Spoiling Birds?

As indicated in this 1963 cartoon from Audubon magazine, sometimes people wonder if they are lavishing too much attention on their backyard birds.  Are they spoiling them?  Making them too soft to survive in the rough-and-tumble world out there?

There is very little if any evidence that feeding or sheltering birds will make them "spoiled" or make them less able to survive on their own.

A few things to consider:

• Delayed Migration: There are no conclusive studies showing that feeding birds makes them delay their migration, though bird feeding may help birds that have taken a non-traditional migratory route or are overwintering in an area for other reasons.
• Survival: Many studies have shown that some birds like chickadees do survive better in areas with birdfeeders (see for example this 1994 study from Pennsylvania), but birds never rely solely on these resources, so they usually won't become fully dependent on them.
• Predation:  While it might seem like bird feeders attract birds to a location where they can be picked off by hawks or cats, one 1994 study found that bird feeding stations "do not appear to expose birds to a higher risk of predation than is encountered in the absence of feeders."  In nestboxes, as long as predator guards are installed, the birds will probably be at least as safe as they would be in any natural nesting situation--and perhaps even safer.
• Diseases: Birds can pass diseases to each other anywhere where they congregate, so people feeding birds should make sure that their feeders are regularly cleaned to reduce the risk of spreading diseases among their local birds. For more info see the Audubon At Home Safe Feeding page.