I still meet people who say “the birds find enough food in the summer”—used to be the case. We did have lots of bugs this year, which helped, but providing water, seed cakes and food made a big difference, just like donating more to food banks (for people), does too. It’s all one big world.
It makes a huge difference, especially when they’re raising young. We feed and provide water year round. Hulled sunflower seeds, dried mealworms, and peanuts are very popular and the crows and magpies also like dry cat food. We have very glossy, healthy birds.
Great menu up there! We had somebody feeding peanuts nearby, years ago, and squirrels got so tubby they’d try to climb bird feeder poles and keep sliding down. Also stray cats and rumors of a coyote picking off cats nearby, so no cat food. My nice calm dog camps out there, and “keeps the peace”.
We don’t have squirrels in our city. It’s very strange. I keep expecting them to appear and we have had two show up in the past 25 years. We have a no free-roaming cats bylaw but still get the odd one. If they stay around, I live trap them and they are returned to their owners or rehomed.