Volunteers wanted for new garden bird feeding research

Tuesday, 04 May 2010

Siskin. Photo by Dr Mark Fellowes

At a time when green spaces in towns and cities are coming under increasing pressure, gardens represent havens for many species of wildlife. Birds in particular come regularly to many gardens to eat food put out especially for them. This food supply helps many birds through harsh winters and may help them to raise more young.

While we know that this food can help birds through tough weather, it is unclear what effect this has on other species such as insects and mammals.

Melanie and Dr Fellowes, want Reading residents to take part in two projects on bird feeding. The first is to record the amount and type of food that is provided for wild birds in gardens.

Melanie said: "We want to discover exactly what is being fed to wild birds in Reading which will provide us with key information for the rest of our research. We are asking as many people as possible who feed birds in their garden to help us by keeping records of what food they provide."

Melanie's second project is an experiment to see whether feeding birds in gardens has any effect on insect populations.

She continued: "It has been suggested that fewer insects are found where birds gather because the birds eat some of these bugs. Therefore birds coming to gardens because of feeders may be a natural form of pest control. In order to test whether birds really do eat more insects near to feeders we are looking for volunteers in Reading, whether they feed birds or not, to let us carry out a simple experiment in their garden."

"Broad bean plants with pea aphids on them will be put in the volunteer gardens, with half of the plants caged to protect them from birds. Then every few days for approximately four weeks we will count how many aphids are left. The numbers will then be compared in gardens with and without bird feeders to see if there are differences."

If you would like to take part in either or both of the research projects, please visit http://www.reading.ac.uk/gardenwatch/garw-Home_Page.aspx for more details or email Melanie at gardenwatch@reading.ac.uk