Another aspect to consider: I kept my feeders full all summer (ie,
one each sunflower and humbird tubes), and a recycling pond (with
appropriate treatments). Got about a dozen or so birds a day on
average, usually Pygmies and H.finches which were feeding young in
box or town nearby, and a territorial male Rufous hummingbird (or
two). I seriously doubt that my meagre efforts will impact one way or
the other: 1) evolution; 2) genetics; 3) health of overall birds; 4)
number of survivors; 5) propensity of any horde that comes in winter,
or 6) predators, that rarely visit. As to the latter, my Tree and
Violet-green swallow boxes were more likely to have "fed" the Merlin
pair with nest as we saw them attacking and/or carrying same to their
site up the street... I DO think providing a water hole for birds is
absolutely beneficial AND virtually harmless to their long- and/or
short-term survival, IF one is sure to clean the water dishes/ponds
or treat them in some way to ensure they do not grow poisonous algae,
salmonella, or other "vectors" that result in slow death at one's
feeding stations; treating for mosquitos goes without saying, unless
someone KNOWS the birds will get very many of them (even swallows
went elsewhere to get food for their young to bring back to our sites
this year) -- Jim Greaves, Thompson Falls MT

>At 01:01 PM 9/23/2009, William R. Andersen, wrote:
>Friends: Is there a consensus on the question of whether it is good or bad
>practice to feed birds during seasons when natural food is plentiful?




"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the
fool to the left." Ecclesiastes 10:2