Feeding wild birds

[user1471510561]

It's not exactly gardening but I have a dilemma. I've put food out for the birds for years. The different foods are on a post type feeder under our olive tree and we get a good variety of birds visit. The last two months we've had a bird of prey swoop down and around the tree, chasing the little birds and at least on one occasion, it's caught one. Today, there have been two different birds of prey chasing the feeding birds. My dilemma is: do I carry on feeding the birds or stop feeding them so they at least have a chance of survival? I know it's nature's way but I'm not sure I want to encourage the slaughter of blue tits, sparrows etc.

It is nature, but would upset me too. (A sparrowhawk, probably.)

I would try continue feeding them, but put the food somewhere more sheltered where the BoP hasn't got a clear run at them.

Ideas might be one of those cages that you peg down on the grass and put the food under for robins, putting feeders in amongst tree branches and undergrowth so only the littl'uns can get in easily.

It’s a lot more natural than a cat picking them off isn’t it?

I am dying to put feeders up here as I’ve always had birds but I don’t dare because there are too many cats

Are they sparrow hawks?

Thank you for your replies.

We have put the feeder immediately under the branches of the tree so the actual feeders are in among the branches. Perhaps that's why the BoPs haven't been more successful.

We live in southern France and we think the first BoP is a buzzard and the one today a black kite.

I’d be pretty excited to see a black kite!

It sounds like you’re doing what you can re the feeders among the branches. Keeping up the feeding in winter will be worth more to the survival of the birds than preventing the odd one getting picked off by a natural predator.

It could be a goshawk. They're very clever. I don't know if they live in the S of Fr. though.

We live in the MW of Fr. and we feed the birds, there are stray cats we feed too, (i think that if we feed them they don't seem to fancy birds) no small BOP's though!. It doesn't seem to make any difference to the way the food goes, there is a pheasant nearby who enjoys the food as well. I've hung up some feeders too in the tree. above the birdtable.

Going to be much easier to block birds of that size than the faster little BoPs, so well worth continuing I would think.

I'd definitely carry on feeding the small birds - i want birds of prey to survive too, and if they don't catch the little birds in your garden they'll do it elsewhere (or starve). A well fed healthy population of small birds is good for both the prey and predator species, isn't it? The birds of prey (unlike cats) won't waste their energy killing more than they need to eat.

Thank you for all your replies.
We are still feeding the birds but I've moved the feeders higher up so they are on the higher branches of the tree where there is more foliage.
This morning we had another BoP and this time it was a goshawk, so they are in southern France.