Rob,
Firslty my apologies for not responding earlier. Clive forwarded this on to me
some time back. Studying full time, children and xmas make a hodge podge of
time management.
There are a number of issues (as well as the interesting note provided by Carl
Clifford relative to honey disease/ problems) that might be considered relative
to the situation you mentioned.
My name is Michelle Plant - have been investigating wild bird feeding practices
for a number of years, currently doing PhD research project on bird health and
the supplementary feeding environment.
Possibly the biggest concern that I would have - is the potential for disease
transfer between the avairy birds and the wild birds and visa versa. There are
a number of diseases that each environment can expose the birds too - with them
coming in to close contact it is possible for transmission to occur. Some
diseases could have devastating outcomes for either group - and most bird
keepers I know invest a great deal of time, love and money into their
collections - which would suggest they would be devastated if they suffered
losses as a result of disease. In addition, whilst your friend can monitor the
health of his avary birds and treat when necessary - this is not generally the
case for the wild birds. Health care for wild birds is next to impossible.
It sounds as if there is a wide range of wild birds visiting and each group may
bring with it a spectrum of disease agents.
This could be exaserbated by the fact that people generally clean up after
avary birds but not so much so for wild birds - some disease agents can remain
viable in the environment for long periods of time - so if there is a
collection of feed and droppings developing this can further encourage disease
transmission.
Then there are nutritional concerns. It is suggested that birds will only
obtain a fraction of their daily intake from supplementary feed offerings - but
this has only been reviewed on Magpies in a small geographic area in south east
queensland. We simply don't know at this point what percentage of a birds
nutritional requirements might be met at supplementary feeders. Is the feed
nutritionally appropriate for the species being fed? Many questions and
considerations for responsible feeding practices.
My opinion is that human foodstuffs including bread are a no no. Sausage /
mince etc also are no no's for carnivorous birds - we know that there are
detrimental health effects from offering vitamin deficient mince / processed
sausage meats. There are many good quality options for supplementary feed that
will work to meet the bird's nutritional requirements.
My suggestion is always one of minimalism and care. Your idea to offer natural
feeds (planting a variety of natives) and water is best if wanting to attract
wild birds. Water can also foul very quickly particularly if contaminated and
with high temperatures - so a water feeder does require management too.
Hope this is of some help - happy to discuss further.
Regards
Michelle Plant
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