Given the difficulty of finding food for many birds, it is not surprising that supplemental feeding can alter the behavior of birds. Varied Tits (a chickadee relative) reduced their participation in winter mixed-species flocks when given extra food. Mixed-species flocks form when food is scarce and patchy.
Supplementary feeding may affect bird reproductive behavior. When House Sparrows were provided with extra food, the males stayed closer to their nests. Females cheating on their mates by mating with other males decreased because of the increased presence of the male.
Providing food to birds can alter the distribution of birds over large geographic areas. The northward expansion of Northern Cardinals may have resulted, at least in part, from backyard bird feeding. In Finland, ornithologists strongly suggest that backyard feeding explains a tendency of birds to overwinter in Finland rather than migrate south.
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