You feed birds for the sake of nature.

This is a myth. Feeding the birds in your local area isn't really wrong, but the feeding is often more for your own sake than for nature's sake. Feeding the birds can make a difference for individuals, but generally not for the species. We don't need to feed the birds in order for them to remain – they benefit more from broader initiatives that support the ecosystems they depend on to find food, water, and shelter year-round. Such initiatives also help far more species than the few that come to bird feeders.

For that reason, the way we live affects the environment, for example, through our consumption choices. Feel free to read more about the myths previously mentioned in the calendar: "bird feeding maintains the balance in nature," "birds need supplementary feeding when they have chicks," and "birds must receive fatty, high-energy food during winter."

Isn't it nice and pleasant to feed birds! Seeing them, hearing them, and being able to contribute to making it a bit easier for them to survive the winter gives us, the feeders, a lot in return. Creating that relationship can improve our health and foster greater engagement with nature and the environment – something that is truly needed!

Creating a relationship with your bird neighbors by feeding them can make you feel better. It can also be very exciting to see what bird species you can attract and observe up close! In today's article, we have conversed with some individuals who have various, interesting perspectives on bird feeding. 

Our health matters.
We place bird feeders where we can see them, we give birds names, we hurry outside on cold days, yes, we simply do many things that suggest a relationship rather than something (solely) rational. Doing something for someone – even if it's "just" a great tit – activates the reward system in our brain. Evolutionarily, it has been a success factor for us humans to "help each other out." So, we might actually be considerate and generous with our small birds for selfish reasons. Can feeding birds thus be described as self-help through helping out? Yes, perhaps!

Lena Stenvall is a therapist and educator in mental health and illness. She spoke on Naturmorgon a few weeks ago about the health benefits of feeding small birds and some of you reading this might have attended her lecture on this exciting topic on Slåttergubben's Facebook page last fall.

"Research shows that we develop relationships with birds and nature. Many describe nature and the contact with it as relationship-building, and bird feeding is very much a part of that. Our brain becomes calm and secure through healthy relationships. The relationship can be strengthened by knowledge and understanding. When you are kind to someone else, you are the first to benefit. The brain's reward system is activated by caring others. Even if the birds are not aware of it, it is good for our 'inner work environment' to be kind to others. Showing care is thus self-rewarding. Whether or not the birds are aware of this, we create relationships with them. Healthy, secure relationships are among the most beneficial experiences we can have." — Lena Stenvall

Natural Bird Feeding = Health Promoting!
Environments with high biological diversity and, consequently, many species benefit both birds and humans. Natural bird feeding and human well-being go hand in hand. Researcher Anna Maria Pålsdottir has shown in her research that biological diversity has an impact – it is important for recovery and mental rest. Biological diversity can also bring feelings of happiness and can be just as important for an individual as their income level, according to a German scientific article published about a year ago. In that study, the number of different bird species that could be heard was measured as an indicator of biological diversity.

Anna Carlemalm, manager of naturum Höga Kusten who works with nature guidance among other things, reflects in this way: “When we meet and get to know new individuals, birds as well as other species such as humans, a greater understanding for someone else is created. We build a relationship, and that makes us care more about how the others are doing, and we value them more. In turn, this can create an engagement for the birds. That engagement can grow and encompass a desire to protect nature and the environment – both on a large and small scale.”

If a certain bird species one year stops appearing at the bird feeder, we might wonder why. Could it be because the new large clear-cutting in the area has made it impossible for those individual birds to stay? Similarly, we might wonder why our friends get visits from different species at their bird feeders than we do. What kinds of natural environments do our friends have around them – and how are those ecosystems where those species likely thrive? This interest could lead further. Perhaps one becomes a member of a bird club, perhaps one starts birdwatching (and, for example, counting birds in the annual activity organized by Birdlife Sverige at the home bird feeder – Birds at the Feeder), perhaps the bird feeder becomes involved in protecting birds by trying to establish bird protection areas and nature reserves, perhaps the bird feeder initiates projects to save endangered species, perhaps the bird feeder creates a hay meadow and adapts their garden to what the birds actually need for a living and thriving ecosystem.

Perhaps it feels unpleasant to have fallen for some myth about bird feeding. It can affect one's self-image to feel deceived, and one might even feel shame. Many of us have fallen for various myths in life and sometimes felt downhearted afterward when realizing it.

It is not entirely easy to handle the flow of information that exists in all channels, nor to distinguish what is true or not. Additionally, we are limited by what our brains can actually process. The educational and psychological expert Anna Tibelius Bodin has expressed it very well: "What your brain can pay attention to in every waking moment is a very small selection of information, but it shapes your entire view of reality." This applies to all of us. She has also stated, "A habit arises when it is easier to do something than to think. The brain will continue with what takes the least energy." So it is easy to understand that those of us, who mean well for nature, might end up doing things we believe help it, even if they are not practically the best choices.

While we want to feed the birds we have a relationship with – perhaps because it makes us feel good and gives us a healthy sense of purpose – those very relationships can cause issues, no matter how valuable they are. If we only focus on the specific birds at our own bird feeders, we fail to see all the other birds that are also important. Can our care encompass more? Not just the birds we feed, but ourselves, the other birds, entire ecosystems, and ultimately the whole planet? If so, we have a real chance to save our nature and environment! With that hope for the future, we at Slåttergubben wish you and your loved ones (including the winged ones!) a very Merry Christmas!

Yes - now the myths are over. So are we. It has been a thorough job to write. And they have been written at the last minute every day... Apologies for all the long explanations, I have so much I want to say and share. I quietly wonder if there is anyone out there who has actually read everything? Send an email to info@slattergubben if so! That would really be a nice Christmas present! 

There has been quite a bit of negativity around bird feeding. That it is not important. But I see it as a very important part of Slåttergubben's work. I care about all birds and the entire nature. Therefore, I simply have to go out on the highway and put up my hand. Stop! Don't trust everything you read - especially not from companies - basically they just want to sell. Greenwash, make you afraid, make you realize that it is important to feed birds for reasons that are just lies and fabrications. Be critical of your sources and think through several steps. 

But the fact that bird feeding is not actually important for nature does not mean that it is bad! Here, we have touched on all the positive aspects it brings. And we would like to hear more good stories told to us. About people who feel good because of bird feeding. About special relationships with certain bird individuals that mean something. About children who have been influenced by bird feeding. Are there even any happy couples out there who have bird feeding to thank for their meeting? 

If there are good stories around our dear bird interest that we want to tell more about - maybe in the 2022 Christmas calendar! Email us info@slattergubben.se! Or call and tell us at 0738322559. 

(But don't call before January 7th, because when you read this, Slåttergubben is sitting with sons on a train down to Sicily for a couple of weeks of well-deserved vacation!)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our dear customers!