Summary of Survey Results
The NZ Bird Feeding Survey 2011 confirmed that bird feeding is a common and widespread activity in New Zealand, with an estimated 46.6% of households feeding birds. Increased age and dog ownership were strongly associated with participation. Typical feeding practices varied slightly among cities in the New Zealand survey, but for all areas feeding was predominantly a year round activity with bread being the most popular food type by a large margin (88% of feeding participants, compared to ~40% for fruit and seed). We estimated 5.1 million loaves of bread is fed to wild birds per year across the population of 1.8 million people in the six surveyed cities. The main potential risk identified was that introduced birds are likely to be the main consumers of supplementary food sources in New Zealand, which may have follow-on effects for avian community composition. Disease transmission risks were also identified, with poor hygiene practices reported by many respondents. However, the social benefits to humans of feeding birds were strongly reflected in the motivations of the respondents. Over half fed birds because it brought them pleasure.
The full survey results are published here in Biological Conservation.
The full survey results are published here in Biological Conservation.
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