What happens if I stop feeding birds
Reasons to stop feeding birds would only be to protect them, but there's really no good reason to stop feeding birds who come to your garden.
What happens if you stop feeding birds is not much really, while you can rest assured common garden birds won't go without as they quickly discover new feeding grounds. Birds do become reliant on bird feeders but will adapt if they disappear, but they can continue to arrive in morning on time for a feeding.
I can tell you to never stop feeding birds who come to your garden regularly to feed, but you may have a serious reason to.
With that in mind then I would say not much can happen to the wild birds in terms of going without - as they would quickly turn up at new feeding grounds in other peoples gardens.
Birds do rely on bird feeders so to pull the plug on them can be difficult, but only do so when you wish to save their lives, as they may be prayed upon.
Overtime, wild birds will stop coming to your garden as soon as they get the point, but in the meantime they can still arrive in time in the morning in hope of feeding.
Once they get the point, they will simply move onto your neighbours bird feeding station or bird table - or end up going further afield to find a new bird feeder setup.
Nothing will happen
If you indeed stop feeding birds that come to your garden on a daily basis, it could be that absolutely nothing happens.
Not in terms of wild birds going without would result in them starving, but what can only really happen is birds would stop turning up.
Risk of starving only becomes an issue in severe winters with long spells of frost or snow coverage. If its a drawn-out winter that can effect food found in nature - for example snow covering the ground - then to stop feeding them becomes a serious issue.
In reality, still not much will come to bare unless the severe weather does occur.
But in the meantime, if you wish to stop feeding garden birds without consequence, then wait until better weather in the UK.
Birds soon stop visiting
What really happens if you stop feeding birds is that it can effect you, with daily visits by wildlife instantly coming to an end.
To stop feeding birds could be through wrong advice given to you, or it could be cats or other predators are now becoming a problem to the garden feeding birds occupy.
Similarly, you could be receiving too many visits by larger, more nuisance birds who have overtaken small common garden birds in numbers.
Worse that can happen then if you stop feeding birds, is simply birds stop coming.
Now that is certainly not something you'd want with bird feeders full of food still, but again to stop feeding them can see this fascinating behaviour disappear.
Head to new feeding grounds
Once you stop feeding birds that come to your garden, you'd soon notice over a period of days or weeks - those numbers will seriously dwindle.
That is until eventually the wild birds get the point and realise you are no longer feeding them.
It must be said small common garden birds can become dependant on bird feeders, so while yours may disappear from the garden, its likely your regular visitors will simply head to new feeding grounds.
Be it next door or a few gardens down, birds are quite resilient so are fully capable of uprooting their regular feeding patch - to go off a find a new one quickly.
Daunting it may be for them at first, but wild birds don't need to be weaned off food, but the best way to stop feeding birds would be when the season and weather is at its best.
Consequences if in drought
Similarly to experiencing a spell of severe harsh winter weather, such as frost or a blanket of snow covering the country, drought is an issue in summertime.
Think about it, ground feeding wild birds depend on worms or other creatures that live in the ground - so they can eat these insects as nature intended.
If you were to stop feeding garden birds in a drought it could be there is no other food source found in nature.
Certainly not for ground feeding birds, but those that eat fruits, nuts or other plants in the wild, would not be able to access it if under snow or hardened in a thick frost.
What happens if you stop feeding wild birds in a drought then with weeks of long, hot days - birds will not be able to feed from elsewhere in nature.
And you certainly can't guarantee people will continue to take over your responsibility by replenishing their feeders on a regular basis.
To summarise
You may have a genuine reason to stop feeding birds who come to your garden, but understand, to stop feeding birds is never a good idea.
Only time you should consider pulling the plug when offering a reliable source of bird food on a daily basis, is if wild birds can be in danger
Example of that is predators are arriving at the garden or cats are starting to turn up for the soul purpose of praying on feeding birds.
What else can be a reason to stop feeding them is if you are moving house, or simply because the birds are making a mess, in terms of bird droppings.
But to feed birds in a regular routine can eventually bring unwanted, larger nuisance birds who will not only make a mess, but the noise can be disturbing in the summertime.
What genuinely happens if you stop feeding birds that come to your bird feeders or bird table, is not much at all really. But do know there is consequence if you do stop it - as the country is experience a drought in summer or long spells of snow in the winter.
Conditions such as these can make it hard for common garden birds to feed in nature, so to continue to offer food in hanging bird feeders or a bird table would be imperative at this difficult time.
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