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Hi Fred. The literature seems to indicate that bird feeders have no
effect on migration. Cornell says "Keeping your feeders up has no
influence on whether a bird will start its journey south. A number of
factors trigger the urge for birds to migrate, and the most significant
one is day length. As days grow shorter in late summer, birds get
restless and start to head south, taking advantage of abundant natural
food, and feeders where available, to fuel their flight."
As to summer feeding, the chickadees coming to my sunflower feeder also
seem to spend a lot of time pecking around in our bushes looking for
caterpillars. They are also checking around the eaves and under my
patio umbrella for insects. Perhaps the seeds are only a supplement and
I presume nestlings are being fed insects. Fledged birds would be
introduced to the seeds but also taught? to look for insects.
Summer feeding is of course mostly for the birdwatcher. I know I love
to see the activity as I sit in my backyard.
Don
Don MacNeill donmacneill@bellaliant.net
On 7/17/2017 8:40 AM, Frederick W. Schueler wrote:
> On 7/17/2017 7:08 AM, Paul Mansz wrote:
>
>> young birds are initially fed a diet of insects and spiders, so they
>> are foraging successfully without our help.
>
> * I must say that this business of having feeders up over the summer
> is new to me. I would caution those who are considering summer feeding
> with a tale (that I was told as a graduate student) about Horned Lakes
> in intensively wheat-farmed areas of Kansas: the Larks fed their
> nestlings on readily available grain rather than Insects, and the
> young didn't have the digestible protein and other nutrients they
> needed to grow up. If seed is unnaturally available in the summer,
> seed-eating birds may well feed their young the grain, and thereby
> stunt or prevent their development. With or without disease, I think
> it's imprudent to feed Birds during the summer.
>
> fred. (of course, unless you've got a toddler who will benefit from
> seeing Birds up close, I also don't think it's proper to feed Birds
> during the winter, because of the imbalance this creates between
> migratory/non migratory lifestyles, so feeder advocates can take my
> advice with as much salt as they feel appropriate).
> ========================================================
>
>> Similarly, taking down your feeders simply means the birds will
>> forage over a larger territory. In fact, I think the birds do that
>> anyway, regardless of whether feeders are present. In our yard, for
>> example, the number of birds feeding at our feeders is at its low for
>> the summer -- as is always the case it seems every year. The hummers
>> seem to take a break and are much less frequent at the feeders, and
>> other birds (except for Juncos and Cardinals) are very infrequent.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
> Bishops Mills Natural History Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm
> Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm
> Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
> South Nation Basin Art & Science Book
> http://pinicola.ca/books/SNR_book.htm
> RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
> (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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<font face="Calibri">Hi Fred. The literature seems to indicate that
bird feeders have no effect on migration. Cornell says </font><font
face="Calibri">"Keeping your feeders up has no influence on
whether a bird will start its journey south. A number of factors
trigger the urge for birds to migrate, and the most significant
one is day length. As days grow shorter in late summer, birds get
restless and start to head south, taking advantage of abundant
natural food, and feeders where available, to fuel their flight."<br>
<br>
As to summer feeding, the chickadees coming to my sunflower feeder
also seem to spend a lot of time pecking around in our bushes
looking for caterpillars. They are also checking around the
eaves and under my patio umbrella for insects. Perhaps the seeds
are only a supplement and I presume nestlings are being fed
insects. Fledged birds would be introduced to the seeds but also
taught? to look for insects.<br>
<br>
Summer feeding is of course mostly for the birdwatcher. I know I
love to see the activity as I sit in my backyard.<br>
<br>
Don<br>
<br>
</font>
<div class="moz-signature">Don MacNeill
donmacneill@bellaliant.net</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/17/2017 8:40 AM, Frederick W.
Schueler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:596CA229.6040901@istar.ca">On
7/17/2017 7:08 AM, Paul Mansz wrote:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"> young birds are initially fed a diet of
insects and spiders, so they are foraging successfully without
our help.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
* I must say that this business of having feeders up over the
summer is new to me. I would caution those who are considering
summer feeding with a tale (that I was told as a graduate student)
about Horned Lakes in intensively wheat-farmed areas of Kansas:
the Larks fed their nestlings on readily available grain rather
than Insects, and the young didn't have the digestible protein and
other nutrients they needed to grow up. If seed is unnaturally
available in the summer, seed-eating birds may well feed their
young the grain, and thereby stunt or prevent their development.
With or without disease, I think it's imprudent to feed Birds
during the summer.
<br>
<br>
fred. (of course, unles