A press release from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife got me out of bed early this morning to sweep up sunflower seeds and swab the bird feeder and lawn furniture with a bleach solution.
Dozens of Washington birds have been found sick or dying because of an outbreak of salmonella bacteria, which strikes as a salmonellosis, “a common and usually fatal bird disease.”
I hate this news. This spring I put up a feeder that’s attracted lots of bright red house finches, two kinds of chickadees, spookily red-eyed spotted towhees, pine siskins, jaunty Bewick’s wrens and once even an American goldfinch (go state bird!). The house finches even nested in the backyard and now there are all these cute recently fledged young birds that still have cockeyed feathers sticking out here and there, making them look like they just woke up and have bedhead.
But salmonellosis is not cute. DFW vet Kristin Mansfield said that infected birds act tame, they “become very lethargic, fluff out their feathers, and are easy to approach. But there is very little people can do to treat them.”
The department recommends people take down their feeders for a few weeks or the rest of the summer, or wash them with a 1:10 bleach:water solution. That goes for bird baths, too. The disease is transmitted through bird droppings and tends to strike birds that flock in large numbers at feeders, such as my favorite finches, grosbeaks and pine siskins. Damn! Additional advice is to reduce the number of feeders and use those that discourage birds from dining in large numbers.
People get salmonellis too, but face little risk from birds. Transmission can occur by handling birds or their droppings, or through pets that catch sick birds. Department of Health advises wearing gloves in these situations. More info on people and the disease is here.
Just reached DFW’s Mansfield and have a little more information. On whether you need to take down the feeder or just clean up she says: “You can help a whole lot by cleaning up, but in the face of an epidemic like we have going on, you have to clean every day, otherwise they’re probably hurting the birds more than they’re helping.”
The salmonella can be carried by all kinds of birds, but it appears that the sickness particularly tends to strike the song birds. An outbreak like this hits about every three or four years, Mansfield said. This year is somewhat anomalous for how widespread the disease is.