. Then, we’ll see if there’s any sort of conclusion we can come to at the end of the episode.



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Links of Interest

Research Citations

Photos

Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major). Photo by Lidia Stawinska/UnSplash.
Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). Photo by Dmitry Yakubovich/Adobe.
European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris). Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen/UnSplash.

Attributions

  • Black-capped Chickadee sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC13286)
  • Black-capped Chickadee sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC121068)
  • Eurasian Blackcap sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC730794)

This work by Ivan Phillipsen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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