Whether you feed bread to ducks at the local pond or hang a bird feeder on your back porch, the food you’re offering wild birds plays a role in their ability to tolerate infection. New research from the University of Arkansas has found that canaries fed a high-protein diet fared better when it came to immune function and tolerating infection than canaries fed a high-lipid (fatty) diet.

The findings included molecular analysis of blood draws, revealing how different diets trigger the expression of different immune-related genes, both before and after infection.

“Our results are exciting because of the importance of human-supplemented food in wildlife disease systems, especially wild birds, which are commonly provided with supplemental food via bird feeders,” said Erin Sauer, a first co-author of the study.