Killed by kindness

We’re all excited at the Venice Area Audubon Rookery as the first great blue heron chicks hatched this week, midway into January. Barely able to manage their wobbly heads, the two mop-topped chicks occasionally lift their heads just a few seconds to spar with each other or search for a fishy meal from a nearby adult.

But much to the dismay of those watching, the adult brought forth not fish, but four hot dogs. Well-meaning neighbors feed the adults hot dogs, which in turn feed them to their chicks. The tiny chicks swallow the hot dogs whole with some difficulty.

This has been occurring over and over the past several days and the chicks are not getting the proper nutrients that fish would provide. Moreover, they noted that chicks being fed hot dogs two years ago did not reach adulthood.

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No one is trying to hurting the birds. The people offering the hot dogs think they’re helping, and the adult herons think they’ve found an easy food source for their hungry young ones. But despite those intentions, the babies are at best malnourished and at worst dying.

The second photo isn’t going to be published, because it shows a 10-year-old kid committing a crime (without realizing it). In the pic, the child is feeding a couple of Florida scrub jays. The kid looks happy to be interacting with these very friendly birds. The birds look happy to be fed. So who’s getting hurt?

Again, it’s the babies. Scrub jays are most likely to take food from us in the winter months. Most of the acorns are gone and there’s a lot of competition from migratory birds for the food sources that remain. Hungry birds are more willing to be fed. It seems like you’re doing them a favor.

Unfortunately, the food we offer them is usually calorie-dense and high in fat. Peanuts are cheap and the jays love them, so that’s often the handout of choice. But having access to this food source in the winter plays a trick on their bodies: Being well-fed kick-starts the breeding cycle too early.

Florida scrub jays normally nest from March to June. When the babies hatch, there are lots of tasty insect around to feed them. On this high-protein diet, they grow rapidly and fledge in two to three weeks. If the eggs are laid just a few weeks too early, there won’t be enough insects. The parents will wear themselves out trying to bring home enough food, and the babies will be weak and grow slowly.

What if you keep the peanuts coming? Still not good. While peanuts don’t lack protein, it’s not a complete protein like they get from eating grasshoppers and caterpillars. And the fat content is far too high. They don’t develop the muscle tissue they need, and many won’t survive to fledging. Those that do have limited mobility and are easier prey for hawks and other bird eaters.

The solution in both cases is the same: Stop feeding the birds — or, at the very least, stop feeding them things that aren’t their natural food sources (and that goes for ducks too; there’s no bread in the wild). While I wouldn’t say it’s the best idea to feed herons anything, feeding them small whole fish is far less likely to be harmful than feeding them hot dogs. If you insist on feeding herons, you can get frozen sardines or herring at just about any bait shop.

As I mentioned, feeding scrub jays is illegal. You can be fined for it. Intentional feeding of a threatened species is considered take, the same as throwing rocks or putting it in in a cage. That might sound silly, but now that you are aware of the danger it can pose to them, you understand why.

I very strongly advise you to not feed scrub jays at all. But, again, if you insist on breaking the law to feed them, do it in a way that causes less harm. Dried mealworms are sold as food for chickens and wild birds, and are a healthier option than peanuts.

Southwest Florida is changing rapidly. There are more people here today than there were yesterday, and there will be more tomorrow than there were today. Every day our wildlife faces more threats and problems from humans. Let’s try to avoid adding to those problems if we can.