Feeding birds doesn’t help them; causes disease in humans

People feed birds as doing this is said to bring them luck and prosperity.

But a new study from the University of Georgia in US suggests that feeding birds in parks may not only negatively affect the health of the birds and their behaviour but also spreads diseases in humans.

Researchers studied how feeding birds by humans is changing the health, ecology and behaviour of white ibises in south Florida, where construction and land development is drying up their wetland habitats.

The birds normally feed on aquatic animals like fish, snails and crayfish, but they are now becoming accustomed to being fed items such as bread, fast food and popcorn by people at parks, said Sonia Hernandez, an associate professor at University of Georgia.

This shift in feeding behaviour could have serious consequences not just for the white ibises, she said, but also to people.

‘In a previous study , and using molecular typing methods, we found that the strains of salmonella bacteria that white ibises are infected with are the same that some people get sick from, particularly in Florida,’ Hernandez said.

The white ibis are normally nomadic, can travel for miles every day and spend much of their day searching for food. ‘But why expend energy searching for food when humans at public parks will give it to them,’ said Sonia Altizer, a professor at the Odum School of Ecology in US.

This shift to wards more sedentary behaviour of the birds could allow pathogens transmitted through feces, like salmonella, to build up and pose risks for both birds and humans.

Needless to say, salmonella infection (also commonly called Typhoid Fever) can at times be life-threatening to humans.