Feeding your birds

I've been very busy the past few weeks, the dissertation stuff needs to be done before November 19th, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen, so I've geared it up a bit, and then there were some other things I may tell you about in the future.
But one thing I did do is put the bird feeder outside. I've always had bird feeders for as long as I've lived in the city, and they've always been busily visited by blue tits, great tits, and the occasional robin or green finch, with blackbirds happily munching up all the seeds that are spilled by the others (I always read about house sparrows invading feeders, but I've never seen them here. There is a big group living in the hedgerows about 50 m from our house, but they don't appear to be interested in my food). For my birthday I got the most beautiful caterpillar-shaped peanut bird feeder, which will be put to good use as soon as I have the time to buy peanuts.
I know some people may be going "feeding the birds? But they're wild animals, they should fend for themselves!", but honestly, these are not wild birds anymore. The gardens in my part of the city are very small and often badly maintained, which leaves little food for the birds. In winter, most insects actually crawl into the houses rather than winter outside, which depletes the store of food even more. Moreover, we're adding plenty of cat-predators who live very close to each other (a wild cat's territory can be many square kilometres) and make it even harder for them to survive. We're the ones taking away their food, we're also the ones making them less 'wild' by removing the 'wild' itself, so I cannot help but want to do something back.
I know there are other concerns, as there is still a rumour going around that birds who feed seeds to their chicks kill them (chicks generally only eat insects), so that you should remove your feeders in early spring to prevent this. Believe me, birds who would feed their chicks seeds would have died out a long time ago (as they aren't reproducing, so their habit isn't established in other birds, etc...). They use the seeds themselves to get some quick energy and get back to finding grub for their young. There are many people who leave feeders out the whole year, so this is really not a problem. I leave mine out until at least the last frost, but usually a bit longer, say the end of April.
Also, it's been really cold (freezing) for about two weeks now, so here the birds really need the extra food. But even if it had been okay weather I usually put out the food at the end of October, so the birds can get to know the place. If the temperature suddenly drops and they have to spend precious energy trying to find a place that can sustain them, they may still have problems even if they do find your food. So put it out early.
All the little bits help, of course, especially if you're living in a city or busy area. Feeders are cheap, food is even cheaper, and you'll be helping that little bit of nature that is still left close to you survive!