No desire to help RSPB

I was surprised to receive an unsolicited communication recently from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds inviting me to join the organisation. Its s opening paragraph says: "Did you know you're already helping us? Just by feeding the birds in your garden you're encouraging many threatened species to thrive".

As a family, we have been feeding wild birds in our garden for decades, and it is not to help the RSPB; it is to help the birds. We buy our birdseed for under 5 for 10 kilos, and would rather spend the money on seed than support a multi-million-pound organisation that favours some birds and discriminates against others.

For the price of an annual family membership, one can buy 85 kilos of seed, which I consider much better spent on sustaining wild birds than contributing to RSPB executives' salaries of up to 100,000 a year.

ANGUS MACMILLAN

Meikle Boturich, nr Balloch

Dunbartonshire