What if the best way to protect endangered birds… is to feed their predators?
In this episode, we break down the 2025 Proceedings of the Royal Society B study “Empirical evidence that diversionary feeding increases productivity in ground-nesting birds” - a rare, large-scale field experiment that tested whether giving predators an abundant alternative food source could reduce nest predation on declining capercaillie.
Across three years of work in the Cairngorms, diversionary feeding slashed the chances of hens being brood-less and more than doubled predicted productivity, from 0.82 to 1.90 chicks per hen (Figure 1B, page 5)
While brood size itself didn’t change, many more nests succeeded in the first place.
This episode explores a window bird feeder and how a simple, non-lethal intervention reshapes predator behavior, reduces conflict, and offers a promising new tool for conserving vulnerable ground-nesting birds.
