{"id":33116,"date":"2025-05-13T14:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T18:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=33116"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:57:00","slug":"question-should-you-feed-birds-in-summer-understanding-impact-migration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/question-should-you-feed-birds-in-summer-understanding-impact-migration\/","title":{"rendered":"Question: Should You Feed Birds in Summer? Understanding the Impact on Migration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Birds<\/a>Question:<\/em> Is it recommended to feed birds during the summer? Could this effect migration?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/em> Continuing to feed birds in the spring and summer comes down to personal preference and is not a problem for birds.\u00a0 Many things drive migration including daylength.\u00a0 The only difference is some foods (e.g., suet) can become rancid. Even bird seed (especially wet seed) can spoil quicker. You can fix this by changing out your food regularly, or by not filling the feeders as full so that birds empty the feeder more quickly.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/strong>
\nThe Basics of Bird Migration: How, Why and Where<\/a>, Cornell Lab<\/p>\n

Feeding Birds<\/a>, Cornell Lab<\/p>\n

Bird Feeding Tips<\/a>, Audubon.org<\/p>\n

More Resources:<\/strong>
\nVirtual Tour Brings Forest Management for Birds to Life<\/a>, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) Got Nature? Blog
\nBreeding Bird Atlas<\/a>, Indiana Department of Natural Resources
\nIN DNR Shares How to Keep Your Backyard Birds Healthy<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR Got Nature? Blog
\nQuestion: Is there any risk of becoming infected with avian influenza virus by feeding backyard birds?<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR Got Nature? Blog
\nBreeding Birds and Forest Management: the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment and the Central Hardwoods Region<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
\nForest Birds<\/a>, The Education Store
\nManaging Woodlands for Birds<\/a>, The Education Store
\nManaging Woodlands for Birds Video<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
\nThe Birders\u2019 Dozen, Profile: Baltimore Oriole<\/a>, Indiana Woodland Steward
\nAsk An Expert<\/a>, Playlist, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube channel
\nBirds and Residential Window Strikes: Tips for Prevention<\/a>, The Education Store
\nNo Room at the Inn: Suburban Backyards and Migratory Birds<\/a>, Education Store
\nPutting a Little Wildlife in Your Backyard This Spring<\/a>, The Education Store
\nSubscribe<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel<\/p>\n

Dr. Brian MacGowan<\/a>, Extension Wildlife Specialist & Certified Wildlife Biologist
\nDepartment of Forestry & Natural Resources, Purdue University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Is it recommended to feed birds during the summer? Could this effect migration? Answer: Continuing to feed birds in the spring and summer comes down to personal preference and is not a problem for birds.\u00a0 Many things drive migration including daylength.\u00a0 The only difference is some foods (e.g., suet) can become rancid. Even bird […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1425,44,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-the-expert","category-gotnatureforkids","category-wildlife","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 03:18:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39091,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33116\/revisions\/39091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}