Maybe and I am not disagreeing, but is the distinction that big? Certainly
among Australian finches the social aspect of bathing is clear. It is a
social activity and the sight of some birds bathing influences others to
join them. This is easily shown in captive birds. I think this behaviour
must occur in more than that group.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Greg and Val Clancy
Sent: Tuesday, 26 January 2016 10:19 AM
To: Robin and Rupert Irwin;
Subject: An interesting read - Why do we feed wild
animals?
Hi Robin,
You raise a good point however birds use bird baths differently to feed
trays and don't tend to congregate and linger around them. There may be
exceptions to this but generally a bird flies into a bird bath has a drink
then a bath and then flies to a nearby branch to preen. This is in contrast
to a feed tray where you often have a number of birds spending quite some
time walking around, eating and defecating on the tray and food making the
spread of disease easy. Bird baths are also easier to clean because as
another respondent has commented to me off-list, cleaning feed trays
effectively is difficult. The unnatural concentration of birds also occurs
much less with bird baths.
BTW off-list I have been accused of having an unkind and disparaging tone to
my earlier post. I am sorry if I have offended anyone but I state the facts
as I see them and welcome any debate or correction that is factually based.
It has also been stated that there are more important issues to be dealing
with about birds than the feeding issue. I see the development and proper
management of our gardens in an ecologically friendly manner as an extremely
important way to help our declining wildlife. It does matter how we do it
as the smaller birds are often forced out and the larger ones proliferate.
I may be an idealist and may be pushing a snowball uphill but I am committed
to doing my best for the natural world. If that makes me unpopular then so
be it!!
I hope that this is my last post on the issue but I will reply to any
reasonable questions on the topic.
Regards
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
| PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
| 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960
http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com
http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/
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