It's nice out, the grass is green, there are tasty mosquitos and other insects about, plants are starting to bloom and trees are leafing out. It seems tempting when the weather is so nice to assume that birds can forage for food on their own and let the bird feeders run empty. However, there are some good reasons to continue to feed the birds even in ideal foraging conditions:
Loyalty: Just as like a company that worries about their customers not coming back after they start to buy a competitor's product, you need to know that if you lose your birds to a competitor's bird feeder (your neighbor's for example) or to another area where wild seed is in better supply, it means that they may not be back to your feeder in the future. To ensure you have birds in your yard year round, you need to feed your birds all year round.
Food timing and migration: In the spring many birds are recovering from their big spring migration. A readily available food supply makes this recovery easier and increases the likelihood of survival for those birds who have depleted much of their energy resources to make the exhausting journey to their summer homes. Similarly, in the fall, birds are preparing for their fall migration and the better their food supply, the better prepared they will be to make that big trip.
Nesting nutritional requirements: Birds that have returned to Canada for the summer are here to nest and raise their young. By feeding the birds, you are helping the bird parents more easily forage for bird seed and therefore do a better job of raising their young. It also means that you may see some of these youngsters at your feeder as soon as they are able.
Enjoy the variety of birds available in the summer time: Many birds migrate here for summer and you can see totally different birds at your feeder in the summer than in the winter. You don't want to miss out on these new birds that you can only see by feeding the birds in the summer.
For the pleasure of it: I enjoy sitting in my backyard, soaking up the warm sunshine and watching the birds come and go to the feeder. Call me a "fair weather birder" but I am quite unlikely to be cooling my jets on the deck in January or February. There is something about sharing nature with the birds that is good for the soul. So logically, then, feeding the birds in the summer must be good for the soul.
