jmcquown wrote:
>Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>
>> Birds are opportunists so eat wherever they find food, especially in
>> winter, woodpeckers typically eat off the table on my deck because
>> that's where I put bird food... once they become used to eating from
>> my table that's where they come to eat first. The only birds around
>> here that I never see eat off the ground are hummingbirds, all the
>> others eat off the ground or wherever they find food.
>
>To say all birds are "naturally" ground feeders simply isn't true.

No one is saying that all birds are naturally ground feeders... birds
will eat wherever they find food. There is nothing natural about bird
feeders yet that's where birds will eat first when the proper foods
are supplied. Still most birds will eat off the ground if that's
where they find suitable food... it's not a question of preference,
it's all about where they find suitable food that's easiest to obtain.
In winter woodpeckers choose seed filled suet blocks over pecking
trees for insects that are scarce. Anyone who has had a pet bird must
realize that food in a cage is not natural but that's what they'll eat
if that's what's supplied and they have no other choice but to live in
captivity. Anyone who knows anything about birds knows that food
availablity is the primary reason why birds migrate. The only reason
I have woodpeckers here in winter is because lots of folks around here
supply food. Many of the birds and other critters survive primarily
on the food farmers feed their livestock. Many of my neighbors keep
chickens, a good portion of the feed they put out is eaten by wild
birds and all other critters. I very often see deer eating along with
the cows and horses.