Helping create bird-friendly backyards

About Birdfeeding.org

Do you remember Paul Simon's groovy refrain from the '60s, "slow down, you move too fast"? This advice has almost been obliterated by the jangle of 21st century buzzing, beeping and ringing. We are too often overwhelmed by the noise that pollutes our space or exhausted by the insistence that everything must be done instantaneously.

Maybe it's time for us to find a way to slow down just a bit?

Yes! There is an easy way for us to step back from our faster-paced lives and learn something important from the birds at our bird feeders and in our backyards. At first glance, their activities might seem frenetic but when we slow down and watch more closely, we notice that their every move is carefully considered and purposeful. You can almost hear them finishing that same Simon & Garfunkel song... "You've got to make this morning last!"
We see wild birds around us all day but may neglect the importance of maintaining good habitat for them. Often the feeling is that "one person can't make much of a difference." However, our thousands of members and viewers have found many ways to help in this important cause.

Birdfeeding.org works to make backyard bird feeding and watching better -- for people and the birds, by supporting education and research about backyard wild birds. This Information mainly reaches the birding public people through this on-line communication channel but may also be supplemented by school programs, community outreach and through other media.

Our goal is to provide suitable feeding and nesting habitat for backyard birds which is often necessary for their survival. To accomplish this goal, this website was developed to assist our viewers and members by:
    - Connecting people to the natural world around them through backyard bird feeding.
    - Emphasizing the importance of creating and maintaining good bacvkyard habitat for wild birds.
    - Fostering a better understanding of the close relationship between human activities, habitat creation and wild bird survival.
The Story of Bird Feeding
Humans have a long history with the birds. In the Old Testament it tells of leaving behind some of the harvest for the birds to glean. Possibly this was the root of the custom to put out bundles of wheat for the birds.

But how did this activity we know as backyard bird feeding begin? When did it become a "big" business and who are the enthusiasts? What is the fascination of the hobby? Why do people start in the first place?

Backyard bird feeding is an entertaining, educational and inexpensive pastime that can be enjoyed by children and adults. It provides a needed break from today's frantic lifestyles that pull families apart. Young children are drawn naturally to the activities involved in feeding wild birds and adults enjoy the relaxation and peacefulness afforded by watching birds. Nature serves to relieve the stress and can get one's day going on a tranquil note.

Feeding wild birds in the backyard is an easy hobby to start. It can be as simple as mounting a single feeder outside a window and filling it with a good-quality birdseed mix or just straight oil sunflower. This feeder can be a hopper, platform or tubular variety, or one that sticks to the window.

For many people, the hobby progresses from there. They discover the relationship between the type and location of feeders, and the seed offered in them, and the number and varieties of birds attracted.