Hello all,
I apologize if people keep asking that question, but based on what I read online, it's very hard to find a definitive answer to this question. I wanted to build a birdhouse with my son, so I was looking online about it, but a lot of people recommend not doing it, for various reasons. Some day it's bad practice to feed wild animals, and I'm aware of that. At the same time, there is some cleanliness issues that can arise, but that's something I would take care of. On the plus side, experts say that it can provide a source of nutrition to birds when they can't find anything else. I would like to work on this project with my son, but if this is something that has too many drawbacks, I will ditch it. Maybe there is a better way to do this and enjoy the birds? My parents who are in Italy have one, and it's been something my son wanted to build ever since.
Anyway, I apologize if this is the wrong place for that, but I was wondering if there was a definitive answer to this issue.
Best,
Fred
Hi Fred and welcome to the forum ... I gather you mean a feeding table with a roof over? Good idea as it keeps seed & suet pellets dry in the rain and am sure garden birds will welcome the extra food come nesting time ... a very good project to do with your Son, it will definitely please him and get him more involved in wildlife! There will always be opposing views on any project, just do what you are comfortable with!
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As a father I have only one advice - build the birdfeeder with your son. This will be one of the most precious moments of your lives, and will continue to be so for many months and years. My entire family, plus neighbours, get an enormous amount of pleasure from my birdfeeder.
As for a definitive answer - there isn't one.
My take is this. I look around the housing estate I live on, then our local towns, and I see traffic, noise, pollution and massive habitat destruction. Bird numbers have plummeted since I was a lad. Therefore, anything I can do which in some way redresses this destruction can only help. My little bird feeder keeps a tremendous number of bird species alive; mostly Tits, Dunnocks and Robins. So called experts would decry this, saying that there are now a distorted number of these species, which pushes out certain other species. Ah yes, I counter, but if their habitat hadn't been destroyed then there would actually have been even more of them, also these other species (which my birdfeeder is supposed to have pushed out) wouldn't normally live in my area as it is not suitable for them, finally by getting species numbers up to something approaching normal I am helping birds higher up the food chain e.g. Sparrowhawk.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.