Category FAQs Search : Urban Ecology
Question: Feeding backyard birds with sugar water
Answer: Introduction
Backyard bird feeding has become a popular activity over the past few decades (Robb et al. 2008). Almost half of households in the USA feed birds on a regular basis (Martinson and Flashpoler 2003; Rogers 2002), while in the UK, as many as 75% of households engage in this practice (Davies et al. 2012; Goddard et al. 2013). Despite its growing popularity and some evidence of benefits for urban bird communities, such as higher winter survival rates, population densities, breeding success and even improved health (Crick et al. 2002; Bonnington et al. 2014; Wilcoxen et al. 2015), there are a number of concerns associated with bird feeding. Large numbers of birds present at a feeder could enhance disease transmission if feeding stations serve as bird pathogen reservoirs (Dhondt et al. 2007; Blanco et al. 2017; Galbraith et al. 2017). Supplementary food can also lead to imbalances in birds’ diets (Nicolson and Fleming 2003b; Schaefer et al. 2003). Other authors have suggested that dependency on supplementary food and risk of predation are additional potential costs for small birds (Nyffeler et al. 2017; Carr and Golinski 2021). However, other studies failed to find similar relationships (Dunn and Tessaglia 1994; Ballantyne and Hughes 2006; Jones 2018). Unsurprisingly, this conflicting evidence leads to opposing stances towards bird feeding. For example, in some Australian states, wildlife and conservation agencies strongly discourage all forms of wildlife feeding (Seipen and Stanley 1996; Petrie et al. 2003). In contrast, many Northern European and American organisations actively promote urban wildlife feeding as a conservation activity (Jones and Reynolds, 2008). This inconsistency in attitudes is probably due to some feeding practices being harmful, while others are helpful.
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(Source: Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, 04 Aug 2021)
Source Link: https://academic.oup.com/jue/article/7/1/juab018/6327593?searchresult=1