Koi-Lo wrote:

But I've read about them falling into ponds and drowning.

I've had one sparrow drown in a pond (well, only one that I found - perhaps
the other wildlife has taken care of others). My fault - it was an old
bathtub, and it would be impossible to get out of before the parrot feather
grew up and over the edges. Once I made sure that there were always ways
to get out of the water, I never had another death that way.

I've seen small birds eaten by bullfrogs

I'm not concerned about that - that's part of pond life - but it's a fair
concern for some.

We've had one goldfinch get
tangled and lose it's life so far, and several water snakes. Without the
nets I wouldn't be able to keep fish. Being I feed the birds all winter
long I'm sure I more than made up for that poor little finch.

I lose more birds than that on my windows every year, despite all we've done
to try to stop it. You can't eliminate all mortality :-(
--
derek