Urban Birds Are Evolving to Be Fed

Tl;dr - birds that eat at feeders a lot are evolving beaks that are better suited to eating the sort of nuts that people put in such feeders.<p>That wrapped in a tale of angst about conjunctivitis, losing touch with nature, and change in general.<p>I did look up the bird feeders that are inset in your window frame to allow for better visualizing. They are pretty cool.

The title is a little disingenuous: the author concludes that while city birds are evolving to be fed, it&#x27;s not necessarily detrimental as studies show that birds constantly seek backup food sources.<p>Interesting article nonetheless and it certainly makes me reconsider my own bird feeding practice. It&#x27;s been years at least, since I gave bread to ducks - I&#x27;d love nothing more than to see permanent signs at lakes and ponds pointing out how bad bread is for ducks.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popsci.com&#x2F;feeding-ducks-bread" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popsci.com&#x2F;feeding-ducks-bread</a>

The authorities where I live are trying to dissuade people from feeding birds, due to a rat problems, and instead focus on putting out clean accessible water or growing bird-atttacting plants.

I couldn&#x27;t help but think of &quot;Pigeon House&quot; [1] in Stoneybatter, Dublin, renowned among the city&#x27;s residents for the roost of pigeons that sit on its roof [2] waiting to be fed, and by the locals trying to avoid them.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dublininquirer.com&#x2F;2017&#x2F;11&#x2F;15&#x2F;in-stoneybatter-ambivalence-about-the-pigeon-house&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dublininquirer.com&#x2F;2017&#x2F;11&#x2F;15&#x2F;in-stoneybatter-am...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;ciarancuffe&#x2F;status&#x2F;689492575460421632" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;ciarancuffe&#x2F;status&#x2F;689492575460421632</a>

A dozen paragraphs in, still no sign of what the title claims, only storytelling about the author&#x27;s life.<p>Can anyone that read it summarize or copy the actual &quot;birds are evolving to be fed&quot; part?

My neighbor maintained a bird feeder which brought in tons of different species. He moved and we&#x27;re back to sparrows &#x2F; pigeons &#x2F; redwing blackbirds (summer) and the occasional crow .<p>Ironically the birds I was most enjoyed watching at the &quot;bird feeder&quot; were the red wing hawks that would sometimes come in for a meal

Number of times I&#x27;ve seen something pretty amazing. Here in Portland I&#x27;ve seen little birds, like sparrows, picking and eating squashed insects from front bumpers of the cars. They just fly up and pick those insects that stick to cars when cars drive at night.

Maybe we can learn to cultivate tick and mosquito hungry birds.