Winter is a great time to enjoy the birds that visit your garden by putting out food for them, and feeders filled with nuts, seeds, and various scraps will attract lots of interesting species. While it's fun to watch our feathered friends in the garden at this time of year, there are many benefits to bird feeding that you may not be aware of.
Insect control
The diet of the typical bird consists of much more than birdseed. Worms, insects and snails that might be considered a threat in your home or garden are all popular menu items. If you are not sure about spreading toxic chemicals all over your property, why not make use of a truly organic pest control in the form of bird life?
Pollination
Beyond feasting on the insects that threaten your flowers, herbs, and veggies, birds provide an additional benefit to your gardening endeavours by pollinating. Help from birds can mean thriving, prosperous flower beds and less time spent righting the wrongs of garden pests.
Nature lessons
Spending time around birds will teach you more than you ever thought possible about their behaviour, personality, and interaction. These excursions into the mind of the bird can prove particularly meaningful to children, as well as those who have little opportunity to interact with nature.
Birds as free pets
While wild birds will rarely provide you with the type of interaction you could expect from a dog or cat, it is possible to become so familiar with the birds in your area that you recognise certain ones by distinct markings or unique personality traits. You can reap quite a few of the benefits of pet ownership without having worries such as permission, registration, vaccination, veterinary care, and so on.
Inviting birds to your backyard is not always completely free, and you may encounter difficulty in getting them to accept your invitation. In view of the many benefits of bird feeding, however, the costs are small and few, and the effort you put in will be more than rewarded in full.
