If you think about what is happening in the plant world during the spring, you quickly realize this is probably the most important time to provide seed for birds. The natural seeds and berries that birds have been feeding on all winter are gone and freshly growing plants will not be producing any seed for quite a while. When you factor in the number of returning species like Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings, there is a good reason to feed birds for them and for us.