Feeding Birds the Right Way

Should we feed birds? When and why? These are some of the questions we explore with Kerrie Wilcox, Birds Canada’s bird feeding expert. With decades of experience leading Project FeederWatch, Kerrie explains the value of observing the birds in your yard and what the data tells us about bird population trends. And what watching ‘our’ birds contributes to our own well-being.

We’ll also talk to experts to answer some of the amazing questions listeners submitted. Together, we learn why some birds change colour, why birds have different flight styles, different types of nests and what is the most diverse family of birds.

Kerrie Wilcox manages Project FeederWatch in Canada, a program that turns people’s bird feeding hobby into research for conservation. Participants feed birds in their backyards and send counts of those birds to us online. She loves feeling the enthusiasm and commitment of the volunteers. We have learned so much about the winter distributions and movements of birds in North America through Project FeederWatch.

Make sure to join Project Feeder Watch by visiting:   https://www.birdscanada.org/you-can-help/project-feederwatch/

Stu MacKenzie is responsible for the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, Long Point Bird Observatory, Thunder Cape Bird Observatory, and aspects of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network.

Catherine Dale is a Ph.D. in bird migration patterns in Western Bluebirds breeding in British Columbia, and leads the Breeding Bird Atlas in Newfoundland!

Santiago Claramut is Associate Curator of Birds at the Royal Ontario Museum. He is also a cross-appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto

Want to treat your windows to save birds? Visit Feather Friendly and get the DIY tape. Use the code, BirdsCanada, and Feather Friendly will make a donation to Birds Canada.

We thank Rob Porter from Songbirding Podcast for sharing bird recordings, check out his podcast!