"Sacha Hubbard" wrote in message
al.net...
On Mon, 29 May 2006 15:56:12 +0100, BAC wrote
(in article ):


"Sacha Hubbard" wrote in message
al.net...
On Mon, 29 May 2006 14:21:23 +0100, Derek Turner wrote
(in article ):

Klara wrote:

Since we started summer feeding two years ago, there has been a huge
decline in the numbers of birds and numbers of species coming for the
food: a tenth the number of various kinds of tits and of blackbirds,
etc., and, most worryingly, no parents of any kind feeding young
except
crows, magpies, and jackdaws.

We have two active farms, one at either end of our village. At my end
the farmer is very proactive in destroying corvids to protect his
lambs.
At the other the farmer does nothing to control these pests. Surprise,
surprise, we have dozens of species of song-bird feeding in our
garden.
Villagers at the other end are wondering why they have none. Forget
the
cats - get a Larsen trap.

We have a very active rookery at the end of our garden and the garden
and
nursery are alive with songbirds. Customers comment frequently on how
tame
they are and how unafraid of the many dozens of people milling around
here
at
times. We feed them all year round, we encourage them in by giving
them
plenty of areas in which to nest and by using biological controls in
the
greenhouses and wherever possible, in the garden, too. Our rooks (and
jackdaws) are most certainly not reducing our songbird population.



They might not be reducing the populations of other garden birds at your
premises, but jackdaws are opportunistic feeders, their recognised diet
including eggs and hatchlings.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/guide/atoz/j/jackdaw.asp

The majority of fledglings fail to make it to adulthood, through
'natural
causes', including predation.



Perhaps because we encourage birds into the garden in a pretty active way,
they achieve their own balance. When we had ducklings, we netted the
pond
for safety but none of the rooks or jackdaws showed any interest at all.
We
are totally surrounded by fields and our nearest neighbour is the
churchyard,
so perhaps they're well provided for in other ways.


Quite possibly - if a preferred food is plentiful and easily available,
they'll eat that.