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Re: hand feed...



Your post seems to suggest that hand feeding wild birds is necessarily a 
good thing!

I think otherwise... I would suggest that hand feeding or handling wild 
birds (or for that matter any wild animal) except under the most unusual 
circumstances (wild life rehabilitation or under strict scientific protocol 
for instance) is not a responsible act.  Wild life is "wild" life, and are 
not pets, and are not present in our environment for their entertainment 
value.

There is clearly no benefit to the animals gained by this behavior.  On the 
contrary, it is likely that hand feeding and handling wild animals may 
likely be - for several reasons - detrimental to their well being.

I suggest that there is far too much anthropomorphism going on in our 
culture.

Jack McLain
Durham, NC



At 04:18 PM 1/14/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>I was just wondering if anyone on the list has had much experience with
>handfeeding wild birds.  I got a good book about it recently written by
>Alfred G. Martin called Hand-Taming Wild Birds at the Feeder, here's a link
>to it:
>http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=17024D2RPK&;
>mscssid=GK48UCHRK8LV9PWQTMBF4KANNWL40E10&isbn=0911469079
>
>Pretty good book, very simple writing with interesting stories.  I haven't
>gone about hand feeding in the same manner as Alfred, but for the most part
>it's taking your feeders down and standing there with seed in your hand.
>There is much to be learned from his book though, the advice not to swallow
>if a bird is looking at your as well as to talk to the birds the whole time
>and way more.
>
>The other day a white breasted nuthatch finally perched on the tips of my
>fingers.  He would come climbing down the large ash tree by our feeders
>staring at me the whole time, he really wanted the seed I was holding.  Then
>he would do fly-bys, either trying to scare me away so I'd put the feeders
>back up or maybe to get a glimpse at the seed in my hand?  And then he would
>perch on the cedar branch that our feeders normally hang from and work his
>way as close to the seed in my hand as possible, glancing back and forth
>between the seed and my eyes and trying to stretch his beak close enough to
>snag a seed without having to jump to my palm.  Cute little guy, then he
>finally worked up the gusto to hop off the cedar branch and land right on my
>fingers.  He didn't take any seed (weird), just sat there and looked at it,
>then at me, and back to the seed before he flew off back to his perch on the
>ash and eventually out of sight into the woods.  Was a pretty amazing
>feeling, his small cold feet on the tips of my fingers, and he was sooo
>incredible light you could barely feel him there at all.  A red breasted
>kept coming to the cedar log to check things out too but never took the risk
>to go for the seed.  Same with the titmice and chickadees.  All in time
>though, I just have to earn their trust.
>
>--Craig