Cicadas are not birds, but when they come out of their underground sanctuary, they certainly become an integral part of bird life.  To get a full rundown on this amazing critter, I can do no better than suggest you read this article on them.  They only come out every 13 to 17 years, and when they do, they come out in huge numbers.  This is basically their defense…meaning they can’t survive as a species through any other form of defense…other than sheer numbers.  And birds take great advantage of this.  I noticed my feeders are almost going untouched since they showed up…and my assumption is my local birds must be gorging on them.  

This is a big reason why you don’t want to try to poison the insects or use sticky traps or anything else that may also harm birds.  Cicadas aren’t really going to hurt anything…yes, they can be loud, and leave behind a lot of “shells” which they shed on emergence.  But other than that, they are harmless to us, and a great benefit to the birds!  So, its best to leave them alone.