Some bird enthusiast clubs around the Midwest are calling on their members to put out extra bird feeders this winter, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports, the move might not be necessary:
Transcript
Some bird enthusiast clubs around the Midwest – Great Lakes Region are calling on their
members to put out extra bird feeders this winter. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Jonathan Ahl reports, the move might not be necessary:
Some of the clubs say birds are still suffering the effects of the West Nile Virus and need extra
food this winter to make sure they are healthy in the Spring. But not all scientists agree with that
claim. Barbara Frase is a biology professor at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She says
there are only a few circumstances where birds need the extra food humans provide:
“In the winter, if there is a really long cold spell, then the birds are probably helped. The extra
food will help see them through that cold snap. Otherwise, it probably doesn’t add to their
survival ability.”
Frase says studies show birds that frequent bird feeders still get eighty percent of their food from
the wild. She says it is still a nice thing to help birds, but says the West Nile Virus is really not a
reason to put out an extra feeder this winter.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.