Anyone else feeling sad about not feeding the birds?

[PinkCatCushion]

Anyone else feeling sad at not feeding the birds?
I understand the new advice, and can see the importance of removing bird feeders and only feeding in the winter, but I will miss feeding them so much.
Feeding and watching birds visit my feeders brings me genuine joy. It lifts my spirits. It’s got me interested in nature. I look forward to feeding them each day. I’m REALLY going to miss feeding them.

The rspb have released advise over the last two days asking people not to put seed and nuts out 31st May-31st Oct which is what the original poster of this thread is talking about.
The 2 species that are declining are being affected by a disease that is spread from regurgitate food and droppings. Even keeping feeders scrupulously clean doesn’t work as you only need one infected finch to visit after you’ve cleaned it, for it to be spread.
By removing feeders it encourages them to spread out and hopefully halt the spread of the disease.

i dont understand why people cannot read the link provided
and am very disheartened about the amount of people who insist they will carry on regardless.

I have read the link and the FAQ and other pages on the RSPB site. In response to the question, "Would it be safer to just stop feeding birds altogether?"

They state:
"We have carefully balanced the benefits of feeding against the risks of disease, and we believe that we can continue to feed our garden birds, as long as we feed the right types of food at the right time of year. By following our guidance to feed seasonally and feed safely, we can all help protect the future of our birds."

In response to the FAQ "Should I feed birds in spring and summer ? "
They reply, "During the spring and summer months, birds also require high-protein foods, especially while they’re moulting. Mealworms are an excellent choice at this time of year in small amounts. Soak them in water before offering to make it easier for chicks to eat them and also to increase their water content. Suet products can be offered in moderation but homemade fat balls can melt in warm summer weather, and should be avoided. The RSPB Super Suet products are resistant to melting in heat."

Changing to feeding seasonally and only offering suet, fatballs and mealworm in Spring and Summer is their advice.

I am making an informed decision, based on RSPB guidance to continue to safely feed the birds and will adhere to the small quantities and not using a feeding station.

Thanks for sharing the link - I hope as many people as possible read this and follow the advice. I tend to put out mealworms in spring, but have stopped using hanging feeders and didn't have a bird table anyway.

I think the best policy is to make the garden as bird-friendly as possible. Trees, shrubs, and plants that provide shelter and food. And a pond instead of a bird bath that needs cleaning every five minutes.

Anyone who says "sod the killjoy RSPB, I'm carrying on regardless" really doesn't give a shit about birds.

I’ve just stocked up! I’m going to feed more suet balks and worms. I’ve bought some feeding bags and I wonder if they would be safer? I can bung them in the sink and wash them. I feed half the sparrows in east London. I don’t want to let them down 😔. I’ve been planting more natural sources of food over the last few years too

I had a nasty woman shouting at me for feeding bread to the birds the other week, ranting that her dog had eaten some!

I told her to get off her high horse, it had been good enough for my daughter's sandwiches the day before.

Maybe if she kept it on a lead!

People have fed the birds as long as we have co-existed, it is a little moment of joy in what can be a bleak world for both parties and I don't plan to stop.

Why don't you email the RSPB and ask them? I've never heard of a feeding bag. Is there a danger of getting feet caught in them? You arent supposed to use those net bags that suet balls used to come in. I would have thought the cage holders are best for suet and very easy to clean.

I will. I wondered if they were a better choice for seeds when we can feed them? I’ve never seen a finch in my garden. I only get sparrows, wood and rock pigeons, blue tits, parakeets and corvids. When sparrows were supposed to be in decline, I still had millions 😁.

I’m going to take down my feeders and give them all a clean. I have a lot so will store some away till October and switch foods.
having my garden full of mad little thugs salting around is such a joy. I’ve put in tiny water features and I’ve got my first nesting blue tits.
I had to black out a mirror I thought was safe (covered in foliage and not in a flight path) because Mr blue tit thought it was a rival.
I love my birds. I’m sad about not spoiling them but I’d rather cut back than lose them . So I get what the OP means.
Dot who ran the swan rescue for decades was against the bread ban btw

i also have blue tits nesting
last year i had a nesting blackbird

You can do other things too. My father has a little trough outside under his garden tap. The little birds adore it when he fills it with water and use it as a bath. They’ve been known to congregate on his window sill and stare in when it’s empty or full of pots!

I still feed the birds and ducks.

The number of people here and elsewhere on social media who are saying 'oh just feed them!' without actually having read the articles they're responding to ...

FFS this is NOT a 'ban' on feeding birds. It's not even a request to not feed them over the warmer months*, it's a request to wash feeders regularly in mild disinfectant, stop using bird tables and trays to feed off, and not to feed seeds over summer as those are most likely to attract finches. Finches are (mostly) adapted to feed off seeds and they also seem most liable to getting this parasite which can lead to a fatal disease (trichomonosis) where they can't feed at all. It's spread when they try to feed, literally foam at the mouth (well, beak) and spit the contaminated food out where other birds can eat it. Not using flat surfaces minimises the infected food that just sits around where other birds can get it.

The RSPB advice very clearly says, you CAN continue to feed over summer, just offer suet/fat balls, suet pellets and mealworms, and please to clean the feeders regularly. Also consider growing bird-friendly plants in your garden (or just allow the dandelions - goldfinches love the seeds!) which have seeds that birds enjoy, or encourage insects which they can eat.
Why can nobody bother to read/comprehend short articles any more? Are we really so stupid that all we can do is absorb very brief headlines and soundbites?

(*long-time bird feeders may remember that the advice used to be not to feed over summer as there were plenty of natural foods (ie insects) available and experts didn't want birds to rely too heavily on artificial feeding, then they had to revise that due to the horrific rate of insect loss )

The articles are terrible clickbait and misleading - it shouldn’t be allowed. You can still feed the birds.

I never feed them in the summer, I was advised the wrong food can harm the chicks as they can’t digest seeds and fatballs in the same way. Once it gets to April the seed in my feeders goes down a lot slower too so I hope they are finding their own fresher food however I also feed the squirrels, they have their own feeder. They make me laugh and make noises at me from the trees when I remove the feeder, the birds do eat from it occasionally but not as often. Typically I’ve just brought a very large bag of peanuts! I also feed the ducks, geese foxes and badgers. My husband doesn’t get fed as well as the wildlife.

I will miss them visiting while I sit quietly in the garden in the summer. Hopefully the sparrows will still come for a bath in the tiny pond.

Yes, because they aren't starving, they are dying of a communicable disease.

This is what it does to them: https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/vetr.6053

Look at what it does to their poor little faces. cspca.ie/trichomoniasis-in-birds/ And the internal damage is far more lethal.

I had to stop feeding the birds ages ago as I found out I was actually feeding the rats

Also people quite often use old bread to feed birds and mould can kill them.
Feeding ducks bread also pollutes water ways if it doesn't all get eaten.

Yes, it is a shame but we can still attract birds to our gardens in other ways. Plant lots of appropriate native plants, encourage insect life with wood piles, avoid too much paving (and no astroturf!), and either get a permanent water feature or put out a dish of water and clean it daily.

My mum loved feeding birds but had to stop because of rats as it only takes one fussy bird picking what they like and throwing everything else on the ground to attract them. She also read up on avian flu when we got pet chickens, and chose to stop for that reason too.

OP it's okay to feel a loss. Feeding birds is an easy way to see them, and makes us feel helpful and closer to nature. But we have to do what's best for them and it's great that you're taking that step.

No i have no issue not doing something that harms them same as we never fed chips to seagulls or bread to ducks and no leave rubbish on the ground or not release balloons or flush non flushable items

I adore feeding the birds. Before I had kids they were my substitute babies! The first thing I would do when we got home from a holiday was run out to feed the birds.

I will be following the advice given by RSPB as I accept the experts know more than me and something has to be done to reduce these diseases. I’ve seen them firsthand in some of the birds in my garden and it’s awful. I used to have lots of different feeders but currently I do not have the time to clean them all thoroughly once a week. I now usually just put food out on a hanging table. But from May I will pause for a few months as they suggest. I hope it helps some of these species to recover their numbers.

I see, thank you for the link