How feeding birds may be polluting local environments

by Northern Arizona University
August 7, 2024

New research led by an NAU alumnus shows that backyard bird feeders, although put out with the best of intentions, is changing the chemistry of local ecosystems, including introducing a potentially harmful amount of phosphorus into the environment.

The study, published Aug. 7 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, shows that, collectively, the millions of household bird feeders throughout the world add up to a large transfer of additional nutrients into local environments. This artificial supplementing of a natural process may lead to unanticipated ecological impacts.

“The seeds, nuts and grains provided for birds are rich with fats and proteins,” said NAU alumnus Andrew Abraham, a researcher from Aarhus University in Denmark and lead author of the study. “Yet most of this nutrient-rich bird food is sourced on the global market and transported thousands of kilometers to feeder stations.”

“Birds are incredibly effective dispersers,” said Ethan Duvall, a researcher from Cornell and co-author on the study. “They eat a lot, fly a lot and poop a lot. This means that extra nutrients provided at feeders eventually make their way into local ecosystems.”

Keep reading: https://news.nau.edu/bird-feeding/

Read the Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2793