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From your backyard to the seaside, the campground to the park, the end of the driveway to the
landfill, you are probably just one of the millions of North Americans who unknowingly
participate in a form of wildlife management; feeding wild birds, as a "harmless hobby", has
gained popularity with a fairly new trend of people feeling the need to get a little closer to
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nature. In a consumerist society that is rapidly eradicating its natural resources and ecosystems,
wild birds are becoming more and more dependent on the handouts we leave for them; some
believe it is our moral obligation to subsidize the feed and habitats that we have stolen from
nature, some simply enjoy the close company of our feathered-friends, and others still, will argue
that we could be doing more harm than good.
What happened to the old saying "please do not feed the wildlife"? As we drive down
every rural highway, spend the day at any park or beach, or camp a night in a provincial
campground, we are confronted with signs that state "feeding wildlife is unlawful". So it is
wrong to feed the animals there, but it is our moral duty to feed the ones in our own backyard?
How can we fathom what is right and wrong, when it comes to taking care of the wild animals in
our area, with such conflicting messages? Is it that in our yards we can do whatever we want,
and, if we are moral beings, we should all want to help the wildlife so we should feed the birds?
Or, is it that what many of us are doing is simply another form of speciesism and perhaps then,
the signs should really read "feed the birds, not the mammals".
Americans alone already spend close to $ billion a year on bird feed (Sterba, 00); add to
that the Canadian population of bird feeders (and all the new recruits every year), and all the
amount North Americans will spend buying new decorative wild bird merchandise for their
backyards. Back in the day, it was your priceless lawn gnome holding the miniature
wheelbarrow (that for some reason was merchandised as a yard necessity) that filled with water
after a rainfall and was the extent to which we attracted a robin to perch and bathe in our sight.
Somewhere along the line, someone figured out how to market and profit from this once simple
hobby; these birdseed companies have "watched the seed market grow like a weed in the past
several years" (Williams, 00). Like a weed? Like "any common, unsightly, or troublesome
plant that grows in abundance... to injurious excess" (Funk and Wagnalls, 174). It would
appear that this seed farmer knows exactly what this multimillion dollar industry is doing to the
natural bird populations more feed for some species equals more birds of that species, so more
backyard-fed species will overwhelm those populations that don't want our handouts.
Furthermore, many tree species rely on the birds to disperse their seeds to repopulate their
species. In turn, all these factors imbalance our continent's delicate ecosystems; the feed your
neighbors put out for the birds is far more easily attained than the insect populations hidden in
your garden, so sooner or later, you will need to make a trip to the nursery and purchase yourself
some pesticides. Do you have small children?
Almost a decade ago, the National Bird-Feeding Society announced that February would
for now on be "feed the wild birds month". For an $18.00 fee you can join this society, and for
$15.00 you can certify your own yard as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and post this sign
These associations encourage us to invest some of our time and money in habitat restoration in
urban and suburban areas. Building our homes has driven out the wildlife and destroyed the
natural environment needed for these birds to thrive, so they persuade us to believe that it is our
responsibility to make sure these wild birds have a safe and warm place to feed and nest all year
long focusing everyone's attention in February when bird populations supposedly have a hard
time finding food and open water without our intervention [perhaps these welfare wildlife
(Sterba, 00) populations should have just migrated south for the winter instead!]. They tell
apartment renters to turn their balconies into a place for the birds to stop by at for a meal, and for
homeowners to landscape their yards with more trees and flowers than lawn, and to purchase
feeders, baths, and nesting houses that are specifically designed for each species (and of course
you will be needing one of each kind for optimum results!) --and while doing all of this, please
keep your cats indoors!
Web pages that feature non-profit organizations that encourage us to feed the "starving" wild
birds, link us to pages that sell the appropriate items needed to do so; in the long run, someone is
making a profit. Today, there are so many choices of colors, shapes, and materials used to
manufacture feeders, nests, baths, and feed for every species of birds that naturally come to your
yard, and even some that promise to promote other species to come feed and nest so you can
watch through the window from your kitchen table! With all these products on the market to
chose from, it is no wonder that consumers feel pressure to purchase them and join the millions
of others who have already jumped on the bandwagon.
Wild bird store cashiers in their khaki shorts, knee high socks, and birdseed-filled pockets
(who more resemble park rangers and would probably rather be referred to as conservationists if
we were to be so naively bold), praise us on our new found interest in joining the trend that has
brought pleasure and stress relief to so many people. He will most likely take a moment to teach
us of the dangers of positioning our feeders too close to trees or shrubs where these unnatural
concentrations of birds are most susceptible to their natural predators. They will then go on to
tell us that perhaps we'll need to deal with the squirrels (and in some areas even the bears) that
may take a share of the birds' food. So, for a few dollars more there are electrical feeders
available that zap the invading squirrels, causing them to "lose their grip and fall to the ground";
but don't worry about the squirrels because they learn after four or five days of trying, and
anyway, there must be food for them somewhere [a feeder like this can be purchased online for a
great sale price of just $14.5 (regular price $16.5) at garden-shops.com].
If you have a few extra minutes, after purchasing the necessary supplies to get started on your
new and exciting "simple hobby", there is an opportunity to learn a little more from this "bird
expert"; if he really is as knowledgeable as he believes he is, he may go on to tell you that the
popular notion expressed in the media, that it is safe to use glycerin and anti-freeze to keep your
bird baths from freezing over in winter, is absolutely false (Ross, 10) (and perhaps he will
show you the latest in electric-heated models if you are interested)! And, he may want to warn
you about West Nile Virus, Mycoplasma gallisepticum bacterium, Salmonella, and
Aspergillosis, just to name a few. Or, he could just let you know that there are risks in providing
feed, baths, and nests for the wild birds in your yard, and perhaps purchasing a handy
ornithology disease encyclopedia to refer to would be a great way to get all the facts before the
epidemic starts. Then, as you are leaving, satisfied with your purchases, he may call out a
reminder to put drapes or blinds on all your windows --which accounts for 51 percent of all
backyard bird deaths (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1 qtd. in Sterba, 00).
The West Nile Virus (WNV) first appeared in New York in 1 and continues to spread
throughout North America by mosquitoes and birds (National Bird-Feeding Society, www). The
baths we leave in our gardens for the birds are actually optimal sites for mosquitoes to breed.
WNV-infected-mosquitoes bite and infect healthy birds. Not all infected birds die (though many
will), so birds carrying this virus transmit it to other mosquitoes in someone else's yard, and the
cycle continues. People over fifty, who are more often to spend a majority of time watching and
feeding the wild birds, are also the ones less immune to the West Nile Virus and can die if go
untreated (National Bird-Feeding Society, www). Did your bird expert remind you to change the
water in your bird-bath every two days during the mosquito breeding season so that the
mosquitoes can't mature and hatch and spread this virus, and to clean it every one or two weeks
with a bleach and water solution and scrape off the algae and bacteria so that other infections
don't spread? And, when is the mosquito breeding season?
And now that the topic of cleaning has been mentioned, it should be noted that the feeders
need to be disinfected once in awhile too. It is usually suggested that it be bleached every one or
two weeks, brought inside at night when bears are not in hibernation, and to remove the feeder
when you are on holidays because some models can actually trap small birds inside the feeder
when the seed supply is low, and you'll be returning home to a not-so-pretty sight (especially if
you're model is the see-through plastic type). They'll tell you you should clean it at least once a
month, but once a disease outbreak occurs, you'll be having to clean it once a day. If you don't
clean them regularly, bird feces and damp seed will cause illnesses such as Salmonella and
house finch conjunctivitis because mold and bacteria can thrive under these conditions (oh... and
remember to wear gloves!). Birds that contract house finch conjunctivitis will have "scabby,
swollen, runny, cloudy-looking, or glassy eyes, mucous oozing from the nostrils, and an upper
respiratory infection" that will leave them blind and vulnerable to predators and starvation
(Pennsylvania Wildlife Series, www); be sure to buy binoculars for a better view!
This is stress relief? If anything, the more species of birds you insist come visit you, the more
work that is involved, and, the greater likelihood that all these bird chores will not all get done
on a regular basis resulting in infections. Saying that, we are encouraging different bird species
to live together that, when in nature, normally would not because it is not ecologically
beneficial; it promotes an even greater opportunity for disease diffusion.
The following is a quote made by an anonymous author who lets her readers know how she
was able to attract a variety of species into her yard
"When first moving in to our house, one of the first things we did was to hang a feeder
of sunflower seeds. We could have stopped right there, and with even just the one feeder
would have had a few birds to watch. We were greedy though. We wanted to attract
many birds. We wanted to attract all different species of birds." (PageWise, Inc., 001)
This bird-feeding advocate has carelessly admitted her motivation for placing a variety of feed
for the birds in her yard (not realizing it will be used here to argue that greed is the true
motivation for this hobby and so the act is immoral, rather than the more favored notion that
what we are doing is honorably reviving the starving bird populations --which has already been
debunked earlier). We agree that greed is never moral when dealing with humans or the natural
environment; assume that people who feed the wild birds also enjoy watching them (we can go
as far as to say that these birds are then performing for an audience). And, we can say that the
act of luring wild creatures with food is a form of training and domestication. So, could we not
then conclude that people who feed the birds are training them to return and perform for an
edible reward (similar to training your household domesticated canine to play fetch, or any
animal to perform tricks at a circus)? If we agree that this is a form of training, and that what
makes a wild animal "wild" is its lack of training, then we can conclude that we are unjustly
domesticating the birds and this is an act of greed. So, because this is a greedy act and it's only
value is to benefit us, then it is not honorable at all. We are not just "feeding the birds", we are
using them as means to our own ends --entertainment and pleasure. If we are using the birds as a
means then we are taking away their inherent worth and replacing it with intrinsic worth. So, if
this argument is sound, we aren't helping the birds, we are helping ourselves and it is immoral.
Environmental historian Donald Worster recalls a notion during the 160's and 170's
ecological revolution that states "the goal was to save the living world around us... from
destruction... [and] the only way to do that... was to think the radical thought that there must be
limits to... greed." (Worster qt. in Sessions, 001)
It seems that our simple hobby has grown far beyond placing a single feeder in the yard that
occasionally gets filled when you remember to, or the random sprinkle of seed on your lawn
when you notice a flock of birds stopping to rest in your area; these acts were never a real
concern because it does not seem to disrupt the birds' natural migration pattern or make them
human-dependent. They still must forage for their own food, find their own nesting grounds,
and locate a fresh water supply. If these resources are not available to wild birds naturally in
your neighborhood, chances are they shouldn't really be there at all. And just because a species
of bird doesn't visit your yard, does not mean it is endangered or a rare species, or that your
bird-feeding methods just aren't up to par. If you have a need to see a concentration and variety
of birds, plan an excursion to the dump; there are plenty of wild birds foraging on scraps, grubs,
and insects there. And if you feel the need to get closer to nature, perhaps you should make a
lunch, pack up the kids, and go for a hike in nature.
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