Mata fåglarna så behålls balansen i naturen!

A Real Myth. Moreover, Spread by Companies to Sell More Bird Food. The quote below from December 2021 is quite remarkable in our opinion at Slåttergubben. It comes from a well-regarded company in our industry.

"By feeding our winter birds, we conserve the population and maintain the balance in nature that the birds create by keeping pests at bay in the garden, the forest, and the field. Our Swedish birds also bring us much joy - for what would spring and summer be without birdsong?”

Since it is a large and reputable company that writes this, we believe that many simply accept the arguments without reflecting and pay for conventionally grown, thus sprayed, bird food so there won't be a "silent spring" and imbalance in nature. And it is not just one company, the entire industry is permeated with such arguments. Eventually, the repeated becomes the truth….

Here lies a hidden threat that there could be a "silent spring" if you don't buy the company's products (which are sprayed and not organic). We can also interpret it as suggesting that the balance in nature is maintained by unnaturally feeding our garden birds... and that the balance mainly concerns pests that should be combated at all costs, and that our well-fed garden birds will fly out over fields and forests in attacks against all insects that threaten to destroy the forest, the crops, or sting us.

You can also read similar texts about how important it is to feed birds in the summer because insects and small birds are decreasing in nature. Since birds eat insects in the summer, companies want us to feed them mealworms, either live or dried, to imitate their natural insect diet. This is certainly the right approach for the health of the birds that eat the worms.

Where does this argument come from?
In the best case, we might blame it on innocent ignorance, but unfortunately, we believe that many in the industry want to sell more bird food year-round - even if it means unnecessarily alarming customers about why it's so important to feed birds.

Isn't this good then?
Feeding birds loads of food year-round and giving them mealworms in the summer?
Well - Now we're back to defining what "good" means. Yes - in your own garden, you can certainly have a larger population of a few already common and adaptable bird species by feeding them year-round. This can be cute - and pleasant for you. If that's what is considered "good," then it is good!

But the argument for feeding birds was that insects are generally decreasing, and that's where it goes wrong. Unfortunately, the problem of declining insect populations is no myth. The solution presented here is like a Trojan horse. The companies that advocate (or have advocated) this argument are actually selling the very sprayed, non-organic food and mealworms that have been raised on sprayed, non-organic feed.

The classic explanation is pesticide use in agriculture. This is also partially true. It's due, in part, to direct insect spraying, which kills the insects directly. But equally important are herbicides that kill the weeds many insects depend on. Artificial fertilizers themselves are not toxic to insects. However, their extensive use leads to many severe secondary effects that impact insects. They make crops larger and denser, which means very little light reaches the ground—bad for other plants in the field, insects, and birds foraging in the fields. Artificial fertilizers also allow us to cultivate more fields more frequently with intensive crops, reducing landscape variation. Furthermore, artificial fertilizers over-fertilize areas like roadsides outside the fields, allowing only a few competitive plant species to survive there—and fewer insects. All of this improves with organic farming. It is scientifically established that there is greater biodiversity in organic fields.

But it's not all about spraying - what we do in our gardens is very important. Right now, we have two opposing trends that seem to be moving in different directions. One involves more stone, concrete, pools, neatly trimmed lawns, and a "simple" garden to maintain, which must look "managed." These are not good for birds and biodiversity in general and cannot, in our opinion, be compensated through intensive feeding. The other trend, which is encouraging, will be discussed in the next paragraph. 

And then there are other things that are hard to control. We humans are building more, continuously taking more land. We drive more cars. (Cars kill a vast number of insects physically by running over them). Agriculture and pastures in forest areas are being abandoned and the land is becoming overgrown with forest, in the worst case scenario just spruce. On the fertile plains, farms are becoming larger and more specialized - fields are being merged and becoming larger. Many damages to ecosystems have already occurred long ago, such as the massive reduction in meadows and natural pastures, drainage and diverting of small streams and wetlands in forests and agricultural landscapes. All the old-growth forests that are gone, etc....

The increased lighting that exists at night is also not something positive for insects, and it is really bad for bats. 

If you want to be kind to the insects and the birds that are struggling in agricultural landscapes, such as the skylark, curlew, wheatear, and lapwing, it's an obvious choice to always opt for organic. Not to feed them, but to allow them to live! At Slåttergubben, that's how we think, at least. We genuinely care about all birds, so it would be extremely foolish of us to purchase sprayed food for you customers to give to the birds. 

Meat has received an unfairly bad reputation recently. Dairy products, as usual, escape the meat debate, and there's a difference between different types of meat. We need to buy more good meat from Swedish natural grazing lands. We need much more of these—they must increase, not disappear more and more as they are now. It is catastrophic for many insects, plants, and not least birds like the honey buzzard and the red-backed shrike. So buy Swedish organic beef and lamb. Swedish organic (and non-organic) dairy products also contribute to natural grazing lands, but unfortunately to a decreasing extent—the trend is that dairy farms are becoming larger and larger, and there is less and less grazed land for every liter of milk you buy. It's better to reduce your consumption of dairy products and increase the amount of good meat.

Create more biodiversity on land you have control over - more dead wood, composts, leaf piles, natural ponds, soil patches, sand heaps, more flowering plants and especially meadows. This most fantastic form of bird feeding becomes an insect factory for swallows and other birds in your garden. Swallows and many other insectivores do not come along and eat mealworms, no matter how nicely presented. Insect hotels can be nice, but you DO NOT need to buy them, as they are often poorly designed with holes that are too large, and you end up with a hole in your wallet. Insect hotels are like birdhouses - they do not contribute to biodiversity. It must be built from the ground up and not bought in the form of fancy gadgets suited for a select few species. Drill some deep holes in a log instead - the holes that are 2-4mm are the most important and attract the most species. In a functioning ecosystem, these holes naturally exist in dead wood, etc....  
Do you live in the countryside? Then you can rent a plot of land from your neighboring farmer to create diversity - establish a meadow along your walking path or a wetland. Your surroundings will shine! Communicate - it is money well-invested for balance in nature! 
Do you live in the city? Influence your municipality to create more meadows on areas that are not used for better purposes. 

Then, of course, it's good for the balance in nature to live in a generally eco-friendly way, work less, do more yourself, fix things, and cycle more. Live together with others to save money and living space. Vote for a party that prioritizes biological diversity. Support a newspaper that prioritizes sustainability. Get involved voluntarily in some company, organization, or party that wants to make a change. Travel sustainably,... well, you know the deal. A sustainable society and lifestyle contribute to more insects, birds, and balance in nature. 

No, actually not. All land use is a form of intrusion into nature—even organic farming—so even though it is better for nature than conventional farming, it doesn’t mean that it gets better the more organic bird food you buy. Quite the opposite, in fact. If we really extend this and freely imagine what would be best for creating balance in nature, it would probably be to restore all the land used to grow bird food to more virgin land in the form of steppe and meadow-like vegetation and wetlands. This would drastically reduce packaging, transportation, and emissions from farming machinery. If we don't buy bird food, we have more money in our wallets to, for example, buy old-growth forests, finance natural steppes in Bulgaria, or afford to work less, cycle more, and spend more time on biodiversity in our own gardens. This would enormously benefit nature and many endangered birds in Southeastern Europe, where sunflowers are grown. But we might end up with a few less great tits and house sparrows in Sweden.

Now it sounds like we are talking down bird feeding again - in reality, it is a very cute and harmless interest that we highly recommend. There are many other things we spend significantly more money on that are genuinely harmful to nature. Bird feeding can make us feel better, perhaps making us less inclined to travel abroad in the winter (good for the climate!), and it can certainly lead many into a deeper interest in nature. Especially if we have the ability to put bird feeding in its proper context without simplified truths/sales arguments. Because it is not the case that the more we feed the more balance in nature. Not even with organic bird food.