DEAR SUN SPOTS: I live near Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary in Lewiston and I love feeding the birds. We get a lot of them. I have several bird feeders around my property and also leave out bread when it goes stale. I’ve always left out stale bread in the winter, and I know lots of other people who do, too, but my daughter tells me that it is bad for the birds. They have less food in the winter, so how is leaving out bread bad for them?

ANSWER: It is not unusual for people to put out bread that has gone stale in their backyard feeders. It seems like a waste to throw away bread when there are hungry birds out there. However, bread, or any other leftover bakery good, may actually do more harm than good.

Bread molds fast outside, even in the winter, and ingesting these molds can cause a whole range of illnesses in birds. If the pieces of bread are large, they may also cause blockages in birds’ digestive tracts. But the biggest problem with offering bread is that it does not offer proper nutrition to birds.

Birds that fill up on bread feel full but have not obtained the fats and proteins (from seeds, nuts or insects) that they need for survival. Their digestive systems rely on calories obtained from dietary fats. They do not need dietary carbohydrates. The majority of calories from bread are from carbohydrates. With too many carbs and not enough fats and proteins, their bodies rely on their own body fat and muscle for fuel until they are weak and susceptible to illness or predators.

Feeding the birds is not a bad thing. Some studies show that birds living where food is provided over winter have advanced laying dates and increased fledgling success in the spring. Offering a range of nutritious seeds can be very beneficial. Just make sure that if you also offer bread that it is crumbled into tiny pieces, only an amount that the birds will eat in a day and never leave bread out overnight to avoid undesired critters and mold.

For more information about wild birds and what to feed them, visit birds.cornell.edu.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Androscoggin River Watershed Council is accepting applications for volunteer river trail stewards for access sites all along the Androscoggin River in Maine and New Hampshire. The council’s mission is to continuously improve environmental quality, encourage stewardship and promote healthy and prosperous communities in the Androscoggin Watershed in Maine and New Hampshire.

River trail stewards will be trained by council staff and assigned a site along the river. Some sites may be shared by multiple stewards. If you have a preference for a particular site, please list that in your letter of application. All Androscoggin River Trail access sites can be identified on the Androscoggin River Trail Guide, available at bit.ly/ARWCTrail.

If you are interested in being a river trail steward, please send a letter describing why you would be an ideal candidate for river steward to Becky Secrest via email at beckys@oxfordnetworks.net or via postal mail to ARWC, P.O. Box 1541, Bethel, ME 04217-1541. For more details on duties of stewards or other questions, please contact Becky Secrest via email or by calling 207-824-3813 or 207-754-8158.

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