The confessions of a fodder-junkie
I actually thought that the therapy had worked. There were others, who doubted it, but it seemed like it had been a success. When winter started in the beginning of February, I was at a check-up and I was dragged around the city while I was asked: “Do you see, that they also feed birds in that yard? Do you still think that you need to feed every single bird in the city yourself?”
Of course, I did not think this. I was cured! Everybody agreed that in spring there would be some surviving sparrows and blackbirds left even if I cut down on the feeding of the birds. All through November, I was a model example of successful therapy. I was even content with only occasionally distributing a single bag of sunflower seeds, even though the blackbirds looked at me with their pleading eyes through the window. “You have to eat what I serve you. Otherwise there are lots of apples and worms out there!”.
But then the blizzard started Wednesday morning. Not many minutes went by before a large group of starlings looked at the almost empty fodder box. “Well, they are used to having food out there in rough weather! They will die of starvation! And the little robin too. There is a yellowhammer – that means it is bad. Oh no, look at the poor fieldfares and waxwings, who only eat apples… They cannot get by only on sunflower seeds!” So I gave up, put on my rain boots and went to the nearby supermarket to buy apples, more sunflower seeds and lots of margarine. After having distributed 10 kilos of varied groceries in the fodder box, I let myself fall down on the couch while 100 siskins and a mixed group of finches dug in to their snacks.
I am a fodder junkie. And many people think this is silly. But half a million Danes put out food for birds and bird feeding has a huge significance for the winter birds’ survival. If you really want to make sure that some of the birds stay in the garden even when the breeding season starts – and not just leave as usual -, you can continue feeding them long into the spring. You just have to remember that it is primarily nesting opportunities that limit many of our breeding birds spreading. A nesting box or ten will therefore always be a positive element.