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Feeding birds helps destroy natural habitat

Marika Lalond (Grinches stole Christmas from bird population, Letters, Dec. 30) describes herself as an avid bird watcher

Marika Lalond (Grinches stole Christmas from bird population, Letters, Dec. 30) describes herself as an avid bird watcher and claims that the songbirds could use a little help every winter. According to her that means unilaterally sticking up various feeders on public land.

If she was really interested in the birds, she would appreciate them as they normally live, without the interference caused by artificial feeding. In fact, she is actually making the problem of habitat destruction worse.

Those seeds and suet don’t come from some make-believe, over-the-rainbow land. Real habitat is ruined to produce, distribute and market those commodities for the entertainment of people with Disneyland-type attitudes.

On top of that, the business of sticking out seeds, suet and sugar water to attract certain species to serve as decoration, in reality disrupts the habitat wherever it is perpetrated. Hence, (non-migratory) Anna’s humming birds can aggressively occupy places they never would have otherwise.

Similarly, house sparrows are in a much better position to domineer nest sites – to the disadvantage of others – particularly those that are migratory.

So if you want to enjoy birds, take every coin you have been spending on suet, seed and similar stuff and put it somewhere that it will do a little good – like habitat preservation.

The birds will be better off as a result.

K. Gibbens

Victoria