It very much depends on the species and the habitat, say two Tufts biologists
Bird feeders in the suburbs are very different than handouts to wild animals in their native habitats. “You should never feed wildlife in natural settings,” says Michael Romero. Photo: Shutterstock
Is that bird feeder in your backyard really helping nature? How about feeding the chipmunks that come to your patio? Or handouts to wildlife in their natural environment, far from human habitation?
It’s all about context, say Michael Reed and Michael Romero, both professors in the Department of Biology at Tufts.
Take bird feeders. “I have feeders up all the time,” says Reed, who lives in a western suburb of Boston. “From what I’ve read in the literature, birds that use feeders, at least in semi-rural and semi-suburban areas, as opposed to in cities, don’t get more than a quarter of their calories on an average daily basis from feeders. So it’s a supplement that can allow persistence in areas, and in the winter can help birds get through really cold periods.”
There is research about the extent that bird feeders have contributed to range expansion over the decades for some species in the eastern U.S. “But I don’t know how compelling the evidence is,” Reed says.
Romero, who studies stress in animal populations, suspects that bird feeders probably reduce stress for the birds during the winter. “They don’t have as big of a problem finding food.”
There’s another benefit, too, Reed says. “A lot of people love birds because they see them at their feeders, and if they’re voting for land protection and spending their money to help wildlife refuges, that is a positive, too, for the bird population.”
Using bird feeders probably doesn’t create dependencies on human feeding, he adds. “Most people use feeders only in the winter, and put them away every spring. And in cases of endangered birds, like California condors released when young, they are initially fed by humans, to make the transition easier into the wild. There’s some dependency to start with, but it’s part of the rewilding approach.”
When Not to Feed the Wildlife
Bird feeders in the suburbs are very different than handouts to wild animals in their native habitats, Romero says. “You should never feed wildlife in natural settings—like bears in national parks,” he says. “If you get them hooked on human food, it’s bad for the animals and for the people, because then they’ll start attacking people to get the food.”
It’s best to avoid some animals in urban and suburban areas, too, even though it’s understandable why those creatures are looking for food. “If you’re attracting animals that naturally have rabies, like skunks and racoons, then you’ve got a different problem,” says Romero.
It’s also unwise to feed feral cats and coyotes. “When I first got to Tufts, there was someone up by Barnum Hall who was feeding a feral cat population, but he was stopped, because that’s a health risk for people too,” he says.
Feeding wild animals impacts the wildlife, but can have different and unintended consequences for people. “Putting out kibble for your chipmunks is not really going to be too big of a problem for the chipmunks, but it might be a huge problem for humans if what you end up doing is attracting rabies-infested animals like skunks—or even have bears that come in and destroy things,” says Romero.
Another risk can be through the completely inadvertent ways humans feed wildlife. “The Canada goose was not a year-round resident in the Northeast until probably 50 years ago, and now they’re feeding on grass lawns,” says Reed. “They’re not at bird feeders, but we’re feeding them nonetheless. And they stick around year-round.”
“If you’re going to put out a giant carpet of food, you can’t be shocked when things that eat it stay,” Reed added. “People get mad—these birds are pooping all over the lawn. Well, get rid of your lawn and put in something more natural, like native plants that attract pollinators, and read Douglas Tallamy’s book Nature’s Best Hope for ideas about how to help wildlife with yard plantings.”
