Take care not to let birdfeeders become disease houses
Question: My bird feeders are still up from last year, but I haven’t started filling them this year. I'm concerned that the cat may get a disease from eating the birds if I don't keep the bird feeders clean. How do I best clean them before feeding season?
Answer: First of all, you need to put your bird feeders where your cat can’t get them. Cats kill millions of songbirds a year in our country alone. For those of us who feed birds, I think we have an ethical obligation not to jeopardize their lives or their health. Now I’ll get off my soapbox.
It is good that you are thinking about cleaning up your bird feeders, for the birds’ sake. Imagine a fast food joint where nobody ever cleaned the kitchen, the tables or the bathrooms. Would you want to dine there?
Birds will crowd to feeders a little later this fall and through the winter. And they are bound to catch diseases from each other. Salmonellosis and other diseases can be spread at feeders.
Disinfect your feeders once or twice a month during the feeding season. A solution of one part of liquid chlorine household bleach in nine parts of warm water works as an effective disinfectant. If possible, immerse each feeder for a few minutes or longer. Allow them to air dry.
Sick birds are less alert and less active. They feed less and often cower on a feeder, reluctant to fly. Sick birds are more vulnerable to starvation, dehydration, predation and severe weather. They can spread disease to your chickens.
Not to scare anyone, but there are a number of diseases that affect birds typically using feeders. They include:
- Salmonellosis is the most commonly spread disease at feeders. This bacterial disease can kill birds quickly. Symptoms include abscesses in the lining of the upper digestive tract of the birds. Infected birds spread the bacteria in their droppings. Other birds get sick when infected droppings land on food.
- Trichomoniasis (caused by a one-celled protozoan parasite) is particularly susceptible to mourning doves. Trichomoniasis causes sores in birds’ mouths and throats, making it difficult for birds to swallow or drink. The disease spreads when sick birds drop contaminated food or water at a feeder or watering area.
- Aspergillosis is a mold that grows on damp feed and in the debris beneath feeders. Birds inhale the mold spores and infection spreads in the lungs, causing bronchitis and pneumonia.
- Avian Pox, a virus that causes wartlike growths on featherless surfaces of a birds face, feet legs or wings, spreads by direct contact, by insects or by viruses shed on food by infected birds.
And then there’s avian flu.
To summarize, here are the basics for feeding wild birds at home:
- Give the birds enough space, away from cat access. Do you have only one feeder? Get another if your feeder is crowded.
- Clean your feeder and the droppings on the perching area each time you fill your feeder.
- Disinfect the feeder once or twice a month with one part of liquid chlorine household bleach in nine parts of warm water.
- Feed birds only high-quality food. Moldy seed or bread or spoiled leftovers doesn’t do them any more good than it would do you.
- Keep rodents out of food. Mice can carry some bird diseases.
- Act early and spread the word. Don’t wait until you see sick birds huddled at the feeder. And tell your friends who feed birds to take the above precautions.
- Check your feeder for sharp edges where birds might cut themselves. Small scratches or cuts allow bacteria and viruses to infect a bird more easily.