Birds Feed Citizen Scientists (Feed The Birds? Maybe...)

[Demeter]

http://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2008/04/7873_birds_feed_citi.html

... Ever wondered about the ecological effects of feeding these backyard beauties? Well, Gillian Robb, Robbie McDonald, Dan Chamberlain, and Stuart Bearhop of various worthy institutes in the UK have published a research review in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, an online journal of the Ecological Society of America, as reported by AAAS. We dole out 500,000 metric tons of bird seed annually in the US and UK, supporting millions of songbirds. This researchers found that, though beneficial, the bonus seed may be a mixed blessing. From the abstract:

While alteration of the natural dynamics of food supply represents a major intervention in avian ecology, we have a remarkably limited understanding of the impacts of this widespread pastime… We consider positive impacts, such as aiding species conservation programs, and negative ones, such as increased risk of disease transmission. It seems highly likely that natural selection is being artificially perturbed, as feeding influences almost every aspect of bird ecology, including reproduction, behavior, demography, and distribution.

In one study, Robb and her colleagues found that dozens of blue tits that nibbled hand-out peanuts all winter fledged more chicks in the spring than those not fed. But a 2001 study of Florida scrub jays found that fed birds ate too much in winter and laid their eggs too early, so natural food sources weren't available when the hatchlings needed them. The review hints at concerns about indirect impacts too. Namely that fed winter residents could be monopolizing all the good breeding territories and natural food supplies in the spring, outcompeting returning migrants.

On the plus side, feeders and nest boxes offer some swell opportunities for studying bird behavior. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has launched some cool citizen-science web efforts:

SEE OWL VIDEO AT LINK!

[Tesha]

1. We've seen an increase in raptors on our hilltop.

Here at the top of our hill, we've seen a *BIG* increase
in raptors over the nine years we've been living here, and
we attribute this to our bird feeding program. No, we don't
feed the raptors directly, but the various small birds (and
squirrels, chipmunks, and the like) that we feed inevitably
become the food for the animals higher up the food chain
and that includes some very fine red-tailed hawks who now
maintain a good-sized family around here. Sometimes we see
direct evidence of hawk-strikes on our feedees.

Tesha

[hunter]

2. We feed the raptors too.

Our bird feeder is like a fast food outlet for hawks and falcons. Stop buy for a quick meal when you don't have time to hunt. We see lots of drama too. My favorite recent sighting was a sharpie sitting on the top branch of a nearby tree, minding her own business, and all the little birds were hiding. Suddenly ZING! a tiny hummingbird falls out of the sky like an angry bee and chases the hawk away.

[semillama]

3. If hummingbirds were raptor-sized

we'd all be dead of piercing bill wounds. Those little suckers are fierce!