What do people think of the RSPB bird seed restriction request?

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PaulaDeen21@reddit

I’m baffled you’re even asking this.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

I had hundreds of sparrows visiting my garden and getting fed all day long, now there are very few and they are currently nesting with young; wake up!

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Obviously because they are getting their food from elsewhere. Hopefully more diffuse wild sources, rather than all concentrated into a disease playground. If you stopped feeding them and then found loads had died, your logic would make more sense. As it is, it boils down to, you stopped doing the thing that attracted the birds to your garden, so now they aren't attracted to your garden anymore. It has no bearing on their health, especially at this time of year when food is plentiful.

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ScaryButt@reddit

"experts say this one thing but I think I know better, am I right?"

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Japhet_Corncrake@reddit

The sparrows where I live love fatballs and mealworms, although if I put mealworms out the starlings will devour the whole feeder full in a day.

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MyKidsFoundMyOldUser@reddit

I tipped a bag of mealworms on my lawn and the starlings scoffed the lot in about 60 seconds.

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Plugpin@reddit

At my last house we had a swarm of the bastards absolutely destroy the food we set out, easily over 50 starlings all over the trees, grass, fence for a single bird feeder. It was cool, they kept coming back every day till we ran out of bird food (about a week). A few pigeons and some larger black things would try and scare them away, they'd fly off to our neighbours roof tops, but it didn't last long before they'd come back. Those houses were covered in bird shit because of that lot.

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Japhet_Corncrake@reddit

They're pretty funny tbh, the absolute chavscum of the bird feeder. They're noisy as hell, they all fight with each other, and they clear whatever is there in minutes.

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Japhet_Corncrake@reddit

Sounds about right.

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CrackersMcCheese@reddit

Birds do love fat balls. That’s true.

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Swimming-Lie5369@reddit

RSPB - Cares about bird welfare Bird seed companies - want to see bird seed I know who I'm gonna listen to.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

They make valid comments in my opinion and as I have lost all trust in other national organisations like the PDSA and RSPCA I feel disinclined to just take the word of the RSPB as so. Mainly though my problem is with the fact that so many sparrows are not getting fed in my garden and they are nesting atm so the hatchlings are not getting fed.

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Swimming-Lie5369@reddit

They survived before you, and they will survive after you.

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

Do you *actually* think your garden is the ONLY place that wild birds can find food?

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Freckles93@reddit

They are absolutely able to find plenty of food elsewhere. Yes feeders are an easy source of food for them, but there is not a shortage of wild food in even the most built up areas.

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Tarrybelle@reddit

I would look for multiple other opinions on the subject.

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JakeyG14@reddit

It's not always as simple as that. It's not exactly the same, but remember the "don't feed ducks bread" advice? While not completely incorrect, the advisors (RSPB again?) did not fully consider everything and it lead to a lot of ducks starving.

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Cold_Raspberry520@reddit

Yep a lot died

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CrackersMcCheese@reddit

I do not believe that any ducks died. They are wild animals in their natural habitat. They do not need us feeding them.

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Freckles93@reddit

Any evidence for this?

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lxlviperlxl@reddit

The advice was actually a hoax letter posted on a fence and went viral on social media “The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it was fine to feed small amounts of bread to ducks but people should also feed them sweetcorn, porridge oats, peas and bird seed.” I think you’re thinking of the Canal and River Trust who in my experience are very useless in maintaining water ways anyway.

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darklinkuk@reddit

They fully expected people to carry around bags of frozen peas/corn Tbf last time I took my 4YO to the duck park (mostly geese) I got a huge bucket of waterfowl feed for a fiver on amazon they went mad for it.

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Buddy-Matt@reddit

Yeah. I mean, I get they're not just gonna ignore it, but its an uphill battle for sure.

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Lost_Haaton@reddit

While avoiding the feeders entirely is going to be the best way for them not to not pick up a disease, there likely will be some who starve with the sudden removal of what was a reliable food source. I wonder actually, how many people follow the second point of feeding safetly, focusing on the hygene and disinfecting their feeders on a regular basis to kill off bacterial or diseases left at the feeding station. I can imagine that while there are people who do it regularly, there will be those out there who don't look into advice and simply have the mindset of "I'll put some food out for birds in my garden" and any advice they do get will come trickling down to them from word of mouth. A simple command to "stop" is much easier to get accross and more likely to be followed then, you should by cleaning this frequently, avoid these locations, remove that food etc.

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Fabulous-Wolf-4401@reddit

I think it would be wiser to follow the advice from the RSPB, than the advice from bird-seed producers. As the RSPB said in the latest issue of the magazine 'We recognise this will be difficult for the bird food and bird care industry and it will take time for industry to transition, but we want to work with them to find long-term solutions. We all have a crucial role to play and we hope they will support our policy change and work with us to improve product design, reduce disease risks, and promote seasonal, science-based feeding guidance'. So there you have it. I love seeing birds in my garden too, but I don't want to risk their exposure to trichomonosis if I can help it.

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VinegaryMildew@reddit

I tried it and replaced my seed with suet and mealworms and my poor sparrows haven’t touched it for days now. They are soon to be bringing their babies too

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_Yalan@reddit

That probably because they won't be hard up for food at this time in the year and will be eating wild sources, or they'd come back for the fat balls. Or they'll get used to it.... I've only ever use fat balls and they go so quickly!

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draenog_@reddit

Would you rather they come to a feeder in your garden where you can see them, and spread around a disease that's killing lots of garden birds, or get their food from natural sources and remain healthy and happy? (natural food is abundant over the spring and summer, so I'm pretty suspicious of that claim from the bird seed companies...) If you still want to see them in your garden, why not plant a flower bed (or set of flower pots) filled with plants that produce bird seed? It's harder for the parasite they're concerned about to be passed on that way.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

If I believed they are spreading disease where I am wouldn't be opening the conversation.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

If you're not going to believe the RSPB then why are you even starting the "conversation", you've already made your mind up and are looking for validation.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

Correct.

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_Yalan@reddit

How do you know ones visiting your garden for seed haven't spread disease, do you test and track each one?

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draenog_@reddit

If you genuinely think bird seed companies (who have a vested interest in continuing to sell you bird seed) are a more reliable source on this than the RSPB's [team of conservation scientists, ecologists, etc](https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-we-do/science/meet-the-team), then I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you.

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EvilInCider@reddit

We are following the advice and feeding mealworms and fat balls. Interestingly, the RSPB fat balls were eaten within a day. Cheap fat balls… not so popular.

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_Yalan@reddit

The birds were I live don't seem to be so picky about the quality of the fat balls as yours 😂

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dogtrousers@reddit

If you clean your bird feeders regularly and thoroughly (every day I think I heard but I'm not certain) then you can continue feeding the birds. I'm sure the RSPB have weighed up the pros and cons. However I am not a particular fan of theirs due to two incidents in the late 90s/early 00s. One was their cull of hedgehogs on a Scottish island which had a lot of criticism from experts. Two was their cull of black rats, another native species. I know more about this event as at the time I was a member of the National Fancy Rat Society which covered it extensively. This cull was poorly supported by the evidence and poorly carried out. The RSPB argued that these rats were eating ground nesting birds' eggs and nestlings, but evidence from examining the stomach contents of dead rats did not support this idea. The fact that these native species had cohabited for thousands of years also meant little to them. The cull was also carried out unsafely with poison bei inng left in such a way that other wildlife and children could access it.

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gnastygnorcs@reddit

I feed the occasional fatball cos I find them easier to store. If I fed seed I'd stop. When I don't chuck a ball out for them they scrat about for their own food - usually worms or the millions of aphids knockin about. Sat watching a family of sparrows yesterday climbing my hellebores eating the hundreds of green aphids in the flowers, very entertaining.

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ToastedCrumpet@reddit

A for profit company telling you to keep buying their products? Or a charity telling you what’s best for animals? Hmmm who do I listen to….

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PartTimeLegend@reddit

I didn’t know about this and I got a big bag of birdseed this morning. I haven’t put any out yet and I guess I won’t be.

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Tammer_Stern@reddit

I’ve had to stop feeding them recently anyway as it unfortunately encouraged rats to the garden. I’ll restart in winter and spread a little on the wall.

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omor_fi@reddit

Of course I'll listen to them but I feel sad about it as I just had a feeder stuck onto my window, I live in a second floor flat so can't really put out mealworms or fat balls for them. I love watching them come to my window and I was always diligent about cleaning the feeder.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

Yes, I think thats my feelings on the matter mostly.

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CrackersMcCheese@reddit

Birds generally don’t need fed by us at all in the summer. Listen to the RSPB.

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Own-Try1886@reddit

I throw suet pellets and mealworms on my lawn and all the birds love them. Sparrows, jackdaws, pigeons, blackbirds, robins (even one seagull).

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Theal12@reddit

bird seed companies are here for profit, not the health of birds

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LichenTheMood@reddit

I have never heard of or seen any healthy/active bird turn down a live mealworm.

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ScaryButt@reddit

I have a wildflower garden, get shitloads of birds from that, don't need to buy any feeders or fat balls and better for biodiversity in general. Go wild folks!

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EatenbyCats@reddit

Oddly I'm finding my birds are refusing seed (except wood pigeons) and are only interested in suet. Birds can be fussy when there's enough natural food for them to be picky. If you're going to continue feeding seed the best thing you can do is only supply enough for a day and thoroughly clean the feeder before refilling.

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Opening_Nose_2347@reddit (OP)

Yes, I was thinking that, already cleaned it well.

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EatenbyCats@reddit

I'm going to buy more feeders with the money saved from not buying seed. That way I'll be able to clean them properly without cutting off the food for them.

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NebCrushrr@reddit

Didn't know about this. I'll be taking down my bird feeders

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Misty_Pix@reddit

Strictly speaking, birds struggle more for food during winter hence why we should support and feed them. During warm months summer, there is plenty of food for them. My overall plan, was always support birds during harsh months but once they can gather food themselves, reduce it significantly. I am still providing some mealworms and fat balls, but I noticed the birds rather go for the bird bath then food.

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WIZZZARDOFFREESTYLE@reddit

WHAT'S THAT COZ I AIN'T GONNA GIVE MY SEED TO NO MOTHERFUCKER

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nickmasonsdrumstick@reddit

Id probably listen to the RSPB here.

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Own-Heat2669@reddit

I don't put anything specifically out for the birds any more, aside from water when it is frozen or really hot and dry. There are always birds about - poking around looking for food and finding it. But, there are plenty of insects and invertebrates kicking about in amongst the plants and trees and berries on bushes and seeds on flower heads at different times of the year. Also, some birds will nip the tops of young seedlings. Much to my dismay!

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doginjoggers@reddit

Birds do fine without us feeding them. RSPB is a charity that cares about bird welfare. Bird seed companies only care about their shareholders' welfare

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GlassHouses_1991@reddit

Their advice makes sense and it doesn’t seem right to ignore it just because it results in fewer birds coming into your garden. https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/how-to-help-garden-birds And of course bird seed companies would argue against recommendations which will affect their sales. I don’t feed birds in my garden because there are too many neighbourhood cats visiting, and I also know that I am unlikely to wash feeders as often as recommended.

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Old_Quit_851@reddit

Anyone have a link to the press release or guidance?

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BulkyAccident@reddit

[https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/how-to-help-garden-birds](https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/how-to-help-garden-birds)

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