Birdfood merchants react with dismay to RSPB's advice to 'pause' feeding garden birds during breeding season

RSPB is urging birdlovers to cease feeding birds such as this Goldfinch with sunflower hearts and other seeds between May and October 

BIRDFOOD companies have not taken well to the RSPB's call for people to halt filling garden feeders with seeds or peanuts during summer.

Lincolnshire-based Vine House Farm said: "We are disappointed with the RSPB’s announcement on supplementary garden bird feeding."

The latest advice of the charity - reinforced by its chief executive, Beccy Speight,  in an interview on on BBC Radio 4 -  was that filling feeders should be "paused" between May 1 and October 31 so as to reduce the chances of diseases spreading, especially among seedeaters such as Greenfinches.

The team at Vine House Farm acknowledge that spread of disease is a risk if feeders are dirty, or if uneaten food is allowed to deteriorate, but they insist  that, so long as hygiene is observed, their customers should continue during the breeding season.

Says their statement: "We have carried out extensive studies at Vine House Farm over many decades on the benefits of supplementary feeding during the breeding season, especially for Tree Sparrows. 

"These studies  have unequivocally demonstrated the benefits of supplementary feeding on breeding populations due to the huge decline in natural invertebrate and natural seed food sources because of climate change, intensive farming and urbanisation.

"We believe that stopping supplementary feeding during the breeding season would have a negative impact on the breeding success of many species which are already in decline." 

The statement continues: "A further issue which concerns us is the negative impact on the mental health of people whose lives are enriched by feeding garden birds. 

"Many of these people are relatively elderly, with garden birds often becoming a major focus of their day-to-day lives.

"It is also the case that retired people will typically have the time each day to ensure best practice such as keeping feeders clean which is surely a much better option than asking them to take the feeders down."

Similar sentiments have been sounded by Haith's, another Lincolnshire based birdfood merchant, which insists: "You do not need to stop feeding birds - you need to keep doing it properly.

"Across the UK, millions of gardens form a connected network for wildlife. 

"In a countryside under pressure from habitat loss and environmental change, these spaces help birds find food, shelter and stability. 

"That is not a small thing - its is one of the most powerful forces for nature we have."