Dilemma: to feed or not to feed

[Geila]

Hi all,
I used to provide bird seed and a bird bath for the many birds that visit our gardens. We have lots of trees and shrubs so we get lots. But then the neighborhood cat found out and has been ambushing the birds. I feel like if I feed them I'm setting them up to die :(. But if I don't feed them, they'll go hungry. We're in a drought here so the situation is pretty dire. What would you do?

(the cat serves as rodent control, and is just trying to survive herself, so no judgment there, just dilemma.)

[KayLR]

Make sure your feeders are out in the open enough so the birds can see the cat coming.

[razz]

Won't comment since this is a really hot-button for me. I can ask - is it possible to put a bell on the cat?

[bae]

But if I don't feed them, they'll go hungry.

If you didn't feed them, wouldn't they move to a place with food and water where they could exist without humans feeding/watering them?

If you continue providing them with essentials, won't they live in your area in otherwise-unsustainable numbers, then die off when you stop someday?

[sweetana3]

I think the world will remain in balance no matter what you do. We live in an urban area and have cats, racoons, possums, squirrels, etc. and they all compete for food. You can fuss and worry but the world will still remain in balance and none of them will go extinct. It is after all survival of the fittesst.

[Miss Cellane]

Put the feeders up high enough so the cat can't reach the birds. Or out in the open so that they can see the cat prowling around.

There's some evidence that most of the birds killed by domestic cats are either injured or ill or otherwise unhealthy.

Back when I lived in an area where my cat could go outside, she caught a ton of mice and the occasional chipmonk. Despite her best efforts, and including the fact that I had a bird feeder, she caught a total of one bird in 4 years. She has a very high prey drive and is a good hunter, but birds can fly away.

[Gardenarian]

I agree with moving the feeder to a more open spot.
I've had to stop feeding the birds as the mess was attracting rodents. I miss watching them.

[Rogar]

I would see this more as a cat problem, or more correctly, a cat owner problem. In most municipalities it is illegal to let pets roam free and it is generally considered irresponsible pet ownership. If it wouldn't start WWIII with the neighbor, I would first mention it to them and contact animal control as plan B. Here are some suggestions from the Audubon Society. http://web4.audubon.org/bird/at_home/SafeCats.html

[larknm]

I once had a cat I put a bell on for that reason, and then weimeraners in the house behind us could hear her going through their yard and broke her back.

[Miss Cellane]

You really can't put a bell on a cat if it is not your cat.

Even if it is your cat, you need to use a break-away collar, so that the cat doesn't get a tree branch stuck in the collar and hang itself. And once the collar breaks, you'd have to buy a new one.

I once had a cat who could get her front paw stuck in a collar, just by trying to scratch herself. They aren't a good idea for the average cat.

[razz]

Ok, I didn't know that the bell and collar would be a trap for a cat.

[Geila]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This whole time I've been thinking that putting the bird feeder in the open would be worse for them! Shows how much I know . And I wouldn't consider putting a bell on the cat. But what I have been doing - and the birds love - is running the sprinklers for a few minutes each day so they can get some relief from this dry weather. Gosh, I hope we get some rain soon.

[The Storyteller]

When I lived in town, I set out live animal traps and called the pound, who came and picked up the cat, licensed or not. Most places have leash laws, and that includes cats. The owner then had to pay a hefty fine to get the cat back.

Made a lot of neighbors mad, but at least it saved their cats from my dogs who considered them predators and would kill them on sight.

[RosieTR]

Since humans have massively changed/encroached on many former wildlife habitats, feeding the birds (esp for a critical stopover on a migratory path) is not necessarily screwing up nature, and may be preserving the last vestiges of it in a particular area. Rather than try to trap every cat around, putting the feeder on something thin and unclimbable for the cat will help. In fact, that may also help deter rodents, except spills on the ground....which will then be a playground for the cat to hunt mice/squirrels preferentially over birds

[Tiam]

I no longer have any pets. I am glad. For a number of reasons. But now I've taken up feeding the wild birds. Which isn't really cheap at all. I do have a lot of spill over and am looking into the best ways to deal with that issues. The Starlings are mostly to blame. They throw the feed everywhere. Anyone else have this issue?

[rosarugosa]

Tiam: We put out black oil sunflower seeds instead of a mix, and it seems that anything that falls out of the feeders is eaten by the ground feeders (cardinals, mourning doves, juncos, squirrels, chipmunks). We've also been splurging on peanuts lately, expensive, but they seems to make everyone very happy. :)

[razz]

I bought a squirrel-proof feeder in which you adjust the weight sensitivity of the perch. Starlings, squirrels, chipmunks etc cannot get the food. The ground feeders get the spillage from the smaller birds feeding. Right now I have black sunflower seeds and the white one that cardinals like but few others do. I will get more sunflower seeds as was mentioned above, it feeds most birds in winter.

[rosarugosa]

Razz: We have a squirrel-proof feeder too, the first one we ever found that was truly squirrel-proof, the Fundamentals feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited.
DH made the observation many years ago that of the seed mix we were putting out, the sunflower seeds always got eaten and much of the rest rotted on the ground. So we switched to all sunflower seeds and have probably been doing that for at least 20 years now. We probably should buy some safflower seed for the cardinals too, but they do like the sunflower seeds and the peanuts.
Yesterday, we had the most enormous flock of robins I've even seen in the trees across the street - 50? 100? eyeing our holly berries hungrily. Then there was one fierce little mockingbird in the holly bushes and he rousted every single robin who made an attempt for quite awhile. The robins finally prevailed though, and swarmed the bushes eating most of the berries. Quite the avian drama!

https://www.wbu.com/products/squirrel-proof/

[Tiam]

Tiam: We put out black oil sunflower seeds instead of a mix, and it seems that anything that falls out of the feeders is eaten by the ground feeders (cardinals, mourning doves, juncos, squirrels, chipmunks). We've also been splurging on peanuts lately, expensive, but they seems to make everyone very happy. :)

The finches like the nyger and other seed. I get dozens of finches of all types. Just a few of others. I put out black oil and that seems to make the chickadees happy. The Sparrow and Juncos and mourning doves do eat a bit of what gets thrown off by the starlings, but not all. I think I'm going to have to upgrade to a more starling unfriendly feeder.

[razz]

Tiam, I have this one - item D- which is also available in the US as this is a C$ site.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=49970&cat=2,10719,33068&ap=1

[CathyA]

I, personally, feel that feeding the birds has become a big business and it's not always good for the birds. It really is for us humans to enjoy, and I'm not sure it's good for the birds. I only feed them in horrible conditions, when there are sub-zero temps and everything might be covered with snow. And it's only for a short time. Instead, I've grown bushes and flowers that make food for birds, and we also have tons of weeds that give seeds. Weeds have a function, and not just there to irritate us! :)
Yes, I love bringing them close so I can see them, but it's like Bae mentioned.......it's not really "natural" and may lead to problems for the birds.

[Tiam]

I, personally, feel that feeding the birds has become a big business and it's not always good for the birds. It really is for us humans to enjoy, and I'm not sure it's good for the birds. I only feed them in horrible conditions, when there are sub-zero temps and everything might be covered with snow. And it's only for a short time. Instead, I've grown bushes and flowers that make food for birds, and we also have tons of weeds that give seeds. Weeds have a function, and not just there to irritate us! :)
Yes, I love bringing them close so I can see them, but it's like Bae mentioned.......it's not really "natural" and may lead to problems for the birds.
One thing I notice is that when the weather warms up, I get a about a 1/3 of the birds I feed in the winter. They are still around, but they are off getting food from the actual sources.

[nswef]

We've been using sunflower seed and only in the winter. We have had bears, so wait to put out the feeders until Jan. hoping they are busy sleeping....The suet feeder also draws woodpeckers and nuthatches.