Time to take down your bird feeders Now that spring is, well, technically upon us. It's time to take down your bird feeders. Communities like Banff and Jasper, located within the national parks, already ban bird feeders. While Canmore is outside of the mountain parks, it has a bylaw that forbids bird feeders between April 1st and October 31st. While maintaining bird feeders can provide hours of amusement in the winter months when chickadees and nuthatches gather for sunflower seeds, there is no need to have bird feeders during the summer months. While I don't have stats for Canadian bird feeders, some 40% of Americans regularly put out food for their feathered friends. It's important to distinguish back-yard feeders from visiting wild places to feed ducks and geese. Even in Canmore, it's important never to feed bread to ducks. In one study in Massachusetts, in a one month period, some 38,500 people fed ducks the equivalent of 7,800 loaves of bread. This didn't take into account the soda crackers, cheezies, popcorn, pretzels, cookies, peanuts, and other calorie-rich but nutrient poor foods. Feeding ducks encourages large flocks to congregate in areas that may not be able to naturally support such high numbers. It can cause increased stress, and provide a vector for disease to enter a population. Any time there are unsustainable numbers of any species, nature will find a way to take advantage of that, whether through the introduction of insects, parasites, or disease. That doesn't mean that all feeding has to be bad. This past week, I've begun to wake up to the song of our resident robin outside our window. We have the loudest, most persistent robin in Canmore…every time I have the opportunity to sleep in that danged…oh wait, that's another story. Proper feeding of birds during the winter months can provide some great entertainment Choosing the right seed mixture can do two things. It can help to improve your chances of attracting local birds and reduce the cleanup in the spring. Many cheap bird seeds include fillers that are not popular with some birds. Take the time to find out the best seed mixtures in your area so that the seeds you put out pack the best combination of calories and nutrition for the birds that may rely on them. Whatever strategy you choose, if you feed them, you need to clean up after them. Now is the time, at least if the snow ever melts, to clean up the remnants of your winter feeding. The ground beneath your feeder may be littered with empty sunflower hulls, faeces, and a great deal of seed kicked out of the feeder. Many years ago, I had a feeder on a second story balcony. I had a vast number of finches that invaded my feeders. What kind of finches? It was a very long time ago, but I think they were grey-crowned rosy finches. They simply took all the seeds from the feeder and kicked them to the ground where they preferred to feed. Time and again they emptied the feeder of sunflower seeds. When spring arrived, so many seeds had been ejected that the entire eavestrough around the balcony was clogged and rainwater couldn't flow through. That was the first time I realized that feeding in the winter means cleaning up in the spring. Living in a landscape with bears offers an additional reason to make sure that any feeders you fill in the winter are emptied in the spring and the area around it well cleaned. Even in areas where attracting unwanted wildlife isn't an issue, there are plentiful reasons to take spring cleaning seriously. Seed on the ground can rot, begin to smell, cause damage to grass and garden plants, allow mildew to grow, and even spread disease. Like feeding ducks, bird feeders allow birds to congregate at a single location which can help in the spread of disease. Birds can also suffer when bird seed mildews and rots. Always make sure your feeder is clean and dry. If you notice any adverse