[va-richmond-general] Bird article in the New York Times this week

From Kathy Kreutzer

Chesterfield

 

February 12, 2008

Observatory

Birds Who Ride Winter Gravy Train See Benefits in Spring

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

 

 

If you feed birds in the winter, should you continue feeding them in the

spring? Conventional wisdom suggests that you should let the birds fend for

themselves when there is plenty of food around, that continuing to feed

them might be disruptive in some way.

 

 

The truth is, no one really knows. "There are all these people putting feed

out in their gardens, and they don't have much knowledge of what is

actually happening," said Gillian N. Robb, a doctoral student at Queen's

University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

 

 

But a study by Ms. Robb, Stuart Bearhop of the University of Exeter in

England and others provides evidence that even if backyard feeding stops at

winter's end, it has a carry-over effect on birds later in the spring.

 

 

In the study, described in Biology Letters, the researchers put out feeders

containing peanuts (a common bird food in Britain) in woodland plots from

Nov. 1, 2005, to March 8, 2006. From mid-April (six weeks after feeding

stopped) to June they studied the effects on birds, particularly blue tits.

 

 

They found that blue tits in areas with supplemental feeding laid eggs on

average two and a half days earlier than those in areas without extra

wintertime food. And on average, about one additional chick per nest

survived to fledgling age.

 

 

Dr. Bearhop said the extra energy provided by the food could help adults

reach breeding fitness a little earlier. And the vitamins and other

nutrients could be passed on to the offspring, making them hardier.

 

 

The researchers say their findings suggest wintertime feeding could

increase the population of blue tits. While that would presumably be good

for that species, it might not be so good for others, particularly

migratory birds that return in the summer to find their territories teeming

with other birds.

Other related posts: