Bird photographers - am I ethically wrong here?

1 month 1 week ago #762256 by Brenda Dantzig
I've been wanting to get into photographing birds after seeing many of your beautiful shots.  But I never see the birds.  So in various fields and places out of the normal public paths, I bring bird food with me and set it in piles and wait for birds to coming.  Well someone today gave me a hard time and told me, I was wrong and endangering the birds.  Where was I when this happened?  Roughly 30 feet off a natural trail near where I live.  30 feet! I'm literally in the forest.  Urban anything is at least 20 miles away. 

So who's right here?


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1 month 1 week ago #762262 by Tim Burg
I might be wrong, but we just talking about birds right?  I know you don't feed other animals bears and squirrels, but birds???  I see people in the parks always feeding them.  I don't know, I would have guessed it was OK.  


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1 month 1 week ago #762266 by Shadowfixer1
I've never seen a bunch of bird skeletons laying around an abandoned bird feeder. I think if the birds get hungry, they will find food. Doubt they will hang around where they once found a pile of bird seed and die from starvation. I think you're perfectly fine. It's not the same as feeding wild animals. The danger for them is proximity to humans. Birds don't have the same problem.
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1 month 1 week ago - 1 month 1 week ago #762316 by Chris Curran
:blink:   I don't see anything wrong, how is that different than people feed birds in the parks?


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1 month 1 week ago #762337 by Frisco
Feeding a bear?  yeah, big no no .  Feeding a fox? yeah, big no no.  Feeding birds?  I don't see anything wrong with that.

Nikon 18-55mm VR, Nikon 70-200mm VRII f/2.8, Nikon 50mm f/1.8, Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, SB-700 & SB-800
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1 month 1 week ago #762367 by Ben Vanderbilt
I don't see anything wrong with feeding birds, again if we are talking about feeding out in the woods


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1 month 1 week ago #762395 by Ira Weber
Getting into bird photography is exciting, and it’s natural to think feeding them might make capturing those beautiful moments easier. However, the person who approached you probably did so out of concern for the birds' wellbeing. Feeding wildlife, especially in non-urban areas, can indeed have unintended consequences, like altering their natural behaviors or diet. It’s a learning curve for anyone new to wildlife photography. Observing from a distance and waiting for natural moments might be more rewarding and less intrusive for the birds. Keep exploring and enjoying photography, and maybe research more on ethical wildlife photography practices!


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1 month 1 week ago #762440 by Fess Walker
Birds are about the only thing I saw are OK to feed, as long as they aren't pigeons!  LMAO!!


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1 month 6 days ago #762511 by Don Granger
Birds?  No, nothing wrong if the birds are not in dangered 


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