We have an unbending hater of bird feeders. I think that he/she is wrong. Potential problems mentioned are exaggerated and some are non-existent.

One of these problems he/she manufactures is how bird food will cause birds to stop eating and distributing native plant seeds.

The way he/she describes seed dispersal, however, applies to birds that eat berries, not those that eat the birdseed put out in feeders. The seed eaters that visit feeders crush seeds in their bills and digest those seeds, they do not distribute seeds through their digestive tracts.

Berry eating birds such as Mockingbirds and Robins continue eating berries and distributing seeds that way. These are birds that do not even eat birdseed at feeders. Unfortunately in cities like Santa Cruz the seeds these birds are distributing are non-native invasives such as Cotoneaster spp., Pyrocantha angustifolia, and Hedera helix.

Removing these plant species from yards and planting native berry producing shrubs such as Heteromeles arbutifolia (Toyon) would help the preservation of native shrubs in the wild areas that wild birds inevitably travel to where they poop out seeds. It is a big difference having native species being distributed this way than non-native invasives.

Seed distribution also takes place with Scrub Jays and Stellers Jays hiding acorns and other seeds in the ground and sometimes not finding them all. With the numbers of Oaks coming up in my flower pots (with the nearest Oak tree not being close by) a can assure you that this behavior has not been altered by the free meals that I provide.

Nonnative pet cats and feral cats, the use of pesticides, and habitat destruction and habitat elimination threaten wild bird and plant populations. Properly maintained bird feeders do not. Please stop crying wolf and stick to issues that are important to the preservation of native plants and animals.