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The Birds at My Table: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters
Darryl Jones is fascinated by bird feeders. Not the containers supplying food to our winged friends, but the people who fill the containers.
Why do people do this? Jones asks in The Birds at My Table. Does the food even benefit the birds? What are the unintended consequences of providing additional food to our winged friends?
Jones takes us on a wild flight through the history of bird feeding. He pinpoints the highs and lows of the practice. And he ponders this odd but seriously popular form of interaction between humans and wild animals. Most important, he points out that we know very little about the impact of feeding birds despite millions of people doing it every day.
Unerringly, Jones digs at the deeper issues and questions, and he raises our awareness of the things we don’t yet know and why we really should. Using the latest scientific findings, The Birds at My Table takes a global swoop from 30,000 feet down to the backyard bird feeder and pushes our understanding of the many aspects of bird feeding back up to new heights.
Why do people do this? Jones asks in The Birds at My Table. Does the food even benefit the birds? What are the unintended consequences of providing additional food to our winged friends?
Jones takes us on a wild flight through the history of bird feeding. He pinpoints the highs and lows of the practice. And he ponders this odd but seriously popular form of interaction between humans and wild animals. Most important, he points out that we know very little about the impact of feeding birds despite millions of people doing it every day.
Unerringly, Jones digs at the deeper issues and questions, and he raises our awareness of the things we don’t yet know and why we really should. Using the latest scientific findings, The Birds at My Table takes a global swoop from 30,000 feet down to the backyard bird feeder and pushes our understanding of the many aspects of bird feeding back up to new heights.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2018
26 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
About the author
Darryl Jones
49 books21 followersThis article (Darryl^Jones) is for the Australian ecologist.
For the children's author see Darryl^^Jones.
For the English literature professor, see Darryl^^^Jones.
For the children's author see Darryl^^Jones.
For the English literature professor, see Darryl^^^Jones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 10, 2018
Over a million tons of seed are sold globally each year to feed wild birds, much of it grown in Africa and India, the author tells us. His own bird table is near Brisbane, Australia, but birds are fed in many countries. He explains that planting shrubs to provide sufficient nectar instead, just attracts aggressive honey eating noisy miners, which chase off all smaller birds, much as magpies here in Ireland are a terror. Then he describes his rainbow lorikeets, which eat seeds and pollen, and Australian magpies, actually a butcher bird, which eat insects from the lawn. So if birds can be lured with foods they would not find in the wild, does it follow that the foods - those humans do not want, often - are harmful to birds?
I enjoyed the urban ecology study the author carried out looking at native and introduced birds, and the attitudes humans took to them. Scientists were stunned by how many people around Australia fed birds. Both posted and online surveys are voluntarily filled nowadays, and we learn about survey results in UK, New Zealand and America. And when the author investigates the history and spread of such feeding he finds, 3,500 years ago, a Hindu text calls feeding wild birds a sacrifice which removes negative karma. Excellent!
From there we look at progress through the ages in feeding, documenting, providing nest sites and feeders. Having seen the experimention and production to create good mixes, we look at Poland, where people hang out lumps of fat, and ask whether to feed during winter or all year. Did the birds feed nestlings on feeder seeds? According to a detailed study of bluetits by Chris Mead, the adult birds fed insects to nestlings. Later we learn the same of magpies and Australian magpies. The adults may have gained enough energy from feeder offerings to keep searching longer for insects and raise more chicks.
The blackcap survey is mentioned; German birds are dividing into those which overwinter in southerly lands and those which overwinter in UK. The UK birds eat from feeders and return two weeks earlier, getting a head start over their fellows. Not mentioned is that blackcaps like mistletoe berries and where they are spotted often overlaps with the distribution of mistletoe, meaning that the birds are spreading the seeds onto suitable host trees. And I enjoyed the tale of folks in Reading, England, feeding huge red kites. I've had sparrowhawks and herons in my garden.
We learn about Susan Smith feeding small birds in her Massachussets garden; she came up with the concept of colour-banding their legs, so she could identify individuals. Now commonplace in studies, this 1960s idea started with Professor Smith's thirty years of studies. Over American harsh winters, it turned out that fed birds survived much better than non-fed ones. The most detailed study is the kakapo or New Zealand flightless parrot. When the birds had to be moved to islands for their survival, as rats took their eggs, they needed supplementary feeding in order to breed, which they had previously done in accordance with good mast years (nut fruits of local pines) so conservators fed them a wide variety and observed the results. Then we move to feeding red kites in Wales (at Gigrin Farm) and England to reintroduce them. The author moves on to study the people doing the feeding and asks what we get out of it and if it helps stabilise bird populations.
Notes and references P307 -338 in my e-ARC. I found four names which I could be sure were female, but most references are by initials. Overall this is a lovely book with great depth of research, but as the word 'study' is the most common word I noticed, this is not for the garden bird watcher but for the keen ornithologist or ecologist. Students in these fields will find a wealth of experience and ideas; we are often told that more such studies need to be carried out. As most birds enjoy trees and shrubs, and eat and spread the seeds, botanists and gardeners will also find it valuable. My ARC had no photos which is a crying shame, and the paragraphs are long and typed small, so consider this a study book rather than casual reading; but if you just dip into the contents you will certainly find something of interest to bird lovers on any page.
I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
I enjoyed the urban ecology study the author carried out looking at native and introduced birds, and the attitudes humans took to them. Scientists were stunned by how many people around Australia fed birds. Both posted and online surveys are voluntarily filled nowadays, and we learn about survey results in UK, New Zealand and America. And when the author investigates the history and spread of such feeding he finds, 3,500 years ago, a Hindu text calls feeding wild birds a sacrifice which removes negative karma. Excellent!
From there we look at progress through the ages in feeding, documenting, providing nest sites and feeders. Having seen the experimention and production to create good mixes, we look at Poland, where people hang out lumps of fat, and ask whether to feed during winter or all year. Did the birds feed nestlings on feeder seeds? According to a detailed study of bluetits by Chris Mead, the adult birds fed insects to nestlings. Later we learn the same of magpies and Australian magpies. The adults may have gained enough energy from feeder offerings to keep searching longer for insects and raise more chicks.
The blackcap survey is mentioned; German birds are dividing into those which overwinter in southerly lands and those which overwinter in UK. The UK birds eat from feeders and return two weeks earlier, getting a head start over their fellows. Not mentioned is that blackcaps like mistletoe berries and where they are spotted often overlaps with the distribution of mistletoe, meaning that the birds are spreading the seeds onto suitable host trees. And I enjoyed the tale of folks in Reading, England, feeding huge red kites. I've had sparrowhawks and herons in my garden.
We learn about Susan Smith feeding small birds in her Massachussets garden; she came up with the concept of colour-banding their legs, so she could identify individuals. Now commonplace in studies, this 1960s idea started with Professor Smith's thirty years of studies. Over American harsh winters, it turned out that fed birds survived much better than non-fed ones. The most detailed study is the kakapo or New Zealand flightless parrot. When the birds had to be moved to islands for their survival, as rats took their eggs, they needed supplementary feeding in order to breed, which they had previously done in accordance with good mast years (nut fruits of local pines) so conservators fed them a wide variety and observed the results. Then we move to feeding red kites in Wales (at Gigrin Farm) and England to reintroduce them. The author moves on to study the people doing the feeding and asks what we get out of it and if it helps stabilise bird populations.
Notes and references P307 -338 in my e-ARC. I found four names which I could be sure were female, but most references are by initials. Overall this is a lovely book with great depth of research, but as the word 'study' is the most common word I noticed, this is not for the garden bird watcher but for the keen ornithologist or ecologist. Students in these fields will find a wealth of experience and ideas; we are often told that more such studies need to be carried out. As most birds enjoy trees and shrubs, and eat and spread the seeds, botanists and gardeners will also find it valuable. My ARC had no photos which is a crying shame, and the paragraphs are long and typed small, so consider this a study book rather than casual reading; but if you just dip into the contents you will certainly find something of interest to bird lovers on any page.
I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
December 11, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy of this book in exchange for a review.
This was a great read.
In this book, Darryl Jones discusses bird feeding practices all around the world. His observations and anecdotes are substantiated with research and studies. Sometimes the studies are a bit much, but there is a lot of interesting facts in there, so it's worth persevering through the more academic parts of the book. The anecdotes, however, are fascinating. I loved the story about a lady who decided to consider her garden from the point of view of a bird and added some shrubs in which birds could hide before/ after feeding.
Other points of interst: historical development of bird feeding practices; contemporary changes in bird feeding; the perennial issue of "should the birds be fed outside winter or not"; differences in feeding around the world and/ or in feeding different species. While our most common association with bird feeding is giving the birds some grains (or maybe, inappropriately, pieces of bread), there are some species which are fed with fresh fruit... or raw meat.
There is also an interesting fragment concerning the industry of bird food, and changes therein over the last decades; and the questionf of whether feeding can be actually detrimental to birds (and, especially, nestlings) returns time and again. (The answer seems to be: not really, nestlings usually are fed better quality food, i.e., worms and insects, even if the parents eat grain.)
But overall, what shines through is the fact that the author and the people he interviews are genuinely interested and concerned with the welfare of birds. And the stories they share are truly fascinating and inspirational.
I'm very happy that I have read this book. I hope it will be translated into Polish at some point. I would love to have it on my shelf.
This was a great read.
In this book, Darryl Jones discusses bird feeding practices all around the world. His observations and anecdotes are substantiated with research and studies. Sometimes the studies are a bit much, but there is a lot of interesting facts in there, so it's worth persevering through the more academic parts of the book. The anecdotes, however, are fascinating. I loved the story about a lady who decided to consider her garden from the point of view of a bird and added some shrubs in which birds could hide before/ after feeding.
Other points of interst: historical development of bird feeding practices; contemporary changes in bird feeding; the perennial issue of "should the birds be fed outside winter or not"; differences in feeding around the world and/ or in feeding different species. While our most common association with bird feeding is giving the birds some grains (or maybe, inappropriately, pieces of bread), there are some species which are fed with fresh fruit... or raw meat.
There is also an interesting fragment concerning the industry of bird food, and changes therein over the last decades; and the questionf of whether feeding can be actually detrimental to birds (and, especially, nestlings) returns time and again. (The answer seems to be: not really, nestlings usually are fed better quality food, i.e., worms and insects, even if the parents eat grain.)
But overall, what shines through is the fact that the author and the people he interviews are genuinely interested and concerned with the welfare of birds. And the stories they share are truly fascinating and inspirational.
I'm very happy that I have read this book. I hope it will be translated into Polish at some point. I would love to have it on my shelf.
May 18, 2018
A gentle and well-meaning mess of a book, about the history, politics, and science of feeding the birds (tuppance a bag.) The author seems to be trying to straddle several potential genres for his book here: an entry-level academic-ish monograph, a pop-history, a pop-science, and naturalist memoir, but unfortunately doesn't totally hit it off for me in any of the categories, as someone who happily reads any of the four. It's published by Cornell so I automatically stereotyped it as academic, but the publisher's stated audience for the book is "General / trade." Make of that what you will!
The subject of the book is fascinating and (as the author takes a lot of time to stress to you) almost completely undiscussed in any other birding book. Birders are already classic weirdos, but feeding birds is immune from the peeping-tom jokes, as the past time of grandmas and shut-ins. No one who visits your house is ever surprised to see a bird feeder in your back yard. But it's objectively pretty weird. Why do I personally buy specially-marked commercial food for wild birds at Costco along with my own food? Why does Costco, a store that only carries products of the highest middle-class consumptive volume, even sell it? The author presents a good argument for how that habit came to be, and whether or not it should continue to be. I appreciated his good analysis of the limited science we have on the effect of supplementary food on wild birds, and that he didn't present bird feeding as either a virtuous or villainous activity.
The fundamental problems seem structural, he doesn't organize his chapters tidily either by chronology, geography, or topic. I also take some issue with his presentation of feeding wild birds as terribly unique among animal-human relationships. Perhaps where he is from (Australia) where people are more environmentally educated, but in my area it's very common to feed squirrels and deer: the bird-feeding industrial complex is starting to really co-promote squirrel feeding, and chestnut trees are expressly advertised in nurseries as attracting deer. I'm not commercially immune: after years of owning a Squirrel-Buster (tm) feeder to moderate squirrel-busting effect, we got a peanut wreath this to feed the squirrels too.
A worthwhile book for the dedicated birder or backyard environmentalist, but I think too ambiguous and hard to read for the casual pop-science reader.
My copy of this book was free from the publisher for the purpose of review.
The subject of the book is fascinating and (as the author takes a lot of time to stress to you) almost completely undiscussed in any other birding book. Birders are already classic weirdos, but feeding birds is immune from the peeping-tom jokes, as the past time of grandmas and shut-ins. No one who visits your house is ever surprised to see a bird feeder in your back yard. But it's objectively pretty weird. Why do I personally buy specially-marked commercial food for wild birds at Costco along with my own food? Why does Costco, a store that only carries products of the highest middle-class consumptive volume, even sell it? The author presents a good argument for how that habit came to be, and whether or not it should continue to be. I appreciated his good analysis of the limited science we have on the effect of supplementary food on wild birds, and that he didn't present bird feeding as either a virtuous or villainous activity.
The fundamental problems seem structural, he doesn't organize his chapters tidily either by chronology, geography, or topic. I also take some issue with his presentation of feeding wild birds as terribly unique among animal-human relationships. Perhaps where he is from (Australia) where people are more environmentally educated, but in my area it's very common to feed squirrels and deer: the bird-feeding industrial complex is starting to really co-promote squirrel feeding, and chestnut trees are expressly advertised in nurseries as attracting deer. I'm not commercially immune: after years of owning a Squirrel-Buster (tm) feeder to moderate squirrel-busting effect, we got a peanut wreath this to feed the squirrels too.
A worthwhile book for the dedicated birder or backyard environmentalist, but I think too ambiguous and hard to read for the casual pop-science reader.
My copy of this book was free from the publisher for the purpose of review.
February 14, 2018
A nonfiction book about the science and research behind those little feeders many of us hang up in our backyards or apartment fire escapes. From the cover and blurb, I'd expected a light, breezy read, but The Birds at My Table is instead a quite academic review of the various studies that have analyzed how and why humans feed birds, the effect of all this free seed on the birds themselves, and the history of bird-feeding as an organized hobby and (these days) enormous commercial industry. Sometimes academic to the book's detriment, to be honest; I was looking forward to funny anecdotes more than I was to analyses of the calcium/phosphorus ratios in seed mixes or the effect of adding Vitamin E to fat-heavy supplementary foods.
Still, there's lot of interesting factoids to be found here. Did you know that bird-feeding is hugely controversial in Australia, with many wildlife organizations recommending against it? Or that many Australians who feed their backyard birds anyway do so with meat instead of seed? I was also fascinated to learn that one potential cause of the passenger pigeon's extinction may have been trichomoniasis, a disease commonly carried by the non-native pigeon of city streets, and which may have been passed across species by their coming into close contact at feeders.
Overall a good book if you're interested in the topic of feeding birds, but only if you're prepared for a rigorous dive into the current scientific research.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
Still, there's lot of interesting factoids to be found here. Did you know that bird-feeding is hugely controversial in Australia, with many wildlife organizations recommending against it? Or that many Australians who feed their backyard birds anyway do so with meat instead of seed? I was also fascinated to learn that one potential cause of the passenger pigeon's extinction may have been trichomoniasis, a disease commonly carried by the non-native pigeon of city streets, and which may have been passed across species by their coming into close contact at feeders.
Overall a good book if you're interested in the topic of feeding birds, but only if you're prepared for a rigorous dive into the current scientific research.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
May 8, 2018
This book was filled with information on Why we feed birds, how we feed them, and should we feed them.
He brings up the subject of should we feed only in cold months, or after big storms, when the birds life gets disrupted, or continue doing it year round.
It was interesting to hear about the birds that exist in different countries and areas of those countries, and whether it would be better to plant, plants to feed the wildlife or to feed seed, as a supplemental food and if so what types.
I found the information to be a little repetitive, but I guess that is because he is explaining the procedures in many different locations and climates.
It was interesting to see the development of the seed industry, and who around the world feed birds the most, but I loved most the parts that were stories of how people felt about the birds, and their interactions with them.
The book was too full of statistics for me, maybe I just didn't realize the in depth study he was going into and thought I was going to read a more personal story of bird, human relationships.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Comstock Publishing Associates for the ARC of this book
He brings up the subject of should we feed only in cold months, or after big storms, when the birds life gets disrupted, or continue doing it year round.
It was interesting to hear about the birds that exist in different countries and areas of those countries, and whether it would be better to plant, plants to feed the wildlife or to feed seed, as a supplemental food and if so what types.
I found the information to be a little repetitive, but I guess that is because he is explaining the procedures in many different locations and climates.
It was interesting to see the development of the seed industry, and who around the world feed birds the most, but I loved most the parts that were stories of how people felt about the birds, and their interactions with them.
The book was too full of statistics for me, maybe I just didn't realize the in depth study he was going into and thought I was going to read a more personal story of bird, human relationships.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Comstock Publishing Associates for the ARC of this book
May 15, 2018
This book took me a while to get through, but for good reason. It is dense with information, absolutely packed with a thorough breakdown of every study that has been done on feeding wild birds and the way that it affects their development and place in the world. The ultimately disappointing fact about all of these studies is that... well, there aren't very many of them. Darryl Jones brings to the forefront the fact that although we've been feeding birds for about as long as we have existed as a species, we have no real idea how this impacts them. It's a sobering thought.
The book breakdowns all we really know about bird feeding. The history of the birdseed industry, how some corporations have taken advantage of its popularity to offer up subpar, and even poisoned, food (here's looking at you, Miracle Gro), how bird feeding can aid in conservation, whether to feed in winter or year round, and how it can be harmful if you don't practice stringent hygiene with your feeders. Ultimately, the message to take away from this book is that more work needs to be done. Hopefully after this book is more widely known, more work will be done.
Feeding has been proven to be beneficial to birds in times of aberrant weather. Hard winters, droughts, periods of harsh storms - that's when the feeder is vital. In times of plenty, or general normal weather, the feeder is just one more source of food. It supplements the diets, but it is in no way vital. A diversity of food benefits the birds, as does higher quality food. Black oil sunflower seeds, a nyger feeder, hummingbird food... it's all good. Ultimately, though, we feed because it makes us happy and helps us reestablish beneficial relationships with nature. Do it now and then, and do it right, and you can get years of enjoyment from it all.
The book breakdowns all we really know about bird feeding. The history of the birdseed industry, how some corporations have taken advantage of its popularity to offer up subpar, and even poisoned, food (here's looking at you, Miracle Gro), how bird feeding can aid in conservation, whether to feed in winter or year round, and how it can be harmful if you don't practice stringent hygiene with your feeders. Ultimately, the message to take away from this book is that more work needs to be done. Hopefully after this book is more widely known, more work will be done.
Feeding has been proven to be beneficial to birds in times of aberrant weather. Hard winters, droughts, periods of harsh storms - that's when the feeder is vital. In times of plenty, or general normal weather, the feeder is just one more source of food. It supplements the diets, but it is in no way vital. A diversity of food benefits the birds, as does higher quality food. Black oil sunflower seeds, a nyger feeder, hummingbird food... it's all good. Ultimately, though, we feed because it makes us happy and helps us reestablish beneficial relationships with nature. Do it now and then, and do it right, and you can get years of enjoyment from it all.
December 13, 2021
A decent and honest scientific read that hits on all aspects of the ever-growing movement for the feeding of wild birds. Jones dissects the overall implications of feeding wild birds with regards to the ecosystem they inhabit, the humans who provide them said supplemental food, and their conservation as a whole. As any good science communicator should, he also shines light into the areas that we simply don't understand fully and need more research by the scientific community.
A few chapters felt overwhelmingly cluttered with research paper summaries flying in from every which way, but these difficult to follow sections were redeemed by charming anecdotes and Jones' palpably contagious urge to hop abord the mother nature train and become a voice to fight for the conservation for her.
A few chapters felt overwhelmingly cluttered with research paper summaries flying in from every which way, but these difficult to follow sections were redeemed by charming anecdotes and Jones' palpably contagious urge to hop abord the mother nature train and become a voice to fight for the conservation for her.
November 17, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.
The Birds at My Table by Darryl Jones is filled with information the author has gathered about why people enjoy to feed and watch the birds that come to their backyard feeders. His research spans the globe and I especially enjoyed reading of his visits at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I participate in the project FeederWatch and so I could hardly wait to read this book!
There is very interesting history on the preparing and marketing of various bird seeds and feeds, including the large and smaller sunflower seeds. After reading this book I will be more careful and selective of the bird feed I purchase and disburse among my more than twenty feeders.
The questions which face many regions concerning the year-round feeding of native birds, is relevant no matter where you live. There are questions about how feeding year round will affect migratory birds and their natural instinct to follow the normal flight paths between seasons. This always concerned me in the case of hummingbirds.
I appreciate the scope of research and the vast amount of information which is made available to backyard birders in this book. Grab a copy and enjoy learning more about how our actions and feeding patterns affect the lives of our common regional birds.
The Birds at My Table by Darryl Jones is filled with information the author has gathered about why people enjoy to feed and watch the birds that come to their backyard feeders. His research spans the globe and I especially enjoyed reading of his visits at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I participate in the project FeederWatch and so I could hardly wait to read this book!
There is very interesting history on the preparing and marketing of various bird seeds and feeds, including the large and smaller sunflower seeds. After reading this book I will be more careful and selective of the bird feed I purchase and disburse among my more than twenty feeders.
The questions which face many regions concerning the year-round feeding of native birds, is relevant no matter where you live. There are questions about how feeding year round will affect migratory birds and their natural instinct to follow the normal flight paths between seasons. This always concerned me in the case of hummingbirds.
I appreciate the scope of research and the vast amount of information which is made available to backyard birders in this book. Grab a copy and enjoy learning more about how our actions and feeding patterns affect the lives of our common regional birds.
January 1, 2020
A much more detailed book than the Guide for Australian bird feeding and possibly aimed at a more academic reader than the back yard bird lover. I admit I scanned rather than read each word.
Gleaned information but a bit detailed for my needs
Gleaned information but a bit detailed for my needs
November 21, 2018
Fantastic. Easy to read and those pages just kept turning. I just wish there was more on Australian birds and birdfeeding; it's extremely UK and US-centric, with just small gems of Australia shining through. A little sad considering the writer is Australian.
May 2, 2020
It took me a while to get into this book but once i did it was fascinating. Can't wait to read the sequel.
February 26, 2018
Why do we enjoy feeding birds? What motivates us to put out food for our feathered friends? Where did this practice originate? Are we really helping the birds by feeding them? These and more questions are explored in the book, “The Birds at my Table” by Darryl Jones.
Jones takes the reader on a search for the answers to these and more questions. Along the way, we visit several continents and meet some of the players in the history of bird feeding. The author looks at the historical origins of bird feeding first. Where did this phenomenon start and when did it change from something people did in winter only to something we do year-round? Then, we get some insight into the global business that has grown up around our activity of feeding the birds. Bird feeders, seeds, bird baths and more are all products that have been relatively recently developed so that people can feed birds in a variety of ways. We feed birds an enormous variety of seed types, and some birds are even fed raw meat! The type of food has to fit the biology of the kind of bird you want to attract. A carnivorous bird will not eat seed and a granivorous bird will not eat meat, of course.
The author did a lot of research for this book and discovered that, while there are plenty of resources available to tell us what to feed the birds, and even how to plant a garden that is bird-friendly, there is a paucity of scientific literature about this practice. Few studies have examined the effects of supplementary feeding on the birds in detail. I found this fact quite interesting.
The book overall is very appealing. It’s not a dry scientific look at bird feeding, but rather a sort of exploratory story of how the author digs deeper to uncover the knowledge and history that is out there. There are interesting facts to be discovered and brought to light. I enjoyed the writing style and found it easy to read. As someone who feeds birds myself, it made me think about my motivations. What do I get from feeding the winged ones?
The motivations of the people interviewed in the book varied as well. Some fed only in winter to help the birds through the tough weather season. Others did it year-round so that they could enjoy observing the birds. There are as many reasons as there are people, but we all share this activity and all seem to enjoy whatever benefits we get from it. The birds also seem to enjoy it.
I think one of my favorite parts of the book was when I learned that bird parents seem to know what sort of nutrition their young need. Rather than bringing huge peanuts to the nest, which could choke a nestling, the birds bring insects to their young, which is what they need at that stage of life. The birds may switch to a seed diet as adults, but the young are fed the more appropriate and protein-rich insect diet. And the birds know this! That was a big eye-opener for me.
This book will be enjoyable to anyone who feeds birds or just loves birds in general. It’s packed full of interesting information and history of the activity of bird feeding. This is not a guide to how to feed the birds. There are plenty of those around. This is a very different approach and I think it will appeal to a wider audience.
Jones takes the reader on a search for the answers to these and more questions. Along the way, we visit several continents and meet some of the players in the history of bird feeding. The author looks at the historical origins of bird feeding first. Where did this phenomenon start and when did it change from something people did in winter only to something we do year-round? Then, we get some insight into the global business that has grown up around our activity of feeding the birds. Bird feeders, seeds, bird baths and more are all products that have been relatively recently developed so that people can feed birds in a variety of ways. We feed birds an enormous variety of seed types, and some birds are even fed raw meat! The type of food has to fit the biology of the kind of bird you want to attract. A carnivorous bird will not eat seed and a granivorous bird will not eat meat, of course.
The author did a lot of research for this book and discovered that, while there are plenty of resources available to tell us what to feed the birds, and even how to plant a garden that is bird-friendly, there is a paucity of scientific literature about this practice. Few studies have examined the effects of supplementary feeding on the birds in detail. I found this fact quite interesting.
The book overall is very appealing. It’s not a dry scientific look at bird feeding, but rather a sort of exploratory story of how the author digs deeper to uncover the knowledge and history that is out there. There are interesting facts to be discovered and brought to light. I enjoyed the writing style and found it easy to read. As someone who feeds birds myself, it made me think about my motivations. What do I get from feeding the winged ones?
The motivations of the people interviewed in the book varied as well. Some fed only in winter to help the birds through the tough weather season. Others did it year-round so that they could enjoy observing the birds. There are as many reasons as there are people, but we all share this activity and all seem to enjoy whatever benefits we get from it. The birds also seem to enjoy it.
I think one of my favorite parts of the book was when I learned that bird parents seem to know what sort of nutrition their young need. Rather than bringing huge peanuts to the nest, which could choke a nestling, the birds bring insects to their young, which is what they need at that stage of life. The birds may switch to a seed diet as adults, but the young are fed the more appropriate and protein-rich insect diet. And the birds know this! That was a big eye-opener for me.
This book will be enjoyable to anyone who feeds birds or just loves birds in general. It’s packed full of interesting information and history of the activity of bird feeding. This is not a guide to how to feed the birds. There are plenty of those around. This is a very different approach and I think it will appeal to a wider audience.
November 9, 2017
It seems like such a simple thing, feeding the birds. Beyond the casual tossing of leftover picnic crumbs to the ducks, Professor Darryl Jones looks at those who are more deliberate -- those who maintain backyard bird feeders. He wonders whether the regular feeding of birds has an effect and what kind of effect, on both the birds and the humans who feed them.
While he does some original research, for the most part he collects and analyzes the studies that have been done. Those studies have been a varied lot, done by schools and industry, specifically addressing bird feeding questions or often only touching on bird feeding on the way to answering some other question. What he discovers is surprising. For instance, even when neighborhood birds are fed regularly for years, they seem little affected when the human supplied food suddenly stops. It seems that birds rarely rely on bird feeders, even if they take advantage of them. Birds seemed to use human supplied food only rarely for feeding their nestlings, preferring insects and grubs.
On the other hand, backyard bird feeders turned out to be ground zero for spreading bird diseases quickly. Because many types of birds might feed at a single feeder, cross-contamination is a real threat.
Although the discussion of the studies is often more detailed than necessary for this generalist reader, I found Jones's discoveries fascinating and unexpected.
(Thanks to Cornell University Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy.)
While he does some original research, for the most part he collects and analyzes the studies that have been done. Those studies have been a varied lot, done by schools and industry, specifically addressing bird feeding questions or often only touching on bird feeding on the way to answering some other question. What he discovers is surprising. For instance, even when neighborhood birds are fed regularly for years, they seem little affected when the human supplied food suddenly stops. It seems that birds rarely rely on bird feeders, even if they take advantage of them. Birds seemed to use human supplied food only rarely for feeding their nestlings, preferring insects and grubs.
On the other hand, backyard bird feeders turned out to be ground zero for spreading bird diseases quickly. Because many types of birds might feed at a single feeder, cross-contamination is a real threat.
Although the discussion of the studies is often more detailed than necessary for this generalist reader, I found Jones's discoveries fascinating and unexpected.
(Thanks to Cornell University Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy.)
January 1, 2018
This book is a brilliantly written tale of wild bird feeding. You not only get to know a number of interesting facts related to wild bird feeding, but also an enormous amount of useful information about the same. Some of the implications of the wild bird feeding (discussed in this book) will shake your thinking cap really hard. According to Darryl Jones, wild bird feeding is not a simple issue. On the other hand, it is a complex one as feeding wild birds means different to different people. This book can be a source of enlightenment for people who care for birds and want to learn more about the implications of wild bird feeding. Different chapters in this book present a wide variety of contemporary studies related to wild bird feeding. After reading this book, you may feel surprised that there is so much scientific study on a subject that is generally considered as a pretty mundane topic.
Readers will certainly appreciate the research and amount of information given in this book. Certain portions of the book are lengthy and could have been reduced in length. However, this drawback is not an issue as research presented in this book is both captivating and enlightening.
Read this book to know more about the fascinating world of wild bird feeding.
Note: I would like to thank both Cornell University Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Read a detailed review on:
https://pgalmora.wordpress.com/2018/0...
Readers will certainly appreciate the research and amount of information given in this book. Certain portions of the book are lengthy and could have been reduced in length. However, this drawback is not an issue as research presented in this book is both captivating and enlightening.
Read this book to know more about the fascinating world of wild bird feeding.
Note: I would like to thank both Cornell University Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Read a detailed review on:
https://pgalmora.wordpress.com/2018/0...
December 21, 2017
I love feeding the birds (and deer and whatever else happens to wander in to share a meal!) all my neighbors do, too! I enjoyed reading this book, even it based in Australia! It's nice to know folks there feed their critters, too! I liked the idea of finding a kindred spirit half a world away from me! But the author does cover the global interest in feeding birds in other countries, which I enjoyed reading about! I was interested in reading about the negative effects of feeding the birds and the debate about year round feeding, disease spreading from feeders, etc... I hadn't really given much thought to those issues other than to be sure the birdbaths were cleaned daily. Gave me some food for thought. If you like to feed the birds, you'll enjoy this book. Its pretty informative.
I received a Kindle copy fro Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle copy fro Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
May 10, 2018
A great read, discussing why people choose to feed what are essentially wild birds in the garden and giving examples from Australia, NZ, UK and USA of different endangered birds and studies that have been done.
January 5, 2020
Too many studies, theories and history; too much data and technical details; not enough practical info or fun. Best for readers with a scientific interest in backyard bird behavior. I started out reading it, switched to skimming it to get through it for conclusions.
September 12, 2025
cute as hell, just long lmao
February 21, 2025
A marvellous book by an author I have previously read. Darryl Jones is a professor at Griffith and has been working in Urban Ecology since the 80's. In this book, as the title suggests he looks at Bird feeding, not only in Australia but around the world.
The book jumps straight into the Preface of how we love to feed wild birds, with examples from around the world; Maine, USA to Gwynedd, Wales and Wellington, New Zealand before coming back to Brisbane, Australia just up the road from me where Professor Jones himself feeds wild birds in his back yard.
In chapter one, Crumbs to Corporate we read about the earliest origins of wild bird feeding in history which may be the Hindu Vedic words from three and a half thousand years ago. Then we look at the various ways in which feeding birds evolved from throwing scraps into the back yard or 'a chippie to a seagull' into a multi billion dollar industry of selling foods and feeding utensils.
In chapter three 'The big change' is explored, which big change was when some countries - mostly cold Northern ones - went from feeding birds over winter to help them out to feeding all year around and it starts looking seriously at the opinions people have ABOUT feeding wild birds. Australia in particular tends to have very VERY strong opinions about this, whether pro or con they are rarely on the fence.
In Chapter four, The Feeder Effect and five, What Happens When We Feed there is some excellent, diverse examination of studies from all around the world on how the feeders affect foraging behaviour and breeding in birds who attend the feeder stations. These chapters were a couple of my favourites, where studies from all around the world are carefully and critically examined:
-Great tits from Norway.
-Silvereyes from New Zealand.
-Magpies (which are actually butcher birds) from Australia.
And I especially loved the conclusion, that feeding sometimes (but not always) affects wild birds but the MANNER in which they are affected is almost impossible to predict with any accuracy.
Chapter six, The Tainted table was a little heartbreaking: Can feeding make birds sick, it asks, and the answer is unfortunately that yes, it can. This chapter looks at poisoning of birds through the feed, some accidental, some much less accidental. This chapter also looks at long term nutritional implication of feeding.
In Seven, Feeding For A Purpose we look at people who are feeding to help birds out and we start with the New Zealand ecology which is always a little heartbreaking, but not too much because Jones does not want us to stop reading. This chapter looks more closely at a couple of species rehabilitation projects from NZ, and also at the successful reintroduction of Red Kites back into the UK - a story completely new to me - all projects which require supplementary feeding.
Chapter eight looks at the question from a new angle; it summarises research that has asked people around the world WHY they feed wild birds, how they go about it, what their motivations are and what they get out of it. There were a few surprises there.
And in the final chapter, the book is summarised, but Dr Jones calls it as saying that feeding wild birds matters more now than ever before.
Not every brilliant researcher has the gift of writing beautifully in the popular science area, but Darryl Jones does an incredible job of walking a fine line; one one hand giving enough of the science to satisfy (and perhaps, stimulate further reading, from the References section) anyone with a science background, packaged lightly enough to be comprehensible to audience of little or no formal science training.
If you love birds, or ecology this book will charm and engage you, should you only read one non-fiction book this year, you could do far worse than to make it this one!
The book jumps straight into the Preface of how we love to feed wild birds, with examples from around the world; Maine, USA to Gwynedd, Wales and Wellington, New Zealand before coming back to Brisbane, Australia just up the road from me where Professor Jones himself feeds wild birds in his back yard.
In chapter one, Crumbs to Corporate we read about the earliest origins of wild bird feeding in history which may be the Hindu Vedic words from three and a half thousand years ago. Then we look at the various ways in which feeding birds evolved from throwing scraps into the back yard or 'a chippie to a seagull' into a multi billion dollar industry of selling foods and feeding utensils.
In chapter three 'The big change' is explored, which big change was when some countries - mostly cold Northern ones - went from feeding birds over winter to help them out to feeding all year around and it starts looking seriously at the opinions people have ABOUT feeding wild birds. Australia in particular tends to have very VERY strong opinions about this, whether pro or con they are rarely on the fence.
In Chapter four, The Feeder Effect and five, What Happens When We Feed there is some excellent, diverse examination of studies from all around the world on how the feeders affect foraging behaviour and breeding in birds who attend the feeder stations. These chapters were a couple of my favourites, where studies from all around the world are carefully and critically examined:
-Great tits from Norway.
-Silvereyes from New Zealand.
-Magpies (which are actually butcher birds) from Australia.
And I especially loved the conclusion, that feeding sometimes (but not always) affects wild birds but the MANNER in which they are affected is almost impossible to predict with any accuracy.
Chapter six, The Tainted table was a little heartbreaking: Can feeding make birds sick, it asks, and the answer is unfortunately that yes, it can. This chapter looks at poisoning of birds through the feed, some accidental, some much less accidental. This chapter also looks at long term nutritional implication of feeding.
In Seven, Feeding For A Purpose we look at people who are feeding to help birds out and we start with the New Zealand ecology which is always a little heartbreaking, but not too much because Jones does not want us to stop reading. This chapter looks more closely at a couple of species rehabilitation projects from NZ, and also at the successful reintroduction of Red Kites back into the UK - a story completely new to me - all projects which require supplementary feeding.
Chapter eight looks at the question from a new angle; it summarises research that has asked people around the world WHY they feed wild birds, how they go about it, what their motivations are and what they get out of it. There were a few surprises there.
And in the final chapter, the book is summarised, but Dr Jones calls it as saying that feeding wild birds matters more now than ever before.
Not every brilliant researcher has the gift of writing beautifully in the popular science area, but Darryl Jones does an incredible job of walking a fine line; one one hand giving enough of the science to satisfy (and perhaps, stimulate further reading, from the References section) anyone with a science background, packaged lightly enough to be comprehensible to audience of little or no formal science training.
If you love birds, or ecology this book will charm and engage you, should you only read one non-fiction book this year, you could do far worse than to make it this one!
June 18, 2024
Did you know that when temps hit over 80F (and definitely over 90F) that you should be changing out your hummingbird feeders 2-3 times A DAY? Or that house finches (which are native AZ birds) get this crazy eye disease that almost annihilated the species in the 1990s? Or that in Australia (culturally) it is frowned upon to feed the birds?
This book is an interesting look at who feeds wild birds and why, plus the impact that may have on the ecosystem. My takeaway is that for the most part in North America, the birds don't need us to provide them with food on a regular basis (at least not year-around). Especially don't provide them food if you aren't going to regularly monitor the birds and clean your bird-feeders because feeding stations can spread disease. The spread of disease is definitely not something I'd ever considered, but it makes sense (especially in the COVID/monkeypox/bird flu world we live in).
This book confirmed for me that I am not cut out to be an Amy Tan with a dozen feeders and a dozen varieties of seeds, suet, and insects. However, I am going to add more native plants to my front yard so I can attract a greater variety of native birds. And I'm going to make sure to enjoy the large empty fields a half a block away before they're developed and the quails, cottontails, and coyotes lose their homes.
Of course, it isn't only having the plants, it's letting the plants grow so that they create safe spaces for the birds. It makes me a crappy human neighbor to have "overgrown" plants, but it makes me a a great bird neighbor. Since allowing our Red Bird of Paradise to grow to it's full potential, I've seen Gambel's Quail peck around and use it for cover; I've watched a Curve-Billed Thrasher pair and an Abert's Towhee pair teach their young to forage; and it's provided an excellent space for fledgling mockingbirds to hang out while their adults tend to the next brood and defend their territory. Not to mention the hummingbirds that love the bright flowers and the Verdins that find microscopic insects on every branch, hopping from branch to branch and occasionally hanging upside down. I've let my wildflowers go to seed which attracted a group of Lesser Goldfinch that visited around 4:00 PM everyday for a week. If I woke up with the sun, I can't even fathom all the species I would hear (and hopefully see) -- the mockingbird's song gives me a hint, but it only fools Merlin every once in awhile so I'm left guessing at what birds it's mimicking.
A neighbor has two mature Saguaros in their front yard, the house was recently sold and I am terrified they're going to take them down because they are not "pretty" cacti. They are scarred and gnarly with a gila woodpecker family living in one hole and starlings in another. Gusse Thomas Smith described the "giant cactus" as "the oldest continuously operated apartment house in the world". I wish we had one in our yard! I would LOVE to be a landlord for woodpeckers, right now our yard is more like a restaurant for them. They've pecked holes in the unknown palm and the African Sumac and surely found lots of delicious snacks.
For the record, I do not live in an HOA-controlled neighborhood specifically because I didn't want a group of people that prefer boring yards telling me what to do in my yard. Does that mean we have neighbors with visible RVs (some occupied) and lots of weeds? Yes, but we also have neighbors that have yards full of daisies, poppies, and toadflax in the spring.
I got off-track...
Feed the birds or not, but do try to be a good neighbor to humans and animals alike. Happy birdwatching!
This book is an interesting look at who feeds wild birds and why, plus the impact that may have on the ecosystem. My takeaway is that for the most part in North America, the birds don't need us to provide them with food on a regular basis (at least not year-around). Especially don't provide them food if you aren't going to regularly monitor the birds and clean your bird-feeders because feeding stations can spread disease. The spread of disease is definitely not something I'd ever considered, but it makes sense (especially in the COVID/monkeypox/bird flu world we live in).
This book confirmed for me that I am not cut out to be an Amy Tan with a dozen feeders and a dozen varieties of seeds, suet, and insects. However, I am going to add more native plants to my front yard so I can attract a greater variety of native birds. And I'm going to make sure to enjoy the large empty fields a half a block away before they're developed and the quails, cottontails, and coyotes lose their homes.
Of course, it isn't only having the plants, it's letting the plants grow so that they create safe spaces for the birds. It makes me a crappy human neighbor to have "overgrown" plants, but it makes me a a great bird neighbor. Since allowing our Red Bird of Paradise to grow to it's full potential, I've seen Gambel's Quail peck around and use it for cover; I've watched a Curve-Billed Thrasher pair and an Abert's Towhee pair teach their young to forage; and it's provided an excellent space for fledgling mockingbirds to hang out while their adults tend to the next brood and defend their territory. Not to mention the hummingbirds that love the bright flowers and the Verdins that find microscopic insects on every branch, hopping from branch to branch and occasionally hanging upside down. I've let my wildflowers go to seed which attracted a group of Lesser Goldfinch that visited around 4:00 PM everyday for a week. If I woke up with the sun, I can't even fathom all the species I would hear (and hopefully see) -- the mockingbird's song gives me a hint, but it only fools Merlin every once in awhile so I'm left guessing at what birds it's mimicking.
A neighbor has two mature Saguaros in their front yard, the house was recently sold and I am terrified they're going to take them down because they are not "pretty" cacti. They are scarred and gnarly with a gila woodpecker family living in one hole and starlings in another. Gusse Thomas Smith described the "giant cactus" as "the oldest continuously operated apartment house in the world". I wish we had one in our yard! I would LOVE to be a landlord for woodpeckers, right now our yard is more like a restaurant for them. They've pecked holes in the unknown palm and the African Sumac and surely found lots of delicious snacks.
For the record, I do not live in an HOA-controlled neighborhood specifically because I didn't want a group of people that prefer boring yards telling me what to do in my yard. Does that mean we have neighbors with visible RVs (some occupied) and lots of weeds? Yes, but we also have neighbors that have yards full of daisies, poppies, and toadflax in the spring.
I got off-track...
Feed the birds or not, but do try to be a good neighbor to humans and animals alike. Happy birdwatching!
October 4, 2019
Subtitled Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why it Matters, this is a fascinating look into the habits of people who feed birds around the world, but concentrating on UK, USA and Australia.
The author travels widely around the world to investigate the history of feeding birds across the world, how feeding birds affects their populations and distribution, how feeding can have the unfortunate side effect of helping spread diseases among bird populations and how on the other hand feeding birds can be a very important conservation measure. It also looks at the bird food industry and outlines the best sources of food to put on your bird table in different parts of the world.
The book asks questions such as:
how did wild birds originally overcome their distrust of humans to start visiting garden feeders so regularly?
what can we learn about wider human relationships with nature from studying bird feeding habits?
We learn fascinating facts such as the intimate relationship that ancient Egyptians had with birds such as sacred ibises and peregrine falcons which were seen as divine representatives on earth. We learn a lot about the importance of citizen science -for example how the USA based Project Feeder Watch was able to use the observations of people who feed their garden birds to track the spread of an eye disease amongst house finches in the USA and the how the UK's Garden Bird Watch (organised by the British Trust for Ornithology) was able to track changing migration habits in the blackcap. There are fascinating insights into how targetted bird feeding projects have made a difference to bird populations particularly in New Zealand.
The book encourages the reader to think carefully about how our gardens affect the birds that visit them, are we putting out the right foods? Does our garden offer the best mix of habitats and foods for our feathered friends?
Though the writing is very accessible, the scholarly approach may mean that this book appeals more to those interested in the science of birds and our relationship with them than to those whose main interest is actually feeding the birds.
The author travels widely around the world to investigate the history of feeding birds across the world, how feeding birds affects their populations and distribution, how feeding can have the unfortunate side effect of helping spread diseases among bird populations and how on the other hand feeding birds can be a very important conservation measure. It also looks at the bird food industry and outlines the best sources of food to put on your bird table in different parts of the world.
The book asks questions such as:
how did wild birds originally overcome their distrust of humans to start visiting garden feeders so regularly?
what can we learn about wider human relationships with nature from studying bird feeding habits?
We learn fascinating facts such as the intimate relationship that ancient Egyptians had with birds such as sacred ibises and peregrine falcons which were seen as divine representatives on earth. We learn a lot about the importance of citizen science -for example how the USA based Project Feeder Watch was able to use the observations of people who feed their garden birds to track the spread of an eye disease amongst house finches in the USA and the how the UK's Garden Bird Watch (organised by the British Trust for Ornithology) was able to track changing migration habits in the blackcap. There are fascinating insights into how targetted bird feeding projects have made a difference to bird populations particularly in New Zealand.
The book encourages the reader to think carefully about how our gardens affect the birds that visit them, are we putting out the right foods? Does our garden offer the best mix of habitats and foods for our feathered friends?
Though the writing is very accessible, the scholarly approach may mean that this book appeals more to those interested in the science of birds and our relationship with them than to those whose main interest is actually feeding the birds.
January 29, 2018
* I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. *
Ecologist Darryl Jones poses some basic questions in this book on the esoteric subject of bird-feeding:
1. Why do people feel the need to feed wild birds?
2. What techniques and food do people use?
3. and, is doing this a good idea at all?
The concept of feeding birds, while it goes back a long way, is quite controversial. In Australia there are very strong beliefs that humans should not offer food to wild birds. However, in colder climes, it is quite common for people to leave food out for birds to get them through the harsh winters. A bird-feeder himself, Jones travels to different countries and discusses what they feed to birds, and when.
Jones notes that there is a surprising paucity of studies into this activity, given both its popularity and the controversy it attracts. He manages to track down some behavioural studies that classify people's reasons for why they feed birds and work out which reasons are the main drivers for this habit. I didn't really find this convincing due to the sparsity of the data.
Jones really hits his stride when talking about the use of bird-feeding to protect endangered species in places like New Zealand. The discussion on the Kakapo is really interesting. Unfortunately the conclusions are mixed; in some cases feeding worked, in others it seemed to disrupt natural breeding habits. Bird feeders are also shown to be vectors for infection and have caused large and widespread outbreaks of disease.
In the end, Jones has no firm conclusions to offer, not least because there is so little data. For myself, I thought that the documented cases where bird-feeding did harm outweigh the behavioural reasons people have for offering food to wild birds.
Ecologist Darryl Jones poses some basic questions in this book on the esoteric subject of bird-feeding:
1. Why do people feel the need to feed wild birds?
2. What techniques and food do people use?
3. and, is doing this a good idea at all?
The concept of feeding birds, while it goes back a long way, is quite controversial. In Australia there are very strong beliefs that humans should not offer food to wild birds. However, in colder climes, it is quite common for people to leave food out for birds to get them through the harsh winters. A bird-feeder himself, Jones travels to different countries and discusses what they feed to birds, and when.
Jones notes that there is a surprising paucity of studies into this activity, given both its popularity and the controversy it attracts. He manages to track down some behavioural studies that classify people's reasons for why they feed birds and work out which reasons are the main drivers for this habit. I didn't really find this convincing due to the sparsity of the data.
Jones really hits his stride when talking about the use of bird-feeding to protect endangered species in places like New Zealand. The discussion on the Kakapo is really interesting. Unfortunately the conclusions are mixed; in some cases feeding worked, in others it seemed to disrupt natural breeding habits. Bird feeders are also shown to be vectors for infection and have caused large and widespread outbreaks of disease.
In the end, Jones has no firm conclusions to offer, not least because there is so little data. For myself, I thought that the documented cases where bird-feeding did harm outweigh the behavioural reasons people have for offering food to wild birds.
March 17, 2018
The Birds at My Table is not a facile book. It isn't filled with pretty pictures or simple ideas about feeding the birds. It asks hard questions about how, what, and when to feed birds, and even questions whether we should be feeding the birds at all. As Jones points out, feeding birds is probably the most common encounter that people have with wildlife. But how can we be sure that our feeding the birds actually benefits the birds? Are we feeding foods that are truly nutritious? Do our feeding stations spread diseases more rapidly? Does our feeding of birds foster overpopulation of some bird species? Does feeding disrupt migration, leading some birds to stay with an easy food supply only to have them perish due to extreme weather? Do our peanuts actually poison the birds we love with aflatoxins? This book answers some of the very real and very tough questions about our interactions with birds. As someone who used to cringe at watching my mother feed birds cake doughnuts (yes, not kidding, she fed them doughnuts) every day, this book is a timely discussion for anyone who is truly interested in benefitting the birds you want to enjoy.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2026
What an interesting read! I was especially interested in the origins of bird feeding and how all-year feeding exploded in popularity from the 1980’s - thanks primarily it seems to a push from bird food companies rather than any actual researched benefits.
I found these two lines particularly profound: ‘Perhaps the industry's greatest triumph has been in convincing the buying public that they are actually interested in birds rather just selling things’ and ‘our birds almost certainly don't need us as much as we need them.’ This made me question a lot of my preconceptions on feeding and its benefits.
Very study heavy, which makes it a bit choppier than Curlews on Vulture Street but I appreciate how much the author makes sure to credit everyone and everywhere he got the information. Highly recommend.
I found these two lines particularly profound: ‘Perhaps the industry's greatest triumph has been in convincing the buying public that they are actually interested in birds rather just selling things’ and ‘our birds almost certainly don't need us as much as we need them.’ This made me question a lot of my preconceptions on feeding and its benefits.
Very study heavy, which makes it a bit choppier than Curlews on Vulture Street but I appreciate how much the author makes sure to credit everyone and everywhere he got the information. Highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2018
Bottom line, humans have been "helping" out birds forever, all over the world. Reality, most of the time, the bird feeding is for our own pleasure, to bring some wildlife closer for our observation. Sure, in the winter we like to believe we're helping them but they'd probably do just fine without filled feeders (I have 4 seed, a platform, a hopper and 5 suet feeders) for easier food access. I enjoy seeing who comes to visit. Sometimes there are even surprises! Feeding the birds helps people stay aware that there is a fragile ecosystem on this planet and hoping maybe, by feeding the birds, we're helping it along just a little.
If you're an avid birder or bird feeder, you'd enjoy this one.
If you're an avid birder or bird feeder, you'd enjoy this one.
October 15, 2020
A great book for birdos and all the other people who don’t yet realise they love birds.
The Birds At My Table is explained by its subtitle: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters. Darryl Jones writes in a lovely discursive way, navigating us through the scientific understandings about why people choose to feed birds who aren’t trapped in cages and the good and not as good that it brings with it.
Darryl travels the world to talk with knowledgeable people and meet winged friends, telling the story behind his enquiries as we travel with him. By airplane I presume, unless he is keeping a particularly avian secret.
A thoroughly enjoyable book for those who those of us who have friends with feathers.
The Birds At My Table is explained by its subtitle: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters. Darryl Jones writes in a lovely discursive way, navigating us through the scientific understandings about why people choose to feed birds who aren’t trapped in cages and the good and not as good that it brings with it.
Darryl travels the world to talk with knowledgeable people and meet winged friends, telling the story behind his enquiries as we travel with him. By airplane I presume, unless he is keeping a particularly avian secret.
A thoroughly enjoyable book for those who those of us who have friends with feathers.
November 29, 2023
I purchased this book because I feed the critters in my backyard and am trying to plant only native plants to improve the local habitat. While the author would've been interesting to have a cup of coffee or a pint with, his book needed major editing. He cited many researchers -- mostly in Australia, NZ and the UK. I propose this book could have been cut to about 60 pages. His favorite refrain was, "...but I'll tell you more about that in another chapter." He made no mention of Doug Tallamy's work in the US.
May 7, 2019
Feeder station at our place attracts a variety of wild and native birds. It’s become an addiction and an main stay in the grocery shop. Seed, seed bells, diced meat, nectar powder.
The birds at my table was a great read and just strengthens my commitment to continue to feed and now regular clean feeders.
The birds at my table was a great read and just strengthens my commitment to continue to feed and now regular clean feeders.
September 3, 2018
This is a study of worldwide bird feeding.
My takeaway is that I will continue to feed birds year round. I will provide good quality seed and keep my feeders clean. It is interesting to consider why we feed birds and how we must consider the impact.
My takeaway is that I will continue to feed birds year round. I will provide good quality seed and keep my feeders clean. It is interesting to consider why we feed birds and how we must consider the impact.
August 10, 2018
A very intense book on the whys and hows of feeding birds.
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