Is feeding the birds a good thing?

After what feels like ages since I posted anything about our trip around the world, I’ve finally finished the next page and accompanying blogpost. So here it goes…

Having returned from the Galapagos to Quito, our next adventure was to get the bus to the small town of Mindo. Perched in the cloud forest of northern Ecuador, Mindo is famous for bird watching, waterfalls and adventure sports. Despite only being there for a few days, we really liked the relaxed atmosphere and the range of activities. I’ve written up the activities that we managed to do there and if you wish you can read about them here.

For the purposes of this post I just wanted to talk about one of those activities. As we approached Mindo the minibus we were in stopped at the Alambi Reserve. Whilst the reserve offers multiple activities, we had stopped to visit the garden. Here, there were multiple feeders set up and the air was a blur of different colours as the masses of hummingbirds flitted around them. I was immediately mesmerised. Whilst we had spotted one in the highlands during the Quilotoa Loop, that had been only briefly and at a distance. Here you could stand just a few feet away and watch the beautiful birds going about their business. Amongst the numbers there were also multiple species, which added to the spectacle. We spent at least half an hour watching, taking photos, and trying to get a good ‘slow motion video’ , which was pretty tricky but amazing when it worked. I thoroughly enjoyed the time there.

It was only as we left that Radka mentioned how she hadn’t been keen on how the birds were just being fed sugar water. Now throughout our travels we’ve tried our best to be responsible tourists. This involves things such as having water filters so that we minimise the amount of plastic bottles we need to buy; trying to buy food from local shops and restaurants; and avoiding activities that are exploiting or mis-treating animals. And yet I hadn’t given a second thought to coming to this reserve. I mean, why should I have? In England, feeding birds in your garden, especially in winter, is encouraged and is perceived as helping the local wildlife.

But is it the same in the vast forests of Ecuador? In England the winters are harsh and humans have had a huge effect on the size and variety of the natural habitat. So helping out the birds when they could be struggling is surely a good thing and no more than what we owe them right? But is it needed when the climate is pretty much the same all year round and there is plenty of food available. Whilst the hummingbirds obviously like it or they wouldn’t come; is a diet of sugar water good for them in comparison to their natural foods? Also, is drawing them to a small garden reducing the effect they have as pollinators of plants? The small numbers involved means it probably doesn’t make any difference overall but still… Another factor was that the feeders also attracted large quantities of wasps – so is it dangerous for the birds to be in such close proximity?

None of this had even crossed my mind until after the visit when we were wondering about it. Given that the birds are unlikely to really need the extra food, is it just exploiting animals for profit? Or, if in reality it doesn’t really harm the birds, is it a good way of bringing money into the community whilst helping people to appreciate the natural world around them? Whilst the small scale example I’ve mentioned is unlikely to have much of an effect either way, it did make us think more closely about where the line is for responsible tourism. We didn’t come to any sort of definite conclusion but it did mean that when we saw hummingbirds in the wild, we did appreciate the sight much more.