Bird Feeding Leads to Bird Conservation

According to the National Bird Feeding Society, "Bird feeding is the second most popular hobby," and, "over 55 million people over the age of 16 watch or feed wild birds or other wildlife around their homes."

It's an entertaining, educational, and enjoyable pasttime for both children and adults.  Bird feeding brings some of natures most beautiful sights and sounds right outside your window.  And, you'll gain a general appreciation for our natural world. 

Bird feeding leads to bird conservation which is critical to the richness and diversity of the planet we share with more than 10,000 species of birds. 

Three reason why bird conservation is so important to our ecology:

1. Distribution of seeds that leads to forest conservation.
2. Food sources for bird predators.
3. Insect and rodent population control.

For complete resources on bird feeding visit the National Bird Feeding Society.

For complete resources on bird conservation visit the American Bird Conservancy.

For the most updated "watchlist" (a list of bird species currently in decline and in most need of attention) visit the National Audubon Society.  There is also a site called Birds to Help which covers which species you can help with just backyard (or patio/balcony) bird feeding based on where you live and whether its urban, suburban, or rural.  They also tell you how to feed your selected bird and enable you to download a pdf file all about them. 

So, break out your new bird feeder, bird seeds, and binoculars, and enjoy the knowledge that you are doing something that's not only relaxing, but important.  You'll be creating a more beautiful natural world.

Everything you ever wanted to know about bird feeding and how to do it.

House Pets and Wild Birds.

The month of Februrary brings together two important awarenesses.  Both of which are not only impactful towards our environment, but relevant to each other as well.  Prevent a Litter Month and National Wild Bird-Feeding Month.  To be completely successful in making an impact, we must first understand the importance of both and how they relate to each other. 

In 2001 a biologist and an ecologist conducted a survey of the hunting habits of 77 house cats in a small village in Britain.  With the cooperation of the owners, they collected and identified the remains brought home by the cats during the year-long study.  Of the 1100 prey, 64% were small mammals (mostly wood mice, field voles, and common shrews).  The remainder were songbirds.  They estimated that cats kill at least 20 million birds each year. 
The current U.S. census shows that there are over 60 million cats kept as pets.  A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found over 114 free-ranging cats per square mile.  This is several times greater than all other native predators of similar size, includin foxes, skunks, opossums, and racoons. 

Think about this. 
How important do you think birds are to our environment?
What impact do you think you are having on those birds by allowing your beloved pets to have litters you can't keep?
The month of February we focus on what we can all do to help the bird population (and why) and how to become responsible pet owners.